I truly cannot believe how long it has been since my last post. I have given some thought to discontinuing this blog entirely but then when I read back on previous posts, it inspired me to keep it going. The problem is time. Admittedly, I could find a way to find the time for periodic updates, as I am a stay-at-home mom and I am not in an office 8 to 10 hours per day. But over the past year, I have found my life has become busier than ever, by choice for the most part. It doesn't help that my "baby" is no longer taking two 3-hour naps per day. But I have found that our weekly schedule is filled with children's activities; baby groups, birthday parties, sporting events, social gatherings and other activities in addition of course to the endless stream of errands, loads of laundry, dealings with the houses in FL, etc, and when we are home together, my attention is dedicated largely to one or both boys. I enjoy this. Thoroughly. I have my bad days, don't get me wrong; but for the most part, I savour every second of every day I have with the boys. Both boys are fully capable of playing independently now but I enjoy involving myself in new board games, helping Andrew to read and write, helping Ryan achieve new milestones, etc. And I don't want to feel any guilt about NOT sitting in front of the computer loyally and filling in my blog updates. So, I won't. And if my next update happens to be in another year, then so be it. But I won't quit entirely.Andrew had his 5th birthday 11 days ago. Hard to believe that I entered motherhood FIVE years ago. He has grown from that wee baby that nursed at least 3 times a night for 16 months straight to a very tall and slender, handsome, intelligent and energetic, B-O-Y. He is ALL B-O-Y. He loves dragons and castles and knights and scary beasts and getting dirty, and play fighting or wrestling (drives me nuts and has resulted in countless amounts of time-outs), playing with guns, (I caved this Christmas and let him have a toy gun that came along with a cowboy costume that came from Santa but it doesn't seem to matter because he makes a gun out of whatever toy he happens to be playing with anyway, or uses an imaginary one if he doesn't happen to have a real toy at the time). He is also very creative and can spend hours in front of his Playmobil castles making stories up about the little men and animals, etc. (he STILL enjoys playing with his animals!) and also loves to paint and play with play-doh and do all sorts of crafty-type stuff. He has developed a keen interest in colouring and drawing and spends at least some time each day with his markers and paper. (finally, some quiet interests!) Every day when I pick him up from school, the first thing he does is open up his backpack and present me with a drawing that he did for me that day. Christmas time was truly magical to me this year, because of him. The countdown for Christmas started the day we went to the supermarket and bought advent calendars for each member of the family. He could barely wait until December 1st was upon us, and what a thrill it was each and every night to open up that day's window and get the chocolate treat from inside. Each time we passed a Christmas decoration or light, his whole world lit up. Because the French are really quite lame when it comes to decorating for Christmas, there are very few decorations outside of the individual old town villages. But because Andrew does not know anything otherwise, all the lights and decorations he did see were such thrills to him. And decorating our apartment, in addition to the gingerbread house and cookies, were definitely hightlights of his year. We attended many Christmas parties and Christmas-themed events and we absolutely loved going into the old town of Antibes where Andrew skated numerous times on the fake ice and drove a jeep on fake ice as well (free activities offered at this time of year by the city) and also ended up doing other rides there and usually topped the activities off by trying out a different restaurant for lunch each time in old town. Robert was off almost the entire period of school holidays and I have him convinced that never again will he work the week during the Christmas holidays, at least as long as we are here in France and he has copious amounts of time off! Marineland, where we have annual passes, was loaded with Christmas-themed shows and decor and we went several times, usually followed by hot chocolate and yummy waffles and churros, which are specialties of this time of year. The weather has been PERFECT. Cold enough to feel a little Christmassy and to enjoy a warm cup of hot cocoa but your hands and toes aren't freezing off; it would indeed be nice to have a white Christmas but at least all we have to do is stand on our balcony and look at the pristine snowy alps in the background. The morning school routine for Andrew has become smoother over the course of this year. That said, he is still not real keen to get dressed or leave the house in the morning, but once he is there, he is happy and always claims to have had a good day when I pick him up. His French is good, but the teacher has advised that it still needs improvement so I will focus on this in the new year by having play dates with French-speaking friends, French tv and reading French stories at night. But at the moment, my motivation is to continue reading skills as all of a sudden, he became extremely keen to read. It started with flash cards we've had forever and when I discovered he could read every single one, we moved up to books. Nowadays, it does take a little encouragement to get him to read but like almost everything new that Andrew attempts, he has very little patience to learn and needs a push and then once he's crossed the first hurdle, he flies! A perfect example is bike-riding. We had a family outing to the park yesterday as I was keen to teach him how to ride his bike now that we have finally removed the training wheels. He was very opposed to trying, and freaked out if I would let go and break down into a hissy fit! And then once he discovered he could ride for a few seconds on his own, he then asked me to let go and off he went! It was a thrill for all of us, even Ryan was clapping! So, we will go back again today and keep up with it on Wednesdays and weekends once school resumes. We celebrated Andrew's birthday this year with 3 different birthday parties! One was for the school friends and exclusively in French, one was on his actual birthday with just the family and the third was during the Christmas holidays for his friends that aren't in his class/the children of my friends. Andrew plays handball, a somewhat popular sport in France, every Saturday morning. We started the year with soccer too, but I found it far too serious and intense and long (2 hours every Wed. afternoon) for a then 4 year old and will probably revisit it again next fall, but will likely try out a different soccer club. I attempted to get him into the swim club but alas he was not accepted! Although he definitely passed the "test" with flying colours, the problem is high demand and lack of supply, as is the case with practically everything here in France! I have called the swim club to see if any spaces have opened up for the winter term and still waiting to hear back. Andrew continues to be the best eater out of every single child I know. He loves the food at school and would far prefer a dish of salmon and spinach with rice over chicken nuggets and fries. His only weakness in this regard is his sweet tooth! Once his meal has disappeared, he is instantly requesting dessert, and let me tell you, a bowl of fruit salad or yogourt does not suffice; he wants "junk" like ice cream or chocolate or cookies or cake and the like. This is my fault as I started giving him a treat as a reward for eating a healthy meal a long time ago and now it is an expectation. But I guess since he definitely gets in his daily nutritional requirements and by no means has an ounce of fat on his body, this is not killing him! In my personal opinion, Andrew's greatest attribute is the big brother that he is. He ADORES Ryan. He has gained new friendships over the past year and solidified others, but RyRy is without a doubt his best friend, and the only person he really cares about being in attendance wherever we go. Pretty much since day one, Andrew has been very protective of his little brother and does not let anyone mess with him! He talks to Ryan in such an endearing tone that it melts my heart. When Ryan is upset, he brings him soocies and teddy bears and the two of them are forever hugging and kissing. Not a chance that Ryan will go to bed at night without giving Ya-ya (aka Andrew) a kiss. Even though Ryan still isn't really talking, they manage to communicate with each other just fine, and it's adorable to see them dress up and play superheroes together, etc. They often burst into giggles together, one egging on the other, usually relating to some sort of mischief, or the fact that one of them did a big burp or toot! Andrew will wipe Ryan's bum when he does a poo, help him get in his clothes or jammies and get him a drink or snack when asked. They love to dress alike, so I have started buying similar outfits, particularly pyjamas. All that said, I would be kidding myself if I didn't admit that they fight all the time too. I think the biggest problem is that Andrew does not know when to stop. Andrew will be playing with him, tickling him, etc. and Ryan will laugh and ask for more. But when Ryan finally pipes up with a "POP" (aka STOP, he can't stay "stop", so he says POP instead and it's the funniest thing when he shrieks it out as he really is about to pop when he says it!). But of course, Andrew carries on and then my involvement (or Robert's) is necessary to resolve the conflict. And they fight over toys, obviously. Just like all siblings, they usually want the one that their sibling has. Robert and I found ourselves often asking Andrew to give in and give Ryan the toy even if he had it first, which Andrew often did, just to shut up Ryan! And then I realized that this was totally unfair to Andrew and not teaching Ryan a very good lesson, so now Ryan is learning to wait his turn and share and if necessary, Ryan is given a time-out as he will act out if he doesn't get his way by hitting his brother, etc. but he is getting better, finally!
