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!
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