JUBILANT JANUARY, DELIGHTFUL DECEMBER 2017

2017 has been an eventful year for us. 

As mentioned in my January 2017 post, the year started with extreme joy and excitement as we welcomed our granddaughter, Olivia to this world. 

It had been a journey of connecting through Skype as we tracked Livvie's progress : from her delight on seeing her kung kung and por por through the screen,  and being able to wave goodbye at the end of each Skype sessions, to seeing her demonstrate her grasp of language as she obediently points to parts of her body, and then progressing to mouthing the words such as "Por Por", "Bye", as well as playing "Peek-A -Boo" with us.

The highlight of the year was when all the children and grandchildren were able to gather in KK for the Christmas holidays. What a time we had - 

( Left - Livvie giving us a grin    & Right - Mandatory climb up the staircase)

Nathan and Grace were delighted to connect with their new cousin.

We also connected with Nathan and Grace through Skype. We observed how each of them has grown both in stature and maturity. The social media has been a boon for long distance grandparents. We were able to chat with them as they eagerly recounted their routines as well as adventures. 

 (Nathan and Grace posing at a restaurant in Kundasang)

 (Nathan and Grace loved the indoor tent sleeping corner that we rigged for them. Every night was an adventure of reading, story telling and play acting)

Grace has shown more confidence when she related to us in person. During our Skype sessions, she was hesitant when speaking to us and was contented to let her brother finish her sentences. Now, whenever her brother tried to interrupt, she would look at him and say firmly, : "Nathan, I haven't finish speaking yet." (And the brother would apologise for interrupting)

I still remember the days when I read to Nathan and after reading a story, he would look at me earnestly and say : Por Por, when I learn to read, I will read to you." Well, the day finally came and I was impressed by his level of reading. 

We took a trip to the National Park as Nathan was eager to see the Rafflesia and Nepenthe plant aka Pitcher plant. He was not disappointed as on Christmas day, one Rafflesia bloomed. It was a whopping 75 cm , 6 petaled flower. Certainly a birthday gift to him. 

The children were fascinated by the nepenthes although Nathan would love to see the plant devouring an insect !

 Serene was keen to let the children experience Fish Spa and so we took the children to a village, some 30 km away. We passed a gigantic teapot at a roundabout. It was like a page out of 'Alice in Wonderland'

Memories are made from experiences such as these. There's a saying, "Some people bring joy wherever they go....." and certainly this is exactly how we feel about our grandchildren !!