Staying busy...and social!

This Friday will mark the 6th week of our new life in France and we are still wondering when things will slow down! It's amazing how much time it takes to relocate to a new country. I logged on to the internet to research how to exchange our driver's licenses and got a little sidetracked by my blog. It's been great to hear the wonderful comments on my blog and I'm thrilled to know that so many people back home are thinking of us and enjoying my blog.
Robert spent last week in Germany on business (Munich and Hamburg) and loved it...said I would really love it too, so now I am looking forward to joining him on his next trip. He spent the first night being entertained by a client at the REAL Oktoberfest...he drank so much beer that he thought he heard his boss speaking German in the taxi ride home...in the morning, he found out that his boss DOES speak German and realized he wasn't as drunk as he thought he was! It was great to hear about it...sounds like a massive version of the Waterloo Oktoberfest experience. Beer companies have huge warehouses filled with long tables, live music, and of course all of the typical German cheers, chants and dances that make the event so much fun.
Meanwhile, Mommy stayed home with Burbujitas, who came down with a bad case of larengitis. I was very worried when I woke up to him crying and wheezing, and immediately called Nurse Grandma (in the middle of the night back home) for advice. I ended up waiting until the doctor's office opened, who saw him immediately, and gave me a prescription for god knows what, but whatever it was, it worked, as he was much better within a couple days. I must say that it was a little scary to be alone in a Foreign country, with a sick baby. I had to get my dictionary out before calling the doctor so that I could properly describe Andrew's symptoms. We laid pretty low for the entire week, which was kinda nice, as I got some things done at home, in addition to some much needed rest. Robert changed his flight to come home on Thursday night instead of Friday, but because of bad weather in Nice, his plane had to land in Marseilles, where he got a rental car and drove home to Antibes.
On Friday, Robert picked up our new car, and made it back home just in time for our (mine and his) doctor's appointments, that were required in order to get our medical certificate, a required document to enter into the annual 10K race in the Cap d'Antibes, called "Courir de Fleurs" which is this coming Sunday. We've had little time to train, but the entry fee was only 4 euros, and it is apparently a beautiful course. We did our first family run this Sunday, an absolutely beautiful morning, so we took out the jogging stroller and headed to the beach where we ran along side for approximately 2 hours (with plenty of walk breaks in between). After our run, we strolled into old town where we sat in an outside cafe and had a typical French breakfast of coffee, juice and croissants. (I call it more of a snack than a breakfast, but maybe that's why I'm not as skinny as all the other women around me!)
When we got home, we noticed Andrew was twisting and turning his tongue in his mouth and when I poked my finger in, I felt something a little sharp along the bottom...his first two teeth are starting to come in! Surprisingly, he doesn't seem to be too bothered by it, I think he endured more teething pain long before they started to come through. In his high chair that evening, we were clapping away, and he joined in...since then, he's been little Mr. Copycat, immitating many of my movements, (claps, splashing in the bath tub, etc) and it's hysterical to see!
On Tuesday, I met up with a Turkish friend, who took me to a new baby group, and we had a wonderful time. I met a South African girl who happens to live in the complex right next door to me, so we walked home together. She has an 8 month old boy, Noah, and we have plans to meet at the bus stop Friday so that I can introduce her to the baby group I go to every Friday. Tuesday night I went to see the movie Hairspray at the theatre in Antibes, with Antje (German girl who has a daughter, Kaya, 20 months) and Mette (Danish girl who has a daughter Maya, I think around two). Every Tuesday night in Antibes, they play "V.O." movies, that is, Version Originale, i.e. the version before it gets dubbed over by French voices. We had a great time, and loved the movie (though disappointing that they do not sell popcorn - another reason I am fatter than everybody here I guess), but I was a little distracted worrying about whether Daddy was going to be able to put Andrew down to sleep without being nursed. Since Robert had a 7:00 am flight to Madrid this morning, I was concerned that he wouldn't be able to get to bed at a decent hour. As it turns out, Andrew fell asleep on the way home from the cinema (they dropped me off there) and stayed asleep all night, well almost all night, he woke up at 4 cuz he was a tad cold as Daddy forgot to put him in his sleeping bag thingy! (I think Daddy's still feeling bad about it too!)
This morning Andrew and I went for a run along the beach, came home, ate lunch and napped together until after 3:00. I think Daddy and I have started a bit of a bad habit of having naptime, with Andrew on our chest. Last week I discovered that every day at 1:35 pm (all tv shows start on the 5 or 10 minutes - very weird) they play a chick flick, usually the type made for tv, and most are American-made, and about 10 years old, but good mindless entertainment that is also good french practice for me. So...I tune in, have cuddles with Andrew, and he sleeps like a log, and so do I! I haven't yet seen the ending to one movie, which is great for me, as I've never been able to take a nap in my life. Robert kept up with the pattern both Saturday and Sunday, and I've done it everyday this week. I should of course be using the time doing something productive, but I'm thoroughly enjoying the rest, cuddles and bonding time. I love to stare at him, while he's snoring away on me, and just gawk at how adorable he is. So anyway, we wake up and a few minutes later, my new friend Karin (from California) and Lucas (6 months) came over for a playdate. Karin is a colleague of Robert's, who introduced herself to me a few weeks ago, and took me to the local babystore and the mall in Nice. We hit it off instantly and are becoming very good friends. Andrew and Lucas were giggling a lot together, it was so funny, Andrew would jump up and down, putting on a little show in his exersaucer and Lucas would burst out laughing and then Andrew would follow suit. Then they started stealing each other's pacifiers from each other's mouths and exchanged them once or twice. Too funny! I kinda wish I would have got out the video camera too show Daddy when he gets back from Spain (tomorrow).
So, here we are, Wednesday night, and I suppose I should finish my research so that I can tell Daddy that I did do SOMETHING productive while he was away! I would have done the laundry today, but realized after I filled the machine with clothes and put soap in, that Daddy blew the fuse trying to get one of our American lamps to work in our apartment here!