Miki and Rose

Last night I wrote about how sharing personal information on social networks can backfire and land you in trouble. However, there is another side to the miracle that is the internet. It’s hard to put into words how overwhelming it was for our family to know how many of you were praying for and thinking about Miki last week. Your love was felt, not least by my sister and her husband. One day, little Miki will be old enough to read the loving messages that were sent for her and she will know just how special she is.

And, believe me, special doesn’t even begin to cover it. She’s an amazing human being. Her strength and resilience amaze me. She was born with a perfectly functioning pair of ears. She used to hear and had started to talk and then tragedy struck. And yet, she’s always smiling. Her overbrushed little teeth are permanently on show. She’s one of a kind.

Her surgery went very well and she’s recovering brilliantly. She’s very proud to be getting her second ear soon (switch-on is on Robin’s first birthday!) and is already firm friends with Rose, who was waiting for her when she resurfaced from the anaesthetic.

Today we’ll be welcoming them back home and we just can’t wait!

Meet Rose

Next week will be a very important (and stressful) one for our family.

My beautiful niece will undergo surgery once more, this time on her other ear (you can read more about her story HERE). She will get a cochlear implant in her left ear too, in the hopes that her hearing will improve further. She already hears, but only from the one ear which is already implanted. This obviously means that she cannot always tell the direction sounds are coming from, so hopefully the second implant will help with that problem.

Her language skills are coming along nicely now. She understands almost everything and will try to communicate using her words as much as possible. When she is stuck, she makes sure to get her point across using gestures and won’t give up until she is fully understood. She’s one clever cookie that one.

She recently fell in love with a rag doll from an online seller. The problem is that these dolls are like George Clooney. We know they exist, but it’s near impossible to get one’s hands on them. They are sold by ballot, so you must be very lucky to be able to buy one.

Now, my sister is not one to be deterred easily. She bid for six different dolls, setting her alarm clock for 3am each time so she could attempt to buy a doll for her daughter when the ballot opened on the other side of the globe. All her attempts were futile.

If I had been in her shoes, I’d have looked elsewhere for a similar doll but what does my sister do? She buys some fabric and thread and makes her own doll, of course! She stayed up, hand-stitching, till the wee hours of the morning for two weeks till her little creation was ready. And please note that this was her first ever attempt at sewing anything!

I’ve already waxed lyrical about my sister’s talent as a cake decorator (you can see more of her creations on her Facebook page, Cakes by Xar), but I have to commend her for her determination in making her daughter’s wish come true. Her incredible talent for anything artistic is evident, so I won’t even try to comment on that!

Meet Rose, our newest family member! Isn’t she adorable?

Rose will be given to Miki when she comes out of the operating theatre, so it will be a surprise. I wish I could be there to see her reaction!

Meanwhile, please send your prayers and good thoughts my niece’s way. She will need every bit of positivity in the coming weeks.

Sisters

One of the things I love the most about the internet is the neverending amount of inspiration you can find without having to leave your home.

While trying to catch up on my blog reading this morning, I came across a link to THIS BLOG, which chronicles photographer’s Jason Lee’s photos of his two daughters. I love how creative he gets with each photo, creating stories featuring the two girls as main characters.

I can’t wait for the husband to do something similar with our girls!

photo by jason lee

photo by jason lee

Spring break

How are you, friends? I hope you are better than us. Robin’s congestion has worsened and she’s been running a fever since last night. I had never seen her so unwell, poor thing. I’m hoping this night will be better than the last and that she’ll start improving as soon as possible.

A feverish Robin this afternoon. All she had energy for was reading books and watching silly videos on YouTube.

Meanwhile, I feel I have to take a short break from blogging. Not only does Robin need my constant attention right now, but Maia starts her holidays tomorrow and the husband is practically working around the clock. There’s so much I want to share with you but my littles come first. I hope to be back next week, with more energy, time and two healthy children.

I wish you a very happy Easter, full of peace, love and great chocolate

(and figolli if you live on these islands)!

Lights and Letters

If you’ve known me or this blog longer than a day, you’ll know that I promote breastfeeding every chance I get.

So when I saw this post on Lights and Letters the other day, I knew I had to link to it. I love the pictures but especially Jill’s words about breastfeeding. I had the same kind of problems with Maia and then it all made more sense with Robin. On days like yesterday, I feel grateful for the fact Robin is still nursing. She didn’t eat a bite of anything all day but my mind was more at rest knowing she was having my milk at least.

Oh, I forgot to mention that I love Jill’s naturally red hair. That might have drawn me to her even more.

Photo by Leslie Fandrich (Lights and Letters)

Ooh have I got a clue for you!

I’m waiting for the husband to arrive home (yay!) and have resorted to pinning to keep myself awake. And what do I come across but this photo of the host of Blue’s Clues:

I discovered this delightful show (I hope you can detect my sarcasm here) recently, thanks to Nick Jr joining the list on our cable TV. Maia loves it and Robin loves the little jingles they sing now and then throughout the show. The husband can’t get over what a dork the host looks like and I am strangely mesmerised by him (the host I mean…and my husband too, obviously).

So I looked up the programme on Wikipedia and I discovered that Steve is in fact Steven Burns and these days he looks like this:

Who’s the dork now?

Things I’m grateful for right now

• a warm bed at night
• strong coffee in the morning (and anytime I like)
• my husband arriving home after work and helping me with the kids
• my dad taking Maia to school in the morning so I don’t have to take Robin out in the cold
• tea
• biscuits
• tea and biscuits together
• Robin getting over her chest infection without having to be hospitalised (although we were this close to that happening)
• the view from our living room
• yoga and all that it brings to my life
• fellow bloggers who entertain me, give me advice, support me and inspire me
• my readers. I love you all. No, really, I do!

The day I was a bitch

How has your week been? Mine has been a blur of nappies, medicines to be administered and the four walls of our living room.

It’s been three days since I left the house and then it was for an hour to do the grocery shopping before rushing back home. Yesterday I had a meltdown. At six in the evening, I hadn’t yet showered, my hair was all greasy and I was still in my pyjamas, carrying Robin with a numb arm. I hadn’t spoken to an adult in almost 24 hours and I felt like I was going crazy. The husband had been out since four in the morning when he left for work, after which he had a photographic assignment to go to. I ended up shouting at him for taking so long the minute he stepped through the door and I practically ordered him to go out again to buy Robin’s medicines and tons of biscuits. He obliged, bringing with him a Chinese takeaway and all my favourite biscuits. I felt like a monster for taking it out on him but he was as sweet and loving as he always is. Sometimes I wonder whether God had a hidden agenda when he sent him in my life. *sigh*

In other, rosier news, Robin is finally getting better. She’s still not completely over it but at least she has stopped wheezing and is her usual playful self again. We are planning to go for an overnight stay at our favourite hotel on the island tomorrow, to reunite with darling Maia and our closest friends. I know I’m going to go back to struggling with coping with both girls very soon, but tomorrow can’t come soon enough. I’m missing my Koukla too much. I can’t even go to sleep at night at the thought of not having her in the next room. I have also decided that this separating the girls business has to stop. Fine, the infection which forced us to separate the girls this time was contagious so it was the wise thing to do, but I can’t spend so much time away from my girl again. I feel like I’m just floating around aimlessly when one of them is not with me.

Oh yes, I had almost forgotten…I’ve finally dusted off my yoga mat and I’m doing 10-20 minutes of yoga a day. It’s not much but on days when I don’t take some time to do it, like yesterday, I pay the price for it. Most of the time I do a few poses next to Robin on her playmat while she’s playing. She thinks it’s the funniest thing she’s ever seen and giggles when she sees me stretching into a pose. And speaking of children and yoga, I’m looking into books and dvds about yoga for children. Call me crazy, but the more I learn about it, the more I realise how beneficial it is for both mind and body. So why not raise the girls with that awareness?

How do you de-stress? Do you manage to have some ‘me’ time everyday?

Now that's a cute 'cobra'!

The case for the booby. Again.

Friday wish

That’s what my plans for the weekend consist of…just breathing and waiting for little Robin to get well. I wish you a weekend full of sunshine and good health.