We are already at the end of March and I can't believe Burbujitas has surpassed his 15 month birthday. People continue to ask me how we are enjoying our life in France and quite frankly, despite all the daily frustrations, we are absolutely loving it. Yes, the area is unique and offers a vastly different and exciting culture, but I'm not sure if it's the area itself that has brought us such happiness or rather our particular stage in life (Robert reminds me frequently that THESE ARE the good old days, mainly when I remind him that in "the old days", I used to get tons of back massages and hair time)! Yes, it's nice that Robert has 8 weeks vacation and yes, it's nice that we can hop on a train to Cinqa Terra on our planned trip to Rome whereby we'll hop on a cruise to visit Turkey and Greece for 12 days (leaving June 15th), it's nice that we can drive just a few hours and enjoy a fabulous week of skiing and it's quite cool that we can drive less than an hour and have lunch in Italy for my birthday (which we just recently did). All those things are absolutely wonderful indeed, but we are also completely happy to spend time at home, playing soccer with Andrew in the backyard, reading stories in the family room, playing "soocy" (pacifier) games with him in the crib, and doing the daily chores at home with a little helper alongside, be it vacuuming (he likes to dust and mop while I vacuum), he LOVES to make coffee with Daddy in the morning, he adores getting his hands in the sink to wash dishes, and laundry is now a fun game of putting everything but the kitchen sink in the washing machine (this morning I found a pineapple in the washing machine!) and of course pulling out the clean clothes and spreading them all over the kitchen floor is very amusing as well. I think we are both glad that we started a family a little bit later in life, as we are settled in every other aspect of our life and can just thoroughly enjoy our time with Andrew. I adore being able to spend my days with him, and hanging out with other mom friends at baby groups and parks, etc.
Each day, Andrew is discovering new things, and while we thought we had babyproofed this apartment quite well, I'm learning that we haven't even put a dent in it. Drawers that were once too heavy for him to open, he now climbs into to access things on top of the dresser. Although the shelves on our entertainment center have been completely emptied, he climbs on top of the coffee table to access the buttons on the DVD player and internet box. If there is a cupboard or drawer without a latch, he opens it and disposes of its contents, usually placing them all in the garbage can (which is why every single trash can in our apartment is now mounted on the walls). At first I thought this is just what all toddlers do. But I've recently noticed that Andrew is the only child at the baby group that leaves the toys aside, and constantly goes through the cupboards (full of breakables), the shelves full of pamplets (and "reorganizes" them all over the floor) and of course takes things to the garbage can there too (my friend was looking high and low for her son's sneakers at the AVF on Friday, only to discover they were mysteriously placed in the trash can...hmmm...who would have done that?) Last night, we were at a birthday party for my friend's two year-old daughter (more on that later) and their place was not baby proofed and they informed that they never had to worry about baby proofing as their daughter was never really into things. Andrew, in the two hours that we were there, turned the oven on at least 25 times, pulled leaves off their plants, cranked up the volume on the stereo, made a few phone calls on their cordless phone, emptied several bowls of snacks on the floor, rummaged through their cupboards and drawers, and threw a candle over the balcony! His biggest obsession however is the telephone. He LOVES talking on the phone (especially if it's Daddy on the other line) and particularly loves taking it on and off the charger, and the associated beeping noise that goes along with it! I dread having to make phone calls during the day now, especially when I have to speak and listen in French because I can't hear myself think with all the carrying on that goes along with me having the phone and not sharing it with him! Initially, I tried to set firm boundaries that the telephone is mommy's toy and handed over his own phones (he has three) when I was making calls. But I've backed down a little and given in from time to time so that he can amuse himself for a while with the beeping noises and the fun lady that comes on frequently to say "le numero n'est pas en service actuellement"! After all, it's not dangerous, he's generally not rough with the phone, and what is the harm of a few euros spent on some long distance calls?!!!
Along with the curiosity though, have come the kisses. He LOVES to kiss and get kisses. When he wakes up in the morning, we exchange tons of kisses and it continues all throughout the day. If he taps his finger on something, he walks over to me with his finger in the air seeking a kiss "to make it better". If he falls down, he seeks a kiss once he stands back up. If Robert or I say "ouch" for any reason at all, Andrew comes to the rescue with lots of kisses. Whenever he does something he knows he's not supposed to do (i.e. hitting mommy in the face which he does occasionally when he doesn't get his own way, or pushing buttons on the tv, he willingly apologizes immediately thereafter by giving me a kiss. And he's already learned how to french kiss, lots of drool, big huge open mouth and every now and then, the tongue gets in there too!!! Of course he also likes to hug too, and snuggles before naptime and bedtime are an absolutely must. Absolutely priceless and I must capture these moments on video and camera so that I can savour these memories in the years to come.
At the park the other day, we made friends with a very nice Italian girl and her two-year old Italian daughter. The funny thing about my new friend though is that she doesn't speak English or French! Coincidentally, Robert had just recently informed me that a new colleague (who happens to be from Colombia originally) had just relocated here from Naples, Italy, along with his wife, Simona, and young daughter, and she was struggling a little with the adjustment here. In addition, the lady who assisted us with our relocation had just sent me an email about a new mom and toddler here, stating that she was a little lonely and was asking if I would introduce myself and invite her along to the pool as she was interested in taking her daughter swimming. So when I observed a mom at the park speaking Italian to her daughter, I approached her and and asked her if her name was Simona and yep, that was her! Antibes is not that small a place so it really was quite a coincidence. Anyway, she was absolutely thrilled to meet me and Andrew, and despite the language barriers (we used a combination of English, French, Spanish, Italian and sign language to communicate), our friendship began and it was her daughter's birthday party that we attended yesterday. Not knowing what to give a little Italian girl for a gift, I thought from my experience with Kara who is the biggest Dora fan in the world, a little Dora doll for the bathtub would be a good idea, and was it ever! I guess every girl, no matter what country, is a Dora fan and she didn't put the doll down from the moment she opened up the package. Unfortunately, Robert wasn't able to attend as he is now in Australia on yet another business trip, but we had a really good time and it was helpful to have Mauricio, her husband, to help translate. The Happy Birthday song in Italian is of course the same tune as English, so although we couldn't sing the words, I could hum along and Andrew was happily assisting with the entertainment by dancing and clapping along!
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Super semaine de ski
Considering the fact that our very first vacation in France was indeed a very French vacation, I thought it appropriate to entitle this blog entry in French. I have been meaning to write about our wonderful week for days now but the days somehow escape me. Robert left this morning for Florida (and although I am having significant regrets now about not joining him on his business trip - I had made the decision shortly after our return from Toronto, which also happened to be shortly after our jetlag from hell!) In any event, I am going to try to make good use of the time by a)catching up on my blog b)catching up on my mail/passport app., etc. and c)catch up on all my favorite tv shows that I have just recently figured out how to download onto a CD and watch in the DVD player. (must say, I'm most excited about the latter activity!)
Our ski trip began on Saturday morning; while Andrew and I attended his 8:30am swim class, Daddy loaded the car, made the picnic lunch, and closed the apartment up for the week. We packed ourselves into the car and with the help of mapquest (or whatever the French equivalent is), we were on our way. The first 3 hours were smooth sailing...then we hit traffic...i.e. everybody else in French and their six children packed into vehicles smaller than Honda Civics heading to the mountains on Spring Break for a week of skiing. We didn't realize at the time we booked our trip that it was Spring Break, but in the end it worked out well as Andrew had lots of children to play with in the daycare. We made it through the traffic and a couple hours (and a few wrong turns) later, we pulled into the village of Orcieres. The scenery was breathtaking. Our room (though modest and typical of a non-fancy ski lodge) had the most amazing view of the mountains. The resort itself was perfect; and included everything but the kitchen sink. We did not spend one dime while we were there, and thanks to the subsidy provided by the Employee Club at Amadeus, we did not have to spend much on the trip itself.
The first day, we woke up early (with Andrew's assistance) and headed down for breakfast. Very French indeed. The French do not eat such things as bacon, eggs, sausage or toast for breakfast. Instead the buffet was full of delicious pastries (mostly chocolate flavored/filled), wonderful cheeses, ham, baguettes, croissants, yogourt, fruit, cereal (chocolate flavored of course) and the most delicious coffee we have ever drank. (the coffee part is unusual as I have found little desire for the French stuff I've had in many cafes so far, and I must say, I am very glad it was a serve yourself coffee station as the cups that are generally provided for coffee hold little more than a sip) After breakfast, we registered Andrew for the daycare but they recommended that we only do a half day for the first time. So we had some cozy downtime in our room, got our stuff prepared for the slopes, had a family lunch and off we went to the dreaded day care facility to drop off my little baby. I think I was actually shaking and am glad that Andrew did not notice. Since parents were not permitted inside, I had to hand him over to one of the ladies (who did not speak English) and fortunately, he eagerly went. It was not until the door had closed behind us upon exiting that we heard him shrieking his lungs off. That was hard. Though we did say that we wouldn't be gone for too long and to be sure and call our mobile phone if Andrew did not settle down. Robert and I jumped on the two minute shuttle to the mountain and were on the chairlift desperately wondering how our little guy was holding out, and checking our mobile phone every five minutes for any messages or missed calls. We got in a few good runs and decided to head back to the resort to rescue our boy. We saw him before he saw us and we were happy to see he was busy reorganizing the toy shelf by pulling every single toy off the shelf and onto the floor. The next couple of times, I put Daddy on drop-off duty and though it got progressively easier throughout the week, he still freaked out when he saw the big scary purple door that lead to the day care. Almost every time we picked him up, he was busy playing or having a snack (chocolate flavored of course!)
Robert and I thoroughly enjoyed the skiing. Blue sky and sunny every single day. The ski conditions were perfect, the snow was incredible and the scenery surrounding us was to die for. We enjoyed some quality together time, the first of which we've had in a long time. We requested a picnic lunch the night before each ski day which we brought along and ate at the chalet section of the mountain that was owned by the resort we were staying at. My biggest laugh of the entire trip was when Robert lost his lunch. To begin, Robert is someone who likes to take many stops down the mountain...he needs to adjust his goggles, fix his ski boot, put on or take off clothes, blow his nose, etc. I couldn't complain as I am much slower descending the moutain than him. So, here we are in the line up to the lift and Robert needs to find a place to store his lunch. (you bring it up the mountain with you and store it in the chalet until you are ready to eat) So, he's fiddling and fussing, trying to find a place to put his lunch, so that he could hold his poles with his hands. He decided to shove it down the front of his jacket, nestled in his chest underneath the top of the ski pants. Well the lunch was causing some significant discomfort as by the time we got to the front of the lift line, he declared that his lunch was sitting on his balls. So...of course we need to fiddle and fuss some more, and let people behind us in line go ahead) and I'm already laughing. He gets his lunch in a more comfortable position and up the mountain we go. We were on a chair that held six people and there happened to be a dad and two younger children on with us. Well, as we are doing the typical scurrying to get off the chair and out of the way so as not to bump into anybody else getting off, one of the children PLOWS into Robert. Robert goes flying, the skis falls off, and of course the lunch (god knows where it was stashed) goes FLYING, the plastic baggy breaks and the contents go everywhere...and I am absolutely going to pee my pants laughing! Robert found no humour in the situation at first, was rather annoyed, and said "the hell with my lunch", abruptly put his skis back on, and took off down the mountain leaving sandwiches, cookies, salad, water bottles, etc. dispersed throughout the snow. Through my tears of laughter, I picked up as much as I could, stuffed my pockets and ski pants and followed him down the mountain. I had several laugh attacks that week reflecting on this incident, and Robert joined in on most of them as he found it much funnier after the fact!!!
Our week was filled with many yummy meals and glasses of red wine, quiet, cozy and early evenings (in bed by 9 every night), swimming in the glass-enclosed indoor swimming pool, lots and lots of playtime with Burbujitas and some much needed sleep for all three of us. We are so looking forward to doing it again, and especially cannot wait until Andrew can join us on the slopes, which will be less than two years away.
Our ski trip began on Saturday morning; while Andrew and I attended his 8:30am swim class, Daddy loaded the car, made the picnic lunch, and closed the apartment up for the week. We packed ourselves into the car and with the help of mapquest (or whatever the French equivalent is), we were on our way. The first 3 hours were smooth sailing...then we hit traffic...i.e. everybody else in French and their six children packed into vehicles smaller than Honda Civics heading to the mountains on Spring Break for a week of skiing. We didn't realize at the time we booked our trip that it was Spring Break, but in the end it worked out well as Andrew had lots of children to play with in the daycare. We made it through the traffic and a couple hours (and a few wrong turns) later, we pulled into the village of Orcieres. The scenery was breathtaking. Our room (though modest and typical of a non-fancy ski lodge) had the most amazing view of the mountains. The resort itself was perfect; and included everything but the kitchen sink. We did not spend one dime while we were there, and thanks to the subsidy provided by the Employee Club at Amadeus, we did not have to spend much on the trip itself.
The first day, we woke up early (with Andrew's assistance) and headed down for breakfast. Very French indeed. The French do not eat such things as bacon, eggs, sausage or toast for breakfast. Instead the buffet was full of delicious pastries (mostly chocolate flavored/filled), wonderful cheeses, ham, baguettes, croissants, yogourt, fruit, cereal (chocolate flavored of course) and the most delicious coffee we have ever drank. (the coffee part is unusual as I have found little desire for the French stuff I've had in many cafes so far, and I must say, I am very glad it was a serve yourself coffee station as the cups that are generally provided for coffee hold little more than a sip) After breakfast, we registered Andrew for the daycare but they recommended that we only do a half day for the first time. So we had some cozy downtime in our room, got our stuff prepared for the slopes, had a family lunch and off we went to the dreaded day care facility to drop off my little baby. I think I was actually shaking and am glad that Andrew did not notice. Since parents were not permitted inside, I had to hand him over to one of the ladies (who did not speak English) and fortunately, he eagerly went. It was not until the door had closed behind us upon exiting that we heard him shrieking his lungs off. That was hard. Though we did say that we wouldn't be gone for too long and to be sure and call our mobile phone if Andrew did not settle down. Robert and I jumped on the two minute shuttle to the mountain and were on the chairlift desperately wondering how our little guy was holding out, and checking our mobile phone every five minutes for any messages or missed calls. We got in a few good runs and decided to head back to the resort to rescue our boy. We saw him before he saw us and we were happy to see he was busy reorganizing the toy shelf by pulling every single toy off the shelf and onto the floor. The next couple of times, I put Daddy on drop-off duty and though it got progressively easier throughout the week, he still freaked out when he saw the big scary purple door that lead to the day care. Almost every time we picked him up, he was busy playing or having a snack (chocolate flavored of course!)
Robert and I thoroughly enjoyed the skiing. Blue sky and sunny every single day. The ski conditions were perfect, the snow was incredible and the scenery surrounding us was to die for. We enjoyed some quality together time, the first of which we've had in a long time. We requested a picnic lunch the night before each ski day which we brought along and ate at the chalet section of the mountain that was owned by the resort we were staying at. My biggest laugh of the entire trip was when Robert lost his lunch. To begin, Robert is someone who likes to take many stops down the mountain...he needs to adjust his goggles, fix his ski boot, put on or take off clothes, blow his nose, etc. I couldn't complain as I am much slower descending the moutain than him. So, here we are in the line up to the lift and Robert needs to find a place to store his lunch. (you bring it up the mountain with you and store it in the chalet until you are ready to eat) So, he's fiddling and fussing, trying to find a place to put his lunch, so that he could hold his poles with his hands. He decided to shove it down the front of his jacket, nestled in his chest underneath the top of the ski pants. Well the lunch was causing some significant discomfort as by the time we got to the front of the lift line, he declared that his lunch was sitting on his balls. So...of course we need to fiddle and fuss some more, and let people behind us in line go ahead) and I'm already laughing. He gets his lunch in a more comfortable position and up the mountain we go. We were on a chair that held six people and there happened to be a dad and two younger children on with us. Well, as we are doing the typical scurrying to get off the chair and out of the way so as not to bump into anybody else getting off, one of the children PLOWS into Robert. Robert goes flying, the skis falls off, and of course the lunch (god knows where it was stashed) goes FLYING, the plastic baggy breaks and the contents go everywhere...and I am absolutely going to pee my pants laughing! Robert found no humour in the situation at first, was rather annoyed, and said "the hell with my lunch", abruptly put his skis back on, and took off down the mountain leaving sandwiches, cookies, salad, water bottles, etc. dispersed throughout the snow. Through my tears of laughter, I picked up as much as I could, stuffed my pockets and ski pants and followed him down the mountain. I had several laugh attacks that week reflecting on this incident, and Robert joined in on most of them as he found it much funnier after the fact!!!
Our week was filled with many yummy meals and glasses of red wine, quiet, cozy and early evenings (in bed by 9 every night), swimming in the glass-enclosed indoor swimming pool, lots and lots of playtime with Burbujitas and some much needed sleep for all three of us. We are so looking forward to doing it again, and especially cannot wait until Andrew can join us on the slopes, which will be less than two years away.
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