Playing and Growing

Irini continues to impress. At ten months she can single-handedly remove every book from a book case in a matter of seconds. She can leaf through a single book over and over again for several minutes and then move on the next one. It seems speed reading comes naturally to her. She leafed through my copy of The Lexus and The Olive Tree in just about 12 seconds flat. Not too shabby! She can rearrange an entire room's contents with less trouble than it takes us all to reset it again.

Her favorite pass time, however, is to walk. Oh sure, she isn't quite independent on that front yet, but boy is she happy to hold one's fingers (anyone who offers) and just push on forward through the living room, the bedroom, the hallways, the bathroom, any space that lends itself. Every once in a while she'll sit down, take a short break, put her hands up, grab the said volunteer's fingers and push onward once again.

She likes to pull herself up to the window now too... and to look outside to the pool below, the lake just beyond and the distant mountains, clouds and sky. Or so we like to think. Perhaps she's just checking to see if the pool is available for her afternoon swim.

Laurence and Irini went downstairs yesterday to allow Natalia some time to work on grading and comments and such (the trimester ended Friday). Irini splashed her hands happily in the water over and over again. Her face, caked with a glistening layer of water, smiled broadly as she continued for over 15 minutes. By the end it was Laurence who tired first and, with a quick whisk pulled her out of the water, onto the towel sitting by the pool, and upstairs! Irini was in seventh heaven. We all are with that smile of hers!

Time flies. Time stands still.

Wow! It's hard to believe that a month has already flown away since little Irini was down with Roseolla. As many have visited the blog and worried about her, she has recuperated marvelously and has continued to impress us all with her daily discoveries.

Irini is now well on her way to independence, roaming around the apartment effortlessly and pulling herself to a standing position. Yesterday she even worked (with Daddy's help) on getting down off the bed to the floor feet first. The other day (Halloween night) she decided it was time to celebrate and she clapped her little hands together in a silent round of applause. She asks to be lifted regularly now and is often found sitting on the floor with her hands up in the air. We move along to her and put our our two hands, not to pick her up but to offer the support of our two index fingers. She happily grabs each one of them, pulls herself up from the floor, takes a brief moment to balance just so, and then starts a sometimes short (couple steps) and sometimes longer (across the living room) journey into walking. On occassion she will live a little dangerously and let go with one hand and take that one extra step, gingerly mind you, just to test out her skills. Then she carefully balances as low as she can before her little butt plummets the last few inches to the floor.

She continues to amaze us daily. She is as beautiful now, with six teeth (four top and two bottom) as she was with none. She is as smiley now as she always has been and her communication has become a repertoire of different sounds for different occassions. Mom and Dad are trying to figure out her language as best they can.

She is also now able to put herself to sleep. After just two days of the "new" approach to putting her to bed, she is comfortable being put to bed before she falls asleep, only to lie down and work on it independently. This allows us to bathe her, clothe her, feed her, sometimes read to her, brush her six teeth, and then put her to bed. Gone are the days when she would be placed into her bed while sleeping from her feeding. She's a big girl now.

It's amazing really to think that, in some ways, the mind plays games with you. In some cases you look at her and say "has it already been 10 months?" as she grows and develops by the minute. But then, looking into her beautiful eyes, watching her smile at you, it's as if time stands still, along with your heart. The beauty of parenting. :-)

In sickness and in health

The morning after the theme party little Irini didn't wake up as easily as she normally does. When she was up we realized she had a high fever...and this was just the beginning of a series of days which took us to the hospital twice... and on the second visit admited the poor little thing into her first hospital stay.

They shoved needles into her little arms and hands, doctor and nurses holding poor little Irini down two and three at a time as she screamed and cried in pain. We watched, tears rolling down our cheeks. When the needles were in place and blood was taken, and when Irini was able to rest a while, we were finally able to put two and two together. It was a Sunday and the next few days would find us taking turns by her side during the day (as we were supposed to work) and at night (where we both stayed, Natalia sharing her bed and Laurence on the sofa).

Her fever had gone up to 40.4 centigrade, but despite her not being able to crawl or even sit up sometimes, her smile continued to steal the hearts of those around her. She went in and out of consciousness and was able, at times, to pull herself up or crawl a few steps. But mostly she slept, leaving us with our concerns, and fears and paranoia.

There were times, when Irini could only pick her upper body up, that she would play with us... lying by Natalia's side she would allow her upper body to fall onto the pillow, plowing her face into the pillow and exposing the back of her neck. Laurence would bend down and give her five or six kisses and she would then pick up her head with a huge smile, lift her torso up, and then let it drop again, only to receive another barrage of kisses. The smiles continued, as did the kisses, until she tired of the game, or her condition, and fell asleep.

Two days after entering the hospital her temperature had stabilized and we were given the all clear to return home. She continued to be bed-ridden for another day and then, slowly, she creeped up on our bodies as we lied next to her, picking herself up off the bed. She crawled over us and pulled herself toward the bedside table in an attempt to grab anything that might be sitting there. Her energy had picked up and we knew she was on her way back!

Within another day she had developed a rash: Roseola. "Ah, Roseola", Our friends who are parents would say "that's no problem". It apprears that parents have a whole vocabulary that sits dormant, sometimes for years, until, one day, it just comes rolling off their lips. Parents... they know much more than most give them credit for. :-)

Irini is now back, smiling and beautiful!

Irini's first foray into Greek culture

It was a surprise party for our friend Shawna. More than 80 people gathered in her house, in groups of 10 or so. Each table had a theme and, as luck would have it, there was a Greek theme to ours (go figure)! :-)

Of course some of our closest friends shared the table duties and, as we decided to go with an ancient Greek-meets-My Big Fat Greek Wedding concept. Each took a role, with Natalia becoming Aphrodite and Laurence becoming Hermes. Little Irini got the most apropos role of all... little Eros (the Greek mythological version of Cupid) and, with the help of Leanne and her never-ending costume options, and Jay and Jim coming into town just to be roped into getting things set up (including the purchase of toga linen in Chinatown) Irini was perfect for the role, sporting not only a little baby toga, but also carrying a little pair of wings and her very own bow.

The night was wonderful. The Greeks mingled with the Italian mafia, with the rugby boys, with the hippie types and the prince charmings. We laughed with the Hawaian bunch and nibbled food off the table of Mexican gang. It was a great evening and, even as Irini was tired and a little on the grumpy side, we marveled at how well her first "theme" party had gone. Shawna was equally as impressed and so very happy with her husband Mike for putting this together.

Friends and Family come to town!

(Ciona and Jim, I stole this from your pics... sorry!)

Every once in a while, friends from the past come clamering back into your life; friends you haven't seen in a pretty good long time, and just make your friendship all that much more meaningful.

Well, it happened on a couple occassions in the past month or two. First Ciona and Jim, of College of Wooster days, who we hadn't seen in over 7 years, came rolling into town. The type of friendship that just allows you to walk into an room (or an airport arrivals hall), give each other a big big hug and just settle right down into talks that seem so effortless and natural regardless of how long it's really been. Amazing.

They came, the moseyed along downtown KL, took taxis and buses (did you know that a full day pass costs just 2 ringitt?) and walked their way around meandering from our house to KLCC to Chinatown. They saw more than they probably wanted to of KL, but also had a chance to visit Cameron Highlands, Singapore, and Borneo.

But apart from what they saw and what they didn't, truth be told it was great to see them again. The last time we saw each other had been back in the western hemisphere so long ago that memory needed a little jarring just to get us to figure it out. But while they were here, we enjoyed the company, celebrated birthdays (both Ciona's and Natalia's), talked about life's destinations, figurative and literal.

Just at the end of that time, Adriana rolled into town as well. With that smile of hers and her manner of enjoying each and every minute Adri became one of the gang, even if only for a short time. Natalia was happy as can be with her cousin in town for the first time. Then, as quickly as she had come, she was on her way back to Milan. We miss you Adri!!

Then, a wee bit later, Michelle comes into town posing as a Boston University admissions representative. She is so good at it, and comes by every once in a bit, that you might think she really is one. But we know better. She came all the way to KL just to get to know her "new friend" Irini. Michelle and Irini became instant buddies and if Irini could speak and make her own decisions we are sure she'd be on the plane out with Michelle. Luckily we were able to hold her back. The afternoon with Michelle, spent by the pool at the Mandarin and at Natalia's favorite vietnamese restaurant was short, but perfect.

As for Jim and Ciona, let's hope we don't take that long to see each other again, okay?