It's been a fun week!
Wednesday Eleni turned 2 years old!!
Someone please tell me how this is even possible! I could have sworn we just brought her home from the hospital yesterday....
So for the last few weeks Eleni has been waking up everyday saying,
And of course everyday I had to say,
She's also been asking for balloons. I usually keep a package of balloons in a drawer in the kitchen. She knows where they are so she just goes and helps herself to a balloon and tries to blow it up......which she hasn't been able to do yet, but I let her try for as long as she likes.
Then she asks one of us to blow it up for her. t
Then she kicks it around a little bit and yells "GOAL!"
And then she pops it....and that's the end of the game.
She loves it! At least a half hour of entertainment every time, which for a toddler, is amazing.
Anyway, BALLOONS. So she's been asking for balloons because the drawer has been empty lately.
And everyday I would tell her
And she'd yell,
So Tuesday night after I put Eleni to bed and had a little cry because I couldn't believe my baby is turning 2 (true story, except it wasn't just a little cry, it was an ugly, heaving sob with a lot of snot), I filled up the living room with balloons!!
Just before I went to bed, I put the camera on the dresser so I could grab it as soon as she woke up and get a video of her reaction to the balloons in the morning. Well the next morning I woke up, and as most people find...I needed to pee. But as most pregnant women find, this isn't just a "I'll slowly roll out of bed and make my way there in a minute" type-situation. This is a "RUN!!! NOW!!!" situation. So, I did that.
As I was finishing up I heard a little voice, "Mommy? Mommy?"
Panicking, I yelled, "Mommy just had to go pee-pee baby, just wait for me in bed, I'll be right there!"
But I could hear her getting out of bed, and then I really started to panic because I didn't have my camera and she was going to find the balloons and I was going to miss her reaction and I'll never get this moment back and I'll have missed it for all eternity and WHY ARE MY STUPID UNDERWEAR STUCK!!!
I think I'm a fairly intelligent person but when things like this happen to me, I have to question whether that 50 grand I still owe to Simon Fraser University was worth it.....
Anyway, somehow I managed to convince Eleni to stay in the bedroom and wait for me while I untangled myself. Which she did. Good girl!
Then we crawled back into bed (her idea, once again, Good girl!), and she gave me hugs and kisses and looked at me smiling and said, "Happy birthday to YOU?"..........
After weeks of asking everyday if it was her birthday that day, finally the day of her birthday arrives and she asks me if it's my birthday.....go figure
So I said,
She sat up with a HUGE smile and yelled,
I should probably mention....not because it's important, but because it's cute....she can't actually say 'birthday' properly. She says 'burr-day'.......yeah, I told ya it's cute....
Anyway, so Eleni and I got up, I grabbed the camera and we went out into the living room. When she saw all the balloons she said, "OH, Mommy! BALLOOOOOOONS!!!"
It was very sweet! And yes I do have a video of it but it's still on the camera, I haven't uploaded it yet, and unfortunately Antonis has the camera today because we're making an ad for the restaurant. But I will share that as soon as I can......I know, I know, why tell that whole story when I don't even have the video yet?? Because I didn't want to forget the story...remember, we're writing the Mallis family history here....and also because I'm notoriously disorganized with this kind of thing and we all know that so we'll just have to get over it....
So we woke up Baba and Eleni opened her presents from us: a little kitchen that makes fun cooking ans washing up noises, a set of plastic food to put in the little fridge, and a giant book of 750 stickers to stick all over the house and drive me crazy! She loved all of it!
Then we got ready and went down to the restaurant to set up for the party. Everyone was coming at noon....we didn't get there until after 11am.....I was panicking again....luckily this time it wasn't because my underwear were stuck, put panicking nonetheless....
Lucky for me Miltos and Maria arrived with their kids 15 minutes early, because as I was struggling with the fruit kabobs thinking I was never going to have time to make the sandwiches, Maria came in and we had everything out and on the table by 12:10! Maria, my birthday party angel! We were a couple minutes late but it doesn't matter because we're in Greece and everyone shows up late for things anyway.
Eleni had the best time! She ate so much junk food, I don't even think she tried one of those stupid fruit kabobs....just a little note to self as well as anyone else who goes on Pinterest and thinks fruit kabobs look like a great idea for a kid's party....THEY'RE NOT! DON'T DO IT!
They take forever to make, if you stuff them in a watermelon rind for a fancy-pants-presentation you can't get them out without using Chuck Norris-like-skills, and the skewers are later used by one kid to pop all the balloons and make all the other kids cry....FRUIT KABOBS = FAILURE! Just cut the fruit up and throw it on a plate. Nobody will even notice the fruit porcupine that took you 4 hours to make anyway......
As I was saying, Eleni had a great time playing with her friends. It was definitely a successful 2nd birthday party....except for the fruit kabobs....oh, and she didn't actually eat any cake. I forgot to mention above that everyday while she was asking if it was her birthday yet and was her birthday party today and about the balloons, she was also asking for chocolate cake for her party. And of course, the day of her party, Lefteris bought her a big Hello Kitty chocolate birthday cake AND....she doesn't even want to eat a piece! Crazy kid! Oh well.
Like I said before, I don't have our camera right now to show you the photos from the party, but I DO have something even better! Our good friend Torsten came to the party.....and if you've read the blog in the past I've shared his photos many times here and I think we all agree, we'd rather look at his photos over mine any day of the week! So here are some photos by Torsten, who so thoughtfully gave me a USB stick filled with photos from this party, an envelope full of photos from Eleni's 1st birthday party last year AND gave Eleni a gorgeous, custom made dress from our good friend Malene over at Botek here in Molyvos (http://www.botek.co she's a genius with a sewing machine and has beautiful fabric, she didn't pay me to say this I just really really really love her stuff and I think she's incredibly talented so you should definitely order yourself something from her website.....or order something for me since she lives right around the corner and the shipping won't cost you a thing *wink wink, hint hint*)
So, a big BIG thank you once again to our dear friend Torsten for the gorgeous photos below!
You've beautifully captured yet another special moment in the Mallis family history and we're so grateful for it!
Wednesday Eleni turned 2 years old!!
Someone please tell me how this is even possible! I could have sworn we just brought her home from the hospital yesterday....
So for the last few weeks Eleni has been waking up everyday saying,
"Mommy! Happy birthday to Eleni? Party? Today?"
And of course everyday I had to say,
"No, not today Elli Bean, but soon, I promise!"
She's also been asking for balloons. I usually keep a package of balloons in a drawer in the kitchen. She knows where they are so she just goes and helps herself to a balloon and tries to blow it up......which she hasn't been able to do yet, but I let her try for as long as she likes.
Then she asks one of us to blow it up for her. t
Then she kicks it around a little bit and yells "GOAL!"
And then she pops it....and that's the end of the game.
She loves it! At least a half hour of entertainment every time, which for a toddler, is amazing.
Anyway, BALLOONS. So she's been asking for balloons because the drawer has been empty lately.
And everyday I would tell her
"No, not today Elli Bean, but soon, I promise! We're going to buy LOTS of balloons for your birthday party!"
And she'd yell,
"YAYYYY!"
and jump around for a while...and then ask me to put on Peppa Pig for her....
So Tuesday night after I put Eleni to bed and had a little cry because I couldn't believe my baby is turning 2 (true story, except it wasn't just a little cry, it was an ugly, heaving sob with a lot of snot), I filled up the living room with balloons!!
Just before I went to bed, I put the camera on the dresser so I could grab it as soon as she woke up and get a video of her reaction to the balloons in the morning. Well the next morning I woke up, and as most people find...I needed to pee. But as most pregnant women find, this isn't just a "I'll slowly roll out of bed and make my way there in a minute" type-situation. This is a "RUN!!! NOW!!!" situation. So, I did that.
As I was finishing up I heard a little voice, "Mommy? Mommy?"
Panicking, I yelled, "Mommy just had to go pee-pee baby, just wait for me in bed, I'll be right there!"
But I could hear her getting out of bed, and then I really started to panic because I didn't have my camera and she was going to find the balloons and I was going to miss her reaction and I'll never get this moment back and I'll have missed it for all eternity and WHY ARE MY STUPID UNDERWEAR STUCK!!!
I think I'm a fairly intelligent person but when things like this happen to me, I have to question whether that 50 grand I still owe to Simon Fraser University was worth it.....
Anyway, somehow I managed to convince Eleni to stay in the bedroom and wait for me while I untangled myself. Which she did. Good girl!
Then we crawled back into bed (her idea, once again, Good girl!), and she gave me hugs and kisses and looked at me smiling and said, "Happy birthday to YOU?"..........
After weeks of asking everyday if it was her birthday that day, finally the day of her birthday arrives and she asks me if it's my birthday.....go figure
So I said,
"No Elli Bean, it's not MY birthday today, it's YOUR birthday today!!! And we need to get up and get ready because you're having a big party today!!"
She sat up with a HUGE smile and yelled,
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ELENI!!! BABA, BABA, WAKE UP, IT HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ELENI TODAY!!!"
I should probably mention....not because it's important, but because it's cute....she can't actually say 'birthday' properly. She says 'burr-day'.......yeah, I told ya it's cute....
Anyway, so Eleni and I got up, I grabbed the camera and we went out into the living room. When she saw all the balloons she said, "OH, Mommy! BALLOOOOOOONS!!!"
It was very sweet! And yes I do have a video of it but it's still on the camera, I haven't uploaded it yet, and unfortunately Antonis has the camera today because we're making an ad for the restaurant. But I will share that as soon as I can......I know, I know, why tell that whole story when I don't even have the video yet?? Because I didn't want to forget the story...remember, we're writing the Mallis family history here....and also because I'm notoriously disorganized with this kind of thing and we all know that so we'll just have to get over it....
So we woke up Baba and Eleni opened her presents from us: a little kitchen that makes fun cooking ans washing up noises, a set of plastic food to put in the little fridge, and a giant book of 750 stickers to stick all over the house and drive me crazy! She loved all of it!
Then we got ready and went down to the restaurant to set up for the party. Everyone was coming at noon....we didn't get there until after 11am.....I was panicking again....luckily this time it wasn't because my underwear were stuck, put panicking nonetheless....
Lucky for me Miltos and Maria arrived with their kids 15 minutes early, because as I was struggling with the fruit kabobs thinking I was never going to have time to make the sandwiches, Maria came in and we had everything out and on the table by 12:10! Maria, my birthday party angel! We were a couple minutes late but it doesn't matter because we're in Greece and everyone shows up late for things anyway.
Eleni had the best time! She ate so much junk food, I don't even think she tried one of those stupid fruit kabobs....just a little note to self as well as anyone else who goes on Pinterest and thinks fruit kabobs look like a great idea for a kid's party....THEY'RE NOT! DON'T DO IT!
They take forever to make, if you stuff them in a watermelon rind for a fancy-pants-presentation you can't get them out without using Chuck Norris-like-skills, and the skewers are later used by one kid to pop all the balloons and make all the other kids cry....FRUIT KABOBS = FAILURE! Just cut the fruit up and throw it on a plate. Nobody will even notice the fruit porcupine that took you 4 hours to make anyway......
As I was saying, Eleni had a great time playing with her friends. It was definitely a successful 2nd birthday party....except for the fruit kabobs....oh, and she didn't actually eat any cake. I forgot to mention above that everyday while she was asking if it was her birthday yet and was her birthday party today and about the balloons, she was also asking for chocolate cake for her party. And of course, the day of her party, Lefteris bought her a big Hello Kitty chocolate birthday cake AND....she doesn't even want to eat a piece! Crazy kid! Oh well.
Like I said before, I don't have our camera right now to show you the photos from the party, but I DO have something even better! Our good friend Torsten came to the party.....and if you've read the blog in the past I've shared his photos many times here and I think we all agree, we'd rather look at his photos over mine any day of the week! So here are some photos by Torsten, who so thoughtfully gave me a USB stick filled with photos from this party, an envelope full of photos from Eleni's 1st birthday party last year AND gave Eleni a gorgeous, custom made dress from our good friend Malene over at Botek here in Molyvos (http://www.botek.co she's a genius with a sewing machine and has beautiful fabric, she didn't pay me to say this I just really really really love her stuff and I think she's incredibly talented so you should definitely order yourself something from her website.....or order something for me since she lives right around the corner and the shipping won't cost you a thing *wink wink, hint hint*)
So, a big BIG thank you once again to our dear friend Torsten for the gorgeous photos below!
You've beautifully captured yet another special moment in the Mallis family history and we're so grateful for it!
Sakis...or Papou Saki as Eleni calls him
YAYYY, I'M SO HAPPY TO BE 2!!
Not now Yiayia, I want to play with my friends!
Big hugs from Baba
Eleni flossing her teeth with her balloon
and The Twins make an appearance here as well
The handsome Alexandros,
or 'Egg-shan-doe' as Eleni calls him
Apostolis
This little guy is my visual measurement of how long I've been in Molyvos,
he was born the first summer I was here
and now he's 6.....
very grown up...
and a balloon popper extraordinaire....
Maria - Apostolis' mom, and my birthday party angel!
Thank you SO MUCH for swooping in and saving my butt that day!
And her sweet daughter Michaela
Yes, this is from the boxed wine
Yes, she did get presents for her birthday
Yes, of course she preferred the blown up wine pouch
Yes, I also played with these as a kid and
Yes, they are awesome and super fun so
No, she's not that weird.......at least I don't think so.....
Christina, Eleni's good friend and our neighbour
Party animal taking a little break
Danei
You're too cute little one!!
And your 2nd birthday is next in just few weeks!
Not now Yiayia, I'm busy!
Cake time!!!
Miltos and Yiannis
I'm just gonna let this one speak for itself.....
beautiful pictures and wow how she grew!!!!! :-)
ReplyDeletelots of kisses
Charlotte
Thank you Charlotte, and yes she's grown so much. She's not a baby anymore...even if I still call her that haha! Leo's changed so much too since last year, it's amazing! I think he looks just like Mommy now :) I'm thinking of you all the time and looking forward to the announcement that your little girl has arrived xoxo
ReplyDeleteaaaawwwww thanks Tara!!!! You are also on my mind!!!!! I hope u r doing good now with the twins and that u can njoy the last months!!!! I am trying to think if I know someone in Kalloni with twins for stuff that u could get... I will let u know! I am veryyyyy much waiting for the announcement of the genders!!! Lets see if Andonis stays as the KING of the house :-)
ReplyDeletexoxo