Hallway Antics: A Frienship Rediscovered

Irini loves to pull out the digital camera and take close looks at the photos and short video clips on there. She is particularly fond of the images with her in them, but often she reacts to others. as well. She might turn to us and make a sound of someone's name (e.g. "papou") or smile as she points at the screen. When she watches the images of people in the pool she starts to take her clothing off and ask for her bathing suit right then and there.

With this particular clip she practically jumped out of Laurence's lap and shrieked with joy in seeing herself and Isabelle running down the hallways of the ISKL Middle School during the Thanksgiving dinner. When the video was over she whimpered softly and clasped her hands together as if wanting to hold Isabelle's hand again.

We can only dream and hope that their lives are filled with such heart-warming hand-holding and that their friendship lasts them a lifetime.

While the dad's away...

Laurence headed off to Beijing for a basketball tournament last weekend. The tournament itself had the typical highs and lows along with a wonderful side-trip to the Great Wall of China, filled with blue blue sky, a chair lift up and a tobogan back down. More on that as soon as the photos are up, but suffice it to say that Laurence thoroughly enjoyed the cool weather. He made a point of waving to Trina and Joe as the plane flew over Dalian on the way from Seoul to Beijing, and he was also fortunate to see Kate for a couple days, in between games.

While he flew over the east Asian countryside, Natalia and Irini had plans of their own. It was Thanksgiving and, with it, came friends from out of town. Irini was able to meet Sheara and Kiana, the daughter of our frieds Pete and Olma (who used to work here but have now moved to Taipei) and have a great time laughing away in the living room. She also got to see our friend Michelle who, now working in Saudi Arabia, came to visit for a conference here in KL. Of course, the time would not be complete if Irini was not reunited with her bestest of friendses, Isabelle (and her mom, Melissa, of course) as they are in town for a month or two while working out the intricacies of adoption.

Natalia told Laurence tales of laugher, of jumping on maps and running around the hallways. She told him of trips to Peter Hoe (everyone who's anyone knows Peter Hoe!) for some Asian shopping and snacks. The time was busy. The fun complete. The bonds of friendship stronger still.

Aleko's Weekend in KL

With Aleko in Singapore for a few days on business, he decided to pop up to KL for the weekend and see his brother, sister-in-law and, of course, his niece. As soon as he arrived he was the favorite, opening his luggage and giving her six presents, each neatly wrapped for added sense of anticipation. Irini was completely delighted with five wonderful toy animals (a dog, a sheep, a horse, a pig and a cow) and a recording device with songs in English and Spanish. Happy as can be, but she was happier still to just hang out with Aleko, who came for some down time, and got it. Among what seemed like a great mix of "siestas" and going out (from the Tandoori Chicken Guy to the Mandarin Oriental brunch to what Aleko described as "half Disneyland, half Hollywood", there was a good number of things to do, usually revolving around food of some sort.

On Saturday Aleko was also able to pop over to the ISKL gym and watch his little brother in action, coaching the varsity girls team to a close victory (47-43) in the local league. It was great looking over and seeing a familiar face looking over, even if Aleko didn't take his shirt off and dawn a bare chest with ISKL written across it as any self-respecting die-hard fan would have done. Perhaps next time. :-)

As we write this post, Aleko's flight is just about heading northward toward Bangkok. From there it's another flight to Vienna and then back to Copenhagen. We hope that the three power naps (one on the couch, one on the matress on the livingroom floor and one on the marble floor - just like the old days in Greece) that he managed to partake in are enough to get him going when he returns to a week of meetings. As the taxi (with Mr. Yee at the helm, for those who know him) pulled away Irini wept and wimpered briefly before we got her mind on other things (namely dinner) and the evening moved on.

We sure hope that someone of the Scan Clan (Aleko and Anna perhaps?) might come and visit us in the summer to welcome the newest member of the family and, of course, to spend some quality time with Irini as well! Bravo adelfouli! Have a good and safe trip home.

A New Myers-Giraldo!

For those who already know it won't come as a surprise. Natalia is pregnant with our newest family member! No, we don't know if it's a boy or a girl. No Irini doesn't quite know yet that she will have to fight a little more for attention in a short while. But she happily puts her hand on Natalia's tummy as we tell her that there is a little brother or sister in there. We are delighted, of course. The official due date is May 5th, to coincide with our wedding anniversary (#8) and Irini's name day in Greece. The stars are all aligned. We are happy as can be.

Eating at Sundown.

The time was right. Irini insistent on eating by herself. Any attempts to help by mom or dad were met by assertive "no, no, no, no, no" until both mother and father got the message and allowed her some freedom to develop her dinner eating skills. So what if the fork was four inches longer than the width of her mouth? Rice was smeared and scattered all over the left side of her face and hair. Details. She ate happily. In the end, daddy asked for her to smile, and mommy whispered it in her ear. She lifted her head, looked over: "cheese". In the background, the sun quietly went on it's way, heading westward to share it's warmth to our families and friends.