It's Beginning to Look a Little Like Christmas

Is this the third time we've done this? Wouldn't doing it more than twice count as the beginning of a tradition? It is one we look forward to every year and today's was a morning to remember. We arrived just after 9:00 am - almost exactly on time - to the smell of freshly brewed coffee and the smiles and enthusiasm of Scott and Rebecca who wanted the girls to share in the beginning of the Christmas season and decorate the tree which stood on top of a small table, waiting to look beautiful. The boxes with decorations were stacked on the floor next to the piano and Irini wanted to know if we could decorate the tree right then and there. No, not yet. We had to eat breakfast first.

The breakfast was a delightful combination of french toast (with yummy maple syrup), freshly cut apples and kiwi, bacon, and an omelet for Laurence. Served with that coffee we were talking about and a glass of orange juice, it was a filling-to-the-point-of-explosion kind of breakfast. Perfect. Amalia was allowed to roam around with a small container of blueberry yogurt, making the customary mess of things on her face, hands, and anything she touched.

Once the food was downed it was time for the boxes to be opened and the contents taken out. Amalia practically tied herself up in a knot made of lights, and Irini helped to take out the more fragile items. Each decoration, of course, had a story and largely followed Scott, Rebecca and Lizzie (we missed you!) as they traveled around the world. "This one was from Bulgaria when we did..." "That one was when Lizzie was three and we...". Irini also found a couple of Christmas books (of which there are many) to open and take a look at. The girls were happily involved in most things, interspersed with a little bickering at times, as would only be appropriate with a one and a half and a nearly four year old. Scott and Laurence largely stayed in the background, washing dishes and discussing the significance of traditions as part of culture, religion, and society. Their banter when back and forth and every once in a while it focused on the women of the house and their preparations or the girls and their antics. It was the kind of morning that family comforts are all about.

By the end the tree stood tall, surrounded with streamers and balls and decorations of all sorts and sizes. Rebecca, in honor of Lizzie (who traditionally makes the final addition), placed the star at the very top, and we rushed over to take a few pictures with our handy-dandy timer camera functions. Irini didn't want to at first, but Rebecca persuaded her that one moment of smiling in front of a camera was certainly worth a little treat or two. Rush. Smile. Flash. Tears. No more pictures for her (at least for a while until she took one more for another little treat for home).

As we pulled away we were happy to have such wonderful friends (non-biological family is more like it, really). Scott and Rebecca waved as we turned left and drove up the street toward the main road. The perfect beginning to a three day weekend and the start of the festive Christmas season. Now on to our own tree.

Travelation

Irini walks into the living room and announces that she is doing "travelation". Natalia and Laurence look at each other quizzically. She walks over to one of the boxes with toys, does a fair share of rummaging and finds a small pink purse. She puts a couple toys inside and then turns abruptly to head to her little table with an adjoining 'library' area. There too she does some looking around and pulls out a small sketchbook. She puts that into her bag also.

She then happily moves back to the sofas, where Natalia is sitting, takes the sketchbook out of her bag and places it in Natalia's hands. And waits. We look at her. She looks at us with a smile and says "that's my passport!". Laurence is still confused, but Natalia understands immediately. She pretends to stamp the passport, hands it back to Irini who promptly places it back into her bag. She pulls the bag up to her shoulder and walks to the other side of the sofas. She turns back to face her parents and happily says "I'm going on an airplane. I'll be back in two days". By now Laurence is in on it as well.

Both Natalia and Laurence gasp, realizing that this is the first time ever their daughter has talked about leaving, even if it is for an imaginary trip. "Two days?!" they both exclaim. She looks back at them, contemplates for a moment and then responds, "five days". By now Natalia and Laurence are looking at each other with longing eyes, hoping the day never comes. Natalia tries to understand why, even in play, she might want to leave. "To see my friend" says Irini. So Natalia gives her an alternative. "Why don't you call your friend and tell her to come visit us for five days instead?" Irini smiles broadly and responds, "okay!".

Disaster has been averted, at least for the time being. The family is still together, with the addition of one imaginary friend. We can live with that... and hope that the real travelation won't happen for a while yet. Kisses and hugs are promptly shared for a decision well made. :-)

Any Random Weekend

Any random weekend might find us roaming the streets of Ampang (our neighborhood), or visiting Tia, TTmouz and Avi... or it might find us moseying our way over to Scott and Rebecca's house. A while back TTmouz had asked Rebecca, after Amalia (or was it Irini) had demanded a huge hug from her, if Rebecca was some sort of cousin of ours. She replied that no, not in blood-related terms, but certainly a member of the family none-the-less. So, one a Saturday (we think it was) we headed out to visit them. The visit began, as it always does, with a happy set of hugs and high pitched cries from Amalia, then settled into the customary roaming of the living room, then the dining room, then the wooden stairs leading to the upper floor. Once at the top we go through a small ritual of running in and out and back again through the hanging fabric the provides a partial cover to Lizzie's bedroom. We walk though for the final assault and a set of "no, don't touch that... put that down... no, no, then, led by hand, we go back through and down (usually with a wide wide smile) and out to the garden.

On this day the garden too was not enough, so down the street we went to see what the neighborhood had it store. Soon enough (was it just a few houses down?) there was a cat, somewhat calico in coloring, which garnered out attention. The girls sat there looking down to the open drain where the cat has scurried to when confronted with the two visiting toddlers. A while later they continued down the street to look for other things. Irini, noticing that her father had his hands free, decided that it might be a good time to get on his shoulders and be carried. Laurence, always happy to oblige, picked her up and in one big swoop had her sitting on his shoulders. They two of them hummed a spontaneous (and not particularly impressive) hum as they crossed the road to the playground on the other side.

Once there the swings were an immediate success (Irini insists on being pushed as high as possible - what we refer to as "boom"). It was followed by some climbing around, a visit to the see-saw and some playing house at a small slide and supporting structure. The adults worried about the mosquitos, as did Irini. Amalia paid no attention to that, but wanted to make sure that she was being entertained as much as possible. When the time was filled and the adults were ready to return home they had to be creatively persuasive to get the girls to follow, returning to the comfort of the living room again where, almost instantly, the girls (Amalia first, then Irini) decided that pretending to fall asleep on the pillows on the floor was a fun game to play. They did as the adults, sitting on various couches and steps surrounding them, giggled and took pictures.

How children make life so much more meaningful! Why even a walk down the street becomes news to write about. :-)

Ball Girl

Professionally Laurence has made a few subtle changes to his repertoire this year. Given that he is not coaching varsity athletics he has taken on some smaller roles at the school, one being that of the Middle League Basketball Coordinator. Essentially this is a Middle School intramural program which employs high school students to run warm-ups, coaching and refereeing while the younger students participate. This means that Laurence supervises the league on Wednesday nights at Saturday mornings. Wednesday are a little tricky with getting the kids to bed, which Natalia does. But Saturdays lend themselves to the girls coming to school sometimes and spending time with daddy. Irini is the observer of the family. She follows her father around, mostly wanting to be by his side. These days she participates in a Yoga for little kids program that has just begun at the same time. But little Amalia is smitten with the idea of any kind of ball. Not surprisingly, one of her first words (she's up to about 7 now) is "ball", which sounds a bit more like "boh". Anything resembling a ball is a source of excitement and creative inspiration for her.

So, when they arrive to the Panther Pit (the outdoor recreational area the back of the campus) and Laurence opens the storage room door, Amalia is in seventh heaven! All sorts of balls in there to discover and play with. The primary option, of course, are basketballs (in both girls and boys sizes), but there is also an array of other options: Tennis balls, whiffle balls. dodge balls. You name it. Heaven can be such a small space!

Letter to my daughters

Some of you might know that the arrival of Irini (and later Amalia) prompted us to create ways of recording our lives together, for information, for posterity, for fun. One such avenue was this very blog. The other, more personal, was the creation of an email for each of the girls, to which we write whenever we feel we have something worth saying (tidbits, love, whatever we want to impart). The post below is such an email, reprinted with permission of the author. :-)

Amalia and Irini,

Yesterday, October 1, 2011, was the first day that Amalia slept away from us. We moved her bed into your room, Irini, just before Tia arrived, with Avihurik and TTimouz for dinner. The house filled with noises and children everywhere and, as always, you both loved it.

But when it was time to go to bed, I took Amalia to bed with a sad heart, missing her already. I have been so used to having you, Amalia, in our room and it was hard to give that up, just like it was hard to give up having Irini with us two years or so ago. Amalia, you did a wonderful job! We were worried that with the new surroundings and the light that we kept on you'd have a hard time adjusting. Sometimes in the past you've been fussy when you've fallen asleep because you tend to sleep lighter than Irini does, but when the time came, and I lied on the the floor pillows next to you to make sure that you had my finger to hold on to (as you always do when you fall asleep) you tossed and turns a little bit, then said "mama" out loud several times, and then you held my finger with both hands, before finally falling asleep in your new room for the very first time. It was sad, but wonderfully warm at that same time. You slumbered as I left you behind and went off to find your sister. You seemed so comfortable and happy as I left, that I knew you belonged there, with your sister.

Irini, you were treated to a new routine because of Amalia's arrival into your room. Since she sleeps a bit before you do, it meant that we couldn't read with you in your bed like we usually do, so mom came up with the idea of going to our bed to read with both of us! You loved it! So did we. :-) Mom and I took turns reading you books that you chose (and there were six of them) and you read one to us too (which is a new thing for you these days). In the end, after the books and after brushing your teeth, I took you into your bedroom for sleep. When we quietly opened the door and you took your first step inside you remembered that you sister was there, and watching the amazement, the happiness in your eyes and movements brought me so much joy. You looked up at me and said "my sister is sleeping here!" and you gave me a massively big smile. You clenched your fists and moved your arms back and forth with excitement. It was the innocent enthusiasm of a sister happy to be with her sibling. In that instant I realized that no matter how sad I might be for having to give up time with Amalia in our room, that it was all worth the energy, the love, the power of togetherness that would give you. You are a good good sister, and I am so happy that, for a while at least, you will have the chance to share your room with your wonderful little sister. She loves you. You love her. Just the way it should be.

And we - your mom and I - love you both!!

Love and smiles,

Daddy :-)