Outs and Outs

The very last day of the vacation is today. Technically it's already over. The new year is here. The weekdays are done with (as far as days off, that is). The school schedule begins tomorrow. The entire vacation had its ups (i.e. special moments when Natalia and Laurence would look at each other and 'know' just how lucky they are to be together, to be the parents or these two particular children and to be living in this place) and downs (i.e. tantrums and "I want this!"). There was the week in KL (with Christmas preparations), the few days in Singapore, and the week back again. Earlier this week we took an evening/night trip to the Kuala Selangor fireflies (and Chinese dinner along the riverbanks). We took a couple dinner photos as the sun went down along the mangroves across from us, and then drove to the firefly area where we promptly got into boats and were whisked away by an oarsman. The idea was to take some photos as we got into the boats, but things happened quicker than anticipated so by the time we took our camera out, Tia, Avi and TTmouz were already on their boat and heading into darkness. We took a rushed photo, just in case, but the resulting black image leaves much to the imagination. :-) The trip itself was a big success with the kids. Irini even wanted us to read her the firefly book that we had for bedtime story.

Overall the vacation was a good one. We are happy we didn't have to fly half way around the world and though we missed our friends in Greece (and still do!) we were very content to stick it out closer to home and enjoy the warm weather and tropical yule.

About a week ago Irini announced that she was ready to go back to school. She asked if she would have the same teacher ("Will Ms. Wu be there?") and was very happy to find out that everything will be just as it was last time she was there. Laurence and Natalia have slowly begun to talk about school again (the schedule, what are we teaching, etc.) and by tomorrow they have to, somehow, have their mindset ready to great the students again. The thrust back into work needs to be instantaneous. A teacher wouldn't want his/her students to think that he/she isn't excited to be back. Happily, we won't have to fake it. Vacation is great. Work is good. We are happy. Welcome to a new semester.

I'm 4!!

It's turning into quite a tradition of special vacation days. The three week 'winter' break culminating with a special birthday just for Irini. Normally this day would be celebrated in Greece followed by a post-birthday in Malaysia after our arrival, but this time we were based in Malaysia, so that's all Irini gets. Not that she worried about it, or seemed to care that there was just one rather than many. In truth, the birthday celebration was drawn out anyway...first there was that whole Christmas present opening thing (both in KL and in Singapore). Then there were the presents given by mom and dad, opened after waking up on the morning of her birthday. We talked to our family in Colombia and Sweden. Then there was a pool party with her friends and later she openend their presents. Add to that the arrival of Sammy and Erika's Christmas presents which were collected and opened that morning. Finally, after Scott and Rebecca returned from the US (yesterday) there were even more presents. Our girls have been showered with way too many exciting things that will entertain them for a long time~ we thank everyone for their generosity. They were all a big succes!

The only glitch, of course, was that silly insistence of everyone to sing happy birthday to Irini. Of course, though she loves singing it for others, having it sung to her is a big 'no no' and so it was that the extended family in Colombia and the visiting guests here all had to be told to 'not sing because I will cry'. Birthday wishes turned into a scattering of "happy birthday Irini" statements, and it worked much better, though for a brief moment there were some tears. Perhaps by next year we will perfect the procedure so that it's smiles all the way.

Happy birthday little beautiful one! You are, as you show in your pictures, four. We are sooooo happy to have shared it all with you and can't wait for more.

Kali Xronia!

When you live overseas, traditions take on a larger-than-life significance for the sake of maintaining the cultural links to the 'homeland'. So it was for Laurence, who decided that, now that Irini is beginning to recognize the difference between where we live and where we're from, it is important to initiate the formal tradition of the cutting of the vasilopita in Malaysia.

For those whose experience does not include Greek (or similar Balkan) traditions, the vasilopita is a cake made specifically for the new year. It is normally cooked from scratch and in it is a cleverly concealed coin (in this case a 10 Euro cent coin from the Greek mint). Tradition would have it that the cake is divided into pieces with each piece going to a different person (e.g. God, daddy, etc.) or group of people (e.g. the poor, Scan Clan, etc.).

This year's vasilopita came fresh out of the oven as an experimental attempt at traditional baking, based on an internet recipe, though we secretly hope that our friends Stelio and Maria can give us a recipe for next year if they have one. Laurence did the research. Natalia gave the 'okay', did the shopping and preparation and Irini & Amalia helped out by decorating it after Laurence was done writing Kali Xronia (Happy New Year in Greek). That ensured that the entire family was directly involved in the creation of it, as well as the consumption of it (with the addition of the Colombian gang). A short explanation of the tradition to the Colombian members of the family, followed by a series of cuts by Laurence and Irini ended with the coin going to the Daza members of the extended Brownie (i.e. The Colombian) family!

Happy New Year! Feliz Año Nuevo! Kali Xronia!

May 2012 be filled with wonder, love and making the world a better place.

Singapore with Cousins!

We just got back from Singapore. It was the first time we - as an extended family - traveled together and it was a great opportunity to get to know a new place in the company of cross-cultural family members. There were times, of course, when things weren't so easy, like the tears in the car waiting for Singapore customs to allow us into the country. Three hours later we were lost in the city with no other option than to hire a taxi just to drive in front of us and show us how to get to the hotel. There were also the moments of tears (all four children cried at some point during the trip, with the younger ones, of course, putting on most of the show) as we learned to work together, make decisions together and deal with different priorities and changes of plans, of course. :-)

But there were wonderful moments too! The Christmas presents opened at Leanne's house (where we met up with her and her mom but also our friends Jim and Jay and Jay's mother and step father) were a great opportunity for the children to open no less than four presents each, much to the surprise of the unprepared parents. Auntie Leanne sure knows how to pamper the children and the wrapping took probably no more than about six seconds to tear off. There was excitement and great food to boot! Of course one could not be in a hotel room and not enjoy the cuddle time with the children, nor the large screen TV that allowed us cartoon mornings and movie nights.

Other wonderful moments were the one day where we split up. Tia, Avi and TTmouz went to Universal Studios (a gift from us) and had a fantastic time there, returning just before midnight on the 27th. On the same day we decided to head to the Singapore Zoo (where Irini wanted to go all along). The day was perfect and Irini insisted on taking the train and bus instead of the car. Though longer it sure gave us a great idea of the Singaporean transport system. Once there Irini was intent to seeing everything, but avoiding the crocodiles and alligators, because she didn't want them to bite us. Happily we obliged and roamed around the entire zoo (and even took a tram ride for part of it!). Irini decided that the docile and friendly looking tapirs were the highlight of the zoo. Amalia decided that she liked the elephants. The colorful ones that stood happily all over the zoo and the city beyond. There's a picture of one of them above. :-) The girls spent the entire day with a huge grin on their faces until they could no longer stay awake. They slept almost the entire way back and, when they were awake, they giggled and laughed like... well, like little children!

The way back was faster (we got through both Singaporean and Malaysian customs and crossed the bridge in about 10 minutes) though we did get caught in KL Friday night traffic. Thankfully it was only about 15 minutes of desperation time as Amalia continued her pleas to be allowed out of her car seat. Upon arriving, Irini announced "Yeay, we did it!". She was happy to be home and it was obvious. On several occasions she mentioned, "I love my home" and she was beaming from ear to ear. On to the new year...

Oh, wait~Irini's 4th birthday is just a week away! She's already planning how many friends she wants to invite. Okay. So, now where were we? Oh, yes, on to the new year... :-)

Words of Wisdom

Amalia is growing. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to work that one out. She's eating with a massive appetite. She runs all over the house, neighborhood, city. Her bigger lung capacity is obvious. :-) Oh, and she's starting to say stuff. It started with "this" a while back, then moved on to "no", where is sort of got stuck in second gear for a while, until about a week or two ago, when the linguistic floodgates opened and now them words are coming out faster than we can jot them down. Here's an 'off the top of our head' list of what she can say so far:

1. This
2. No
3. Lala (Tia, TTmouz and Avi's cat)
4. Coco (the other cat, whose name is Paco)
5. Barney
   
6. Mouz (short for TTmouz)
7. Nini (short for Irini)
8. Ka (short for Rebecca)
9. Sco' (short for Scott)
10. Ra (short for Ralph)
11. Go (with conviction)
12. Mine (with even more conviction)
13. Nana (short for banana, of course)
14. Boo (short for book)
15. Woof
16. Baa
17. More
18. Mas (Spanish for "more")
19. Pipi
20. Mama (either for mama or for any other adult in the house, in a picture, etc.)
    
21. Uh Oh
22. Yeay! (arms raised in the air included!)
23. Close

Each day there's another one, and sometimes the stick and others they are forgotten and replaced by other words. More to follow, no doubt.

The development of language has resulted in Laurence's longing for Amalia to stay just the way she is. He loves her right now. She's small enough, fun enough, animated enough, and babbled for minutes on end, with the addition of flailing arms and intonations to make a point. Laurence sits there - sometimes in person and sometimes on the phone - not wanting to hang up or listen the end. From here on things become more understood, though she doesn't seem to have any communication problems at all at the moment. Between pulling out fingers to get us to move where she wants us to, then pointing to what she wants and adding a couple high pitched sounds for effect, she gets her point across just fine. :-)

Take a look at a recent video of her: