lundi 20 septembre 2010

Gaëtan - 21 months


- has started daycare last week and so far everything is going well (he has only spent 15min alone there but it's a beginning!)
- is officially only napping once per day (in the afternoon)
- is washing his hands all by himself in the little sink in the toilets (thanks to a little IKEA stool)
- is saying more and more words, although he doesn't pronunce them very well
- still looooooves strawberries
- is looking for - and finds her - my sister Marie in a magazine (Femme Actuelle): it's actually a brunette modelling for Monoprix but she has a similar fringe!
- says "Tonton" (uncle) whenever he sees the red apples we brought back from Cussac + asks regularly after "tonton" [he spent time with 2 of his uncles this summer]
- adooores the slides at the park or at daycare and seems to prefer going down head first
- is not interested in the slightest by the potty but will gladly sit on it (or stand in it!) from time to time (all dressed up or with his diaper on... hardly ever butt-naked)
- likes to take people by the hand (very cute!) and lead them somewhere (he usually doesn't know where himself... this is not the point! The point is: HE is leading!)
- is starting (very slowly) to give REAL kisses (ie on our cheeks and not only blowing them) to REAL people (ie dad, mom, grand-parents, "tonton"...) not just to his plush toys or animals in his picture books!
- is gives kisses very generously to every single animal he comes across (plush toys, images in books, on tv...) and blows many kisses when saying goodbye; including to people with don't know that well like the postman, salepeople at the stores...)
- desperatly needs new shoes and new slippers (bad mother!)
- cries/screams whenever he is at the pediatrician... this is why I've ordered/bought some books on the subject to prepare next visit (in December)
- likes to wander in the flat pulling our shopping caddy: it's heavy, quite big and doesn't turn easily... which proves VERY frustrating to the little man! (meaning many tears!)
- still wakes up regularly (but briefly) during the night: nightmares? night terrors? I went to calm him down almost every single time this summer because I didn't want him to wake anybody up, but I am now trying to get him used to calming himself down. I really do hope things will quiet down shortly. I need my beauty sleep!
- loooves having someone read him his books, quietly sits down next to the lector to listen/watch the images, then runs to get another one as soon as the first one is finished...
- still has a weird obsession with bottle caps ('chon, 'chon! = bouchon), doors ('poh, 'poh! = porte), lights (kia, kia! = lumière), cars ('atur, 'atur = voiture) and especially trucks (cahon or cayon = camion) since this summer and our many road trips
- has a new car seat facing forwards and it's pure joy!
- takes a shower more and more often in dad and mom's shower (instead of his usual bath) and takes great care to wet himself thoroughly with the shower head, then to scrub himself with the shower gel
- found two great ways to make mummy smile when she's angry with him: either by saying "maman, cahin [calin = hug]"/"maman {kiss in my direction}" while stretching his arms in my direction OR by saying "nez, yeux, cou..." (= nose, eyes, neck...) while pointing at the various parts of my face.
- looooves to help me unpack the grocery shopping from the caddy and bring it to the kitchen. Whatever he's carrying, it is always "lour" (= heavy) and carried with much huffing and puffing!
- says "bébi" (= baby) whenever he sees a baby or another child in the street, in the park, on tv, in magazines... He also says the same thing whenever he sees a picture of himself.
- has started to climb on the back of the sofa and get down on the other side... ER here we come!
- has already had his fair share of bumps and bruises but nothing major yet (fingers crossed!)
- his hair is still very thin but is starting to get longer again
- is still cute as a button and still melts my heart whenever I look at him ;)

All in all, a little todler who is growing well and whose spirit (somebody said temper??!) is beginning to show through!

dimanche 19 septembre 2010

LOAD - 1st page "Hello sweet baby"


A page I had started long before doing my LOAD project in June. I was stuck with the journaling block and didn't really know what I wanted to do except use some of Ali Edward's word art I had purchased several months earlier!

A page I am glad I finished:
- because honestly it was embarrassing to see it half-finished every. single. time I was sitting at my desk...)
- because I could then put it away in an album and start working on something new and fresh
- because it was - with all its flaws - "better done than perfect" and quite simply another precious memory preserved
and it is all that matters!

The journaling is about all the little everyday things I do (like singing to him, giving him kisses, cooking his meals etc...) for Gaëtan to show him how much I love him.

samedi 18 septembre 2010

Gaëtan - 21 mois


- a commencé l'adaptation à la halte-garderie et ça se passe plutôt bien(1h avec moi + 1h avec 15min sans moi!)
- ne fait officiellement plus qu'une sieste l'après-midi
- se lave les mains tout seul dans le lavabo des WCs en montant sur le petit marche-pied IKEA
- dit de plus en plus de mots, mais ne les prononce pas encore très bien
- adore toujours autant les fraises
- cherche et trouve Marie dans le Femme Actuelle (une nana brune avec une frange pour une pub Monoprix!)
- dit Tonton quand il voit les pommes rouges ramenées de Cussac + demande régulièrement après "tonton"
- adooore les toboggans au parc ou à la halte-garderie et a une fâcheuse tendance à vouloir descendre tête la première
- n'est pas vraiment intéressé par le pot, mais s'asseoit volontiers dessus de temps en temps (tout habillé ou avec la couche, plus rarement tout nu!)
- aime beaucoup prendre les gens par la main et les emmener se promener
- commence (doucement) à faire de vrais bisous (ie sur la joue et pas seulement sur sa main pour les "envoyer" ensuite) à des personnes (ie papa, maman, les gds parents, tonton...) et plus seulement à ses doudous et aux animaux dans ses livres!
- il est encore plus généreux que d'habitude avec les bisous aux différents animaux (peluches ou photos) et avec les bisoux envoyés avec la main quand il dit au revoir aux gens (au facteur, dans les magasins etc...)
- a désespérement besoin de nouvelles chaussures et de nouveaux chaussons qui sont trop petits (mauvaise mère!)
- pleure/hurle quand il est chez le pédiatre... d'où la commande de petits livres sur le sujet pour dédramatiser la situation et préparer la prochaine visite
- aime bien se promener dans l'appartement en tirant le caddie pour les courses derrière lui: c'est lourd et encombrant donc ça ne prend pas bien virage... d'où de nombreux cris/pleurs de frustration...
- a encore de nombreux (mais brefs) réveils la nuit dûs à des terreurs nocturnes et/ou cauchemars: après m'être précipitée pour le calmer cet été pour ne pas qu'il réveille les différentes maisonnées, j'essaye de l'habituer à se calmer/rendormir seul. J'ai bon espoir que les choses rentrent progressivement dans l'ordre!
- adore qu'on lui lise ses livres et s'asseoit sagement près du lecteur pour suivre le cours de l'histoire, puis file chercher un autre livre dès que le précédent est terminé...
- a toujours une obsession pour les bouchons ('chon, 'chon!), les portes ('poh, 'poh!), les lumières (kia, kia!), les voitures ('atur, 'atur) et surtout les camions (cahon ou cayon) depuis cet été et nos nombreux trajets autoroutiers.
- a un nouveau siège auto face à la route et c'est le bonheur!
- prend de plus en plus souvent une douche dans la douche de papa et maman à l'heure du bain et s'applique à s'asperger d'eau avec le pommeau de douche puis à se frotter quand je lui mets du gel douche
- a trouvé deux méthodes imparables pour dérider maman quand elle est fâchée. Au choix: "maman, cahin [calin]"/"maman {bisou en ma direction}" en tendant les bras vers moi OU "nez, yeu, cou etc..." en pointant sur mon visage les différentes parties.
- adore m'aider à transporter/ranger les courses de la poussette jusqu'à la cuisine. Quoi qu'il porte, c'est toujours "lour" et transporté à grands renforts de "ho hiss" bien démonstratifs!
- dit "bébi" dès qu'il voit un bébé ou un enfant, dans la rue, à la télé, sur un emballage etc...
- a commencé à escalader le dossier du canapé et à redescendre de l'autre côté...
- a déjà eu son quota de bleus, bosses et écorchures, mais rien de grave pour l'instant (on croise les doigts!)

Bref, un petit bonhomme qui grandit bien et dont le caractère commence à s'affirmer!

lundi 6 septembre 2010

The long-awaited LOAD pages!


Just a quick overview of the 27 pages I created back in June. I don't love them equally but I am fairly proud of myself. 27 memories preserved: yeah me!

More details in the days to come...

samedi 4 septembre 2010

Summer 2010 - What we did


While we were away:

- we drove many miles
- we walked/hiked
- we swam both in the sea and in a lake
- we visited a castle (Neuschwanstein)
- we took a cogwheel train + an aerial cablecar to the highest summit in Germany (the Zugspitze that culminates at 2900m)
- we walked through the Parnach gorge
- we ate new foods (incl. some weird Bavarian sausages)
- we saw many cows
- we slept in 11 different places
- we attended Gaëlle & Karsten's wedding
- we spent time with family
- we spent time with friends
- we picked mirabelle plums and made 35 jars of jam
- we met several contractors to talk about the renovation of the old house in Beauberty
- we celebrated Elise & Etienne's birthdays
- we celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary


While at home:

- we had fun in the little inflatable swimming pool (esp. Gaëtan!)
- we watched the fireworks on Ile St Germain on Bastille Day
- we went to Thoiry zoo and to Bagatelle gardens with Jeanne
- we took the métro to Paris plage and ate a picnic on a deck overlooking the Seine river
- we took the tramway to La Défense to meet Daddy at work and have lunch with him
- we ate homegrown strawberries from the terrace

vendredi 3 septembre 2010

Summer 2010 - itineraries

This summer we've done a lot of travelling by car, either as a family of 3 or just the 2 of us (Gaëtan + me).
Considering how many miles we've traveled, I'm deeply grateful that:
- Gaëtan has never been sick in the car + is fairly quiet even though he doesn't sleep much
- we haven't had any accident or any mechanical problem with the car
- Jérôme and I both love to drive


These are our itineraries:

- 1st trip (July 2-11): 1300km
Issy (Paris/home) - Mesquer / Pornichet (Southern Brittany) - Cussac (Limousin) - Issy
- 2nd trip (July 22-August 4): 1300km
Issy - Beauberty (Auvergne) - St Etienne (Rhône-Alpes) - Clémensat (Auvergne)- Issy

- 3rd trip (August 14-29): 2600km
Issy - Strasbourg (Alsace) [sleepover] - Garmisch Partenkirchen (Southern Bavaria, Germany) - Nürnberg (Northern Bavaria) - Beaune (Burgundy) [sleepover] - Cussac - Issy


For a grand total of 5200km!! This could be roughly translated in the US as a Seattle-Miami road trip: makes me dizzy just (re)thinking about it...

jeudi 2 septembre 2010

Best of summer 2010

Our summer looked like this:

More pics and more details in the days to come ;)

mercredi 1 septembre 2010

Hello September!


No grand plan, no promises, no pressure... just a desire to write again... keeping it simple to keep writing and posting... we shall see...


So hello September!

Hello new start!
September always feels like another January 1st: going back to our routines after the holidays/summer vacations, a month full of promises and fresh starts...

Hello September!
Hello new workshops!
Elise's BIG mini workshop has already started and Karen's Book of stories will soon follow. I love love love learning new things and getting an insight into other people's creative mind.

Hello September!
Hello new routines!
Gaëtan is now 20.5 mo and I'd like to do some new activities with him. Maybe a swimming class, a music class or a gym class... Going more regularly to the library and to the park... Hopefully it will also mean going to day-care for 1 or 2 afternoons per week (we're on several waiting lists) as he loooves being around other children.

Hello September!
Hello Fall!
This summer has not been the sunniest/hottest (at least where we were staying), so I'm ready to start a new chapter and head into Fall. I love autumn foliage, I love autumn fruits (apples, pears, plums, nuts) and vegs (pumpkins, parsnips), I love the long anticipation of Christmas and the holiday season...
I am especially looking forward to October, since my brother and sister-in-law will have their first baby around the 20th. I am sooo excited to meet you little miss C!!

So hello September!
Hello new dreams/hopes/projects for the coming months... I hope to be able to achieve/complete some of you before the end of the year!

We shall see... again, no pressure... I don't thrive under pressure, I hide...

See you around blog... hopefully not in 4 months!