Josh

...or Matthew if you ask Robert. This is the big news in our family, the new bundle of joy that will arrive at the end of May! I am now 20 weeks pregnant and aside from a rather large and uncomfortable ovarian cyst that was detected on my first ultrasound and subsequently removed (no fun at all), the pregnancy has gone very well and I feel totally amazing and so incredibly happy. I do not know the gender with certainty, as I have decided to wait until its birth for that, (against Robert's desires!) but that being said, I am 100% convinced I have a beautiful little baby boy growing inside me and I am quite happy with that notion for many reasons. There is not one iota of a difference between this pregnancy and the previous two, so I guess that is the main reason why I am convinced of the gender. I am desiring all the same foods; olives, oranges, fruit in general, salty stuff, Coke, rotisserie chicken, asian food. I have the same (lack of) sleep habits. My hair is thick and shiny, my skin is smooth as silk. The hair on my legs does not grow. I glow! I started feeling the baby a few weeks ago and it's the same euphoric feeling as before. I love being pregnant! I guess actually there is one difference with this pregnancy and that is that I am behind on weight gain, but after indulging for two weeks straight over these holidays, I think I am well on my way to catching up by the way my jeans are starting to feel! And also, I attribute this lower weight gain to the cyst, as I probably lost 5 or 10 pounds after surgery.

I am not really sure if it's because of the hormones running through my body or if I have just found total peace with our stage in life, but I am just so at peace and content with my life. We still don't feel that France will ever be our permanent home but we are truly happy living here and I have learned to really adjust well to those things that drive me nuts. (I STILL have some days though...and doubt that will ever change!) There are days though when I really miss family, for my own benefit and also for that of the boys. And wish that France wasn't so far away. Susie is due with her second baby 3 weeks before me and how awesome would it be to be able to share her maternity leave with her. However, I will satisfy myself with frequent phone calls, like her last leave where we talked pretty religiously. This summer was one of the greatest ever, as we got to spend a month of it at the cottage and Andrew really got to know, and fell in love with, each and every one of his cousins and I really hope we can find a way to replicate last summer again even though Robert is rather opposed to me travelling on my own. He would join us of course but would have to come later and leave earlier than us. We shall see! With respect to the baby's name, it is all a joke really, as Robert claims he will never accept Josh, and I cannot see myself every accepting Matthew for the name. But Andrew mentions Josh daily now so I wonder if it will ever grow on Robert??? And should it be a girl, there are so many names that I love that I am pretty confident we would be able to come to a quick agreement, unlike with Ryan where he was named at the last minute practically!

Happy New Year Part 2

Ryan is 2 years and 4 months old and continues to be an absolute angel. He is just sooooo easy! He goes to bed shortly before Andrew (around 8PM) and doesn't wake up until we go into his room to get him and can often be around 9 or 10 am if I don't have to wake him earlier. (he is often already awake, and just lying there happily snuggling his many doodoos). We have given significant thought to moving Ryan into Andrew's room but he just sleeps so well now for naptime (usually 3 hours) and at night time and Andrew is actually sleeping better than he has in a while too, so why fix it if it ain't broke as they say! Eventually we will set up bunk beds in Andrew's room (which I know both boys will love) but for now, things are working out pretty well status quo. Ryan pretty much potty trained himself right after he turned 2. Once we got back from Canada, I put out several potties around the house and told him that if he had to do a pee pee or caca to go in the potty and he did...just like that. No accidents, no more diapers, even for naps and night time. He does eat everything, but he too has a sweet tooth, and unfortunately eats way more sweets than Andrew did at this age. With Andrew, I did not even introduce him to much in the way of treats until well after 3, but Ryan sees whatever Andrew is eating and wants it and quickly realized that the treats taste better than the meal being served and has often frowned at his meals and requested "ikey" (aka ice cream) instead, so funny as he doesn't know the difference, obviously, in nutrition between his chicken and broccoli and an ice cream cone and is unhappy to say the least when his request is turned down! But as I said, he loves to eat what Andrew is eating so fortunately he sees Andrew eating a proper meal and he follows suit. He also helps himself to Robert's breakfast every morning which is either muesli cereal with fruit or ham and eggs and Robert has now learned to serve himself enough for the two of them! When we are at baby groups, he is never the child instigating trouble and does his own thing and loves to paint and do play-doh and crafts, etc. He goes to creche two days a week and loves that also. We were so incredibly lucky to have had the good fortune of both boys getting accepted into this creche, considering how difficult it is here in France to get in. It is such an amazing atmosphere and so different than the usual style of creche whereby every child is somewhat forced to adapt to the rhythm of the rest of the children. I like that he gets an early exposure to French among many other things. At home, his favourite toys are cars, balls and Lego. Funny that to this day, Andrew still has zero interest in cars and it is Ryan's favourite thing to play with. But he also loves to play with whatever Andrew is playing with. We have gone through countless markers now, as that is the only writing instrument Andrew wants to use (that is what he uses at school) so Ryan doesn't want anything to do with regular crayons. The problem is that Ryan doesn't put the lids back on, so after each use, they dry up, unless I catch it before they are put away. Ryan also has a tendency to draw on all things not paper and has decorated several of our furnishings and walls with his own personal artwork. As much as I look forward to living in a nice house, with nice furnishings, I am so glad that there's really not much of value in this place and am therefore not worried about all the spills, and stains, etc. that take place on a daily basis. As I type this, the boys are hard at work with Play-doh and I know full well there will be some smothered into the carpet when they are through with it...and the carpet is pretty much all ready for the dump now so who cares?!!! Just like Andrew, Ryan LOVES to help. Whether it's me in the kitchen or doing housework, or Robert taking down the recycling and trash, or assembling a toy, or fixing the sink, whatever, Ryan (and Andrew too) are right in there, with their own tools and supplies, helping along. I love to have their company though 99% of the time, it takes 5 times as long to accomplish a task, and usually involves more mess, but their look of pride on the finished product is always worth the efforts. Ryan's vocabulary is slightly ahead of Andrew's at this stage but only marginally. For the most part, only the three of us can decipher his language. For example, Spiderman is "biya", Mickey is "Miya" and Andrew is "Ya-ya". Over these holidays though, he's added several new words so I think it's on the verge of coming together. For now, I adore the way he communicates, and aside from the occasional frustration on both parts when I can't guess what he's saying, it's absolutely precious. Like Andrew, Ryan loves, loves, loves the water and always has. We try to go to the pool as often as possible and I have stepped down from the water wings to the swimming belt and will soon remove that altogether as I did with Andrew. We are very excited about the new aquatic facility recently built in this area which will open on Jan. 4th and will likely get a lot of business from this family.

Happy New Year!

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!

FUN FUN FUN!!!

School holidays are upon us once again, and we've been having loads of fun. Every morning we leave the house shortly after 9AM and don't generally return til Ryan's naptime. Then once Ryan wakes up, we head out once again for an afternoon play. We've been getting good use of our annual pool passes, my gym membership (the kids LOVE the daycare there!), our Marineland park passes as well as plenty of playground visits. Sometimes we join a group of friends, and sometimes we do our own thing, but I'm finding of late that even if I join a group of friends, I don't get much time to converse with anyone. My hands are full with both boys, and at the moment, they are both full-on demanding of my attention. With Ryan, it's because he finds mischief anywhere we go...wanders off...empties trash cans...insists on climbing UP slides while others are waiting to descend, etc. With Andrew, it's one question after another, and even if I am engaged in a conversation with a friend, he is constantly interrupting, (though politely says "Excuse Me") only to find out what it is we are talking about! It's IMPOSSIBLE to talk on the phone when he is in the room..."Excuse me mommy, excuse me Mommy, why....?or what....?" It's all quite comical really, but can be excruciatingly frustrating when there is something I am really trying to discuss! When we're in the car, he now asks questions about every song that comes on the radio. "Who let the dogs out" song, resulted in "Who let the dogs out mommy?" "What dogs?" "Why?" "Did they go to jail?" "Did the dogs have big teeth?" Message in a bottle..."what is a message in a bottle?" What does SOS mean?" AAAHHHHH!!! But all in all, it's extremely enjoyable to have this time with the boys together, especially knowing that in a quick two weeks, one of them will be back in school full time. My mom asked me why I go out so much and the truth is, as I think most moms of more than one child would attest to, is that it is EASIER and more enjoyable for everyone. Yes, we can certainly have fun at home, playing games, puzzles, play-doh, painting, drawing, toys, etc. but each activity lasts a maximum of 30 minutes, generally involves a huge mess to clean up afterwards, and can be utterly exhausting! If I'm being honest though, another thing I absolutely love about the school holidays is that Andrew does not nap when he's home; therefore bedtime is a very strict 7PM for both of them, and it is an absolute relief at 7:05PM when I get to pour myself a well earned glass of vino, knowing that both of them are out cold for the night, and I have a couple hours to myself before going to sleep. During school, Andrew takes a "sieste" every single day and is therefore very alert and wide awake until pretty close to 10PM which is actually past my desired bedtime. But at the end of the two weeks, I have a heavy heart when Andrew returns to school. The house is too quiet, and Ryan bores easily without his big brother around to entertain him. And it doesn't help that Andrew is not keen, to say the least, about the prospect of going back to school. Perhaps we have too much fun over the holidays...and maybe if he had time to get slightly bored at home, "la rentree" (return to school) would be easier. But no regrets...it's precious time we get to share together, that I will treasure always.

My omission

One key omission in my lengthy blog update was my Momma. Several have asked in emails and it's possible that I have either not replied to your email yet (sorry) or forgotten to answer your question about my mom. The bottom line is that she is FINE now. She's already in her paradise (Florida) golfing and being the social butterfly that she is. On her last chemo at the hospital, they have some big bell-ringing ceremony where each cancer patient gets to ring the bell indicating they are through with chemo. That evening they celebrated in style with Lo and Susie and partners at a dinner and show place in Toronto. I think it's all quite amazing really. To think that I had nightmares of her being terminal in September based on the incorrect diagnosis of the prior year's mammogram. That there was hardly a complaint out of her mouth; even on the worst of days, she kept a positive attitude that the pain and weakness was short-lived. That to this day, I still forget she is bald cuz she hardly mentions it. That thanks to the many friends she has and my sisters, she was well looked after, transported, etc. etc. etc. throughout the whole journey. That thanks to the many amazing physicians, researchers, professors, etc. there is a CURE to breast cancer now.

Andrew and I continue to share what we are thankful for every night before turning out the lights. It goes without saying that I am so thankful for the above outcome. Last night, Andrew said, "I am thankful for the tomato and olive and cheese salad in the cantine (school cafeteria)"!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Splendid ski semaine Jan.8-15th Montgenevre

The countdown for our ski trip began immediately after Christmas as we had marked it down on the calendar (an awesome Melissa and Doug one that I found at the great kids hair salon in Canada) and excitement was at a peak by the time we set out in the car. The trip started out a little rough, my boys have never been good car passengers, but the excitement didn't help as Andrew was a little out of control, the drive was long (5 hours), scenic, but long, and when we finally arrived in the village of Montgenevre, the snow was coming down hard, the fog was so thick you could barely see 5 feet in front of you and the roads were getting icy, not to mention the parking lot. I got out with Ryan and headed straight to the hotel and when Robert walked in with Andrew about 15 minutes later, we had discovered that we'd left Andrew's winter ski jacket at home! This was a Saturday evening, around 5PM, the snow was coming down harder and harder but we knew the stores would be closed on Sunday so as I checked in, Robert and Andrew took off to go find a ski shop to buy a jacket. As I was checking in, I was advised that the ski school and daycare sign-up were open until 7PM and that Robert and I had to get our ski rentals fitted and picked up by same time. And then Ryan takes a poo. An enormous one that went all the way down his legs to his shoes. And Robert and Andrew are gone, in the car, along with the diaper bag! So there I am, walking around the resort feeling in major need of a glass of wine after the hellish car ride, with Ryan reeking to high heaven, signing him up for daycare, getting my snow boots fitted and ski bindings set and everywhere I walked, people picked up their little ones to smell their bums...and I just felt like putting a sign on me, "IT'S MY BOY'S POO"...but I carried along and managed and it all turned out ok after that! Not sure what was the highlight cuz there were so many. Andrew loved, loved, loved "ski camp". So much so, that he was jumping with excitement when he woke up in the morning and barely wanted to take time to eat his breakfast. The ski/camp instructors were absolutely incredible with the little ones and upon picking him up the first day, he was loudly stating the group mantra, "PUMP IT UP"!!! They did all sorts of activities with the kids in addition to the 2 hours of ski instruction per day. Sledding, building snowmen, games in the snow, face-painting, dances, crafts, toys, movies and on the second last evening, they put together a show for the parents which was fantastic and Andrew loved it and was so proud. He was also very proud when he received his ski diploma and had to stand on the podium and yell, "Pump it Up"! He had such an amazing first experience with skiing and is very keen to go again. Parents could watch their children during lessons but we had to hide so that they could not see us and therefore be distracted from the lesson. It was adorable to watch him...one thing he didn't manage to succeed on was picking himself up after a fall, and I don't think he even tried, he just waited for his favourite female instructor to come along and pick him up. If you ask him the favourite part of the trip, he would say "Alex", who was the female ski instructor and I think it is Andrew's first crush!!! Robert and I got so much time together on the slopes, which was probably the best skiing I've done in my life, in terms of snow conditions, variety and length of slopes and scenery. Ryan went happily, for the most part, into his daycare and it helped that he bonded with a little girl in the group, and that he's already adjusted thanks to the awesome daycare we have for him here. And again, the daycare providers were superb. Our room was very comfortable and even had a separate area with bunk beds for him, where he loved sleeping on the top bunk for the first time. Each day when we returned from skiing, Robert and I had a little more time to ourselves to read or rest, have a glass of hot chocolate, before we went to pick up the boys. From there, we went immediately to the "piscine a balles" which was a little room filled with a jungle gym, ball pit and foam mattresses. We then proceeded to dinner, where we fed the kids in their separate kids dining area and then dropped them off again at 7PM so that Robert and I could go peacefully to the main dining room to eat dinner and drink a couple glasses of delicious wine alone. The food was good, and not cooking it or cleaning up afterwards was GREAT. I think this time around, we were now familiar with most of the French dishes, so we knew what we liked and what we didn't like when choosing from the buffet. Every night, there was at least something that we really enjoyed. The breakfasts were probably our favourite meals of the day though, and we usually prepared a picnic to eat at the lodge on the mountain for lunch while the boys ate with their "camps". Each evening, they had some sort of family entertainment going on, both before dinner and after dinner. Sometimes the four of us listened to the live band before dinner but we chose not to participate in most of the after-dinner events as we were all pretty knackered by 8:30/9PM and went straight to the room with the boys. But one night, I took Andrew to the show they put on, The Beauty and the Beast, (and Andrew corrected me, "it's La Belle et la Bete maman") and it was extremely well done. I would so highly recommend this place to anyone looking for an affordable all-inclusive ski vacation with kids, in France. Of course it came with a few French idiosyncrasies though. Like the lights in the corridors of the hotel were on a timer, to go off after about a minute, so half the time we were walking to our room, all of a sudden it would be pitch black, and I couldn't even see Ryan in front of me, let alone find the switch on the wall. (which is so common here, all lights go off after 30 seconds to a minute, doesn't matter where you go!) And the elevators could hold 3 people comfortably and 4 if you really squished in which was particularly fun on arrival day and leaving day when everyone had all their luggage to shlep in and out! But we came home rejuvenated and thrilled with our holiday that had exceeded our expectations in practically every way. Before we went to bed that night, Robert was surfing the net and when I peeked at what he was doing, I found him searching for cruises...our next holiday!

Beautiful beach day!

I began updating this blog this morning and by the time the boys had eaten their breakfast, the weather looked a little iffy for a beach day, so I gave Robert the green light to do a bike ride along the sea. About 30 minutes after he left, it started to clear up, so when he returned from his long trek (went all the way down to the Promenade des Anglais in Nice and back), I was all packed up and ready to go to the beach. We first went to a restaurant on the beach for lunch and I have to say, I ate one of THE best meals of my entire life. It was absolutely to die for. Robert had a scrumptious fish curry dish (which I convinced him to order since I couldn't decide between that and what I chose!!!) and I had a "formule" which means entree, main dish and dessert, the entree being the best salad ever with warm goat cheese on top, the main being a chinese noodle and chicken/vegetable thing which was equally as good as the salad and the dessert was the biggest and best piece of chocolate cake I have ever experienced!!! I'm still full as I write this. The bad part was that the service was not good and although the kids food came quick (and fortunately they were both so well behaved the whole time) and my salad was there immediately, we waited forever to get our main dish. After having already asked once, Robert told our waiter that if it wasn't here in 5 minutes we were leaving! Seconds later it arrived and I have to say, it was worth the wait. I asked for my dessert to be served while we were eating our meals so that the kids could enjoy dessert while we ate our lunch. Fortunately, it was so big that we all got an ample serving of chocolate cake for dessert! And when the bill came, the waiter brought out 2 shots of limoncello for Robert and I, as it was obvious he felt badly, I think he actually forgot about us, which is why we ended up waiting so long. I will definitely be going there again, hopefully on a Thursday with Robert or else with girlfriends.

After lunch, we walked for 30 seconds to get to the beach area, parked ourselves and had an absolutely amazing afternoon on the beach in Juan-Les-Pins, which is one of the most beautiful and scenic beaches around, beautiful sand, calm, flat waters, not a cloud in the sky...the boys absolutely love it. They could easily play there all day long, and Ryan held his own as we didn't leave until 4:00 and his naptime usually begins around noon and ends around 4! (needless to say, he crashed pretty quickly in the car ride home) For the last couple weeks, the weather has been beautiful so we have spent our Wednesdays doing picnics and playtime at the beach and it's been immensely enjoyable. Last Wednesday I was reading other friends' facebook updates to discover they had enjoyed a sledding day in the snow. And it truly amazes me that we are fortunate enough to live in a place where I can enjoy a sunny day on the beach and my friends can drive one hour and enjoy a sunny day on the slopes. When I'm cursing the size of my closets in this apartment (or lack thereof), I must remember the good things of being here. These such things are among them.

All in all, this was yet another awesome weekend, it's now 7:27PM and both boys have been asleep for over half an hour and I'm very close to serving myself a glass of red, getting my book (or maybe more work on the blog first) and enjoying a couple hours of downtime before bed.

Update continued

Christmas time was magical. Without a doubt, I missed sharing it with the family back home and it was hard when everyone was together and we were here, so far away. But at the same time, it was restful and joyous and excitement filled the air. Robert and Andrew wrote a "letter" to Santa every night in the month of December. The real purpose of this was for Andrew to practise writing his letters...they would decide on a toy, Robert would write the word and draw a picture of it, and then Andrew would write the word underneath. Andrew embraced this to no end as he did everything Christmas-related! Of course by the end of the month, there was a very long list of toys on his wish list, but Andrew was quite happy with the load he received from Santa this year. His first comment on Christmas morning was, "WOW, I was a REALLY good boy this year"!!!!!! We had several Christmas parties to attend, one for his tennis club, one for the daycare at my gym, one at his school, one at a baby group, and two at Robert's work. Each time, Santa's attire seemed to be increasingly pathetic, the Santa costumes are just lousy here! There was a free photo with Santa for the month of December outside of my grocery store this year and the Santa there cracked me up to no end...he was about 18 years old, had dark brown hair and eyebrows, the costume did nothing to disguise this, and yet, there were never any questions on Andrew's behalf and he very willingly sat on all of the Santa's knees and happily proclaimed his wish list! We visited a couple of the villages again this year, one in Nice and the other in Antibes, and I must say, they do a good job of decorating and providing entertainment (mostly free, rides, etc.) for the kids. Aside from the heart of the villages however, the south of France does NOT begin to look a lot like Christmas! Hardly anyone displays lights or other decorations outside of their homes and in my opinion, it feels more Christmassy in South Florida then here! Despite this, Andrew went wild each and every time we drove past a house or apartment that did have Christmas lights displayed. I cannot wait for him to see North America at Christmas time, so I hope we get to spend a Christmas there again sometime soon. Ryan took it all in stride. Of course at this age, he was still pretty into the paper and boxes, etc. but was quite content with his new toys, particularly the Fisher Price Little People race track that I got at a flea market-type sale for 5 euros! He is also quite in love with a toy hamster that I actually bought for Andrew since it says Ages 4+ on the box, but Andrew has no interest in it and Ryan seems to get endless enjoyment from it! It is definitely true at this age that the amount of money spent on a toy has ZERO correlation to how much the toy will be enjoyed. Some of Andrew's most prized possessions this year were items I picked up at the dollar store in Canada or here, such as the "flute" (recorder), and the fishing pole set. Other faves were the Sydney Crosby miniature hockey player (aka "hockey man") sent from Aunty Susie, the Leap Pad tag reader from Aunty Lo, the personalized Spiderman book from Grandma and the voice-recorded night-time book from Abuela. But among them all, by far, the favourite gift of the year was one that I (Santa) splurged on this year. His most expensive gift to date, costing a whopping 35 euros!, and one that he has played with each and every day since Christmas, is the Playmobil castle set. In my opinion, Playmobil are THE best toys out there. I was reluctant to actually buy Playmobil toys, as we have free access to the Playmobil room at Petite Ferme and I did not want that to lose its appeal, as my friend had advised had happened with her son when she bought him some. But he absolutely loves playing with these little knights and horses within their castle, and arming them with various weapons and uses his imagination to devise little stories and scenarios for up to hours at a time! I will definitely continue to expand on this gift in the years to come, with more castles, dragons, pirates, or whatever he is fostering an interest in, and although they are not cheap toys (relatively, that is, some sets go for well over 100 euros), they are durable, unbreakable really, and last the test of time. I've heard that some children have very little interest in Playmobil, but I'm quite glad that Andrew is not one of those! My only problem at the moment with these toys is that there are a LOT of pieces...and when Ryan gets his hands into the stuff, they can be all over the apartment in a matter of seconds. So, as a result, I usually save this particular toy to be pulled out during Ryan's nap, or after he has gone to bed.

Ryan is now awake, time to get the boys fed, and then we're off for a family day at the beach. I will continue on later, and post some pics soon.

Long over due update

Wow...it is February 6th. Where did January go? Things are very good. Feel totally adjusted back in France. I must do a better job of recalling all the things I love about this area when I experience total homesickness upon returning here each time! Just got over the bout with the flu with the little ones, and Robert and I were fortunate to escape it this time round. Lately, I've been the first one up in the morning, we've been going to bed early, which I love, but as a result, I'm awake before 6, which I also love, as I treasure an hour of silence in the morning before the noise and chaos of the day begins!

Ryan will be 18 months on the 18th and Andrew is just past 4 years old. We've witnessed major changes in both of them lately. Where Ryan was once a total cling-on to me, would not want out of my arms in a baby group, or anywhere, he is now Mr. Independent. He wants to eat all by himself and usually refuses the spoon if I offer it to him. Of course, he makes a TOTAL mess, particularly at breakfast time with his morning cereal and yogourt, or something like spaghetti at dinnertime. Will try to get some pics added on here soon. He wants to walk by himself wherever we go, and usually refuses to hold my hand, which is often a battle, especially in the parking lot when we go to drop Andrew off or pick him up from school. When we're in safe territory and I leave him to follow me/us, he generally heads off in the other direction! He loves babygroups. He loves music. As soon as the music begins, he starts clapping and dancing. He is enamored with Daddy, but when he cries in his crib, which is seldom, he insists on Ma-Ma and won't settle until I come to his rescue for a quick cuddle before putting him back down to sleep. I will just hold him for a couple minutes in the chair, put his soocy in and sing the Mockingbird song. When Andrew and I put him down together at night, we sing Rock-A-Bye baby, followed by the Mommy song and he settles peacefully into his dreams. (Andrew loves doing this) Tantrums have begun. Flat on his back screaming if he doesn't get his way, particularly if it's a toy that Andrew has. If Ryan had it first, I insist on Andrew giving it back. But if it is a toy that Andrew began playing with, it's not fair to pull it away from him just to appease Ryan. I think I am going to start buying two of certain toys. Of course they both need to learn and continue to share, but there are times when I know it will be easier to just have one for each! He is a stubborn little monkey. But usually, not always, the tantrums are short-lived. As I did with Andrew, I respond to his tantrums by explaining to him that I understand he is mad because he cannot have whatever it is he wants, like a toy, or to stand on the couch, or whatever. I think it helps. That's what the books say anyway! One thing I love with Ryan at this age, unlike Andrew at the same age, is that whenever he awakens, from a nap or from a night sleep, he does not cry. He talks and sings and plays in his crib happily, until Robert or I go in to get him. This can even last up to an hour after he wakes up! When we finally go in, a smile lights up his face, I pick him up for a snuggle (quick one, he's by then, usually keen to get out and pointing at the door but sometimes he will point at a toy on the floor and just wants to play with that in his crib for many many more minutes) anyway, I just love the way he feels, so soft and warm, the way he smells, and looks, every time he wakes up. Heaven. Ryan's hair is getting long, but when he comes out of the bath (which he LOVES), it all curls up and I adore the curls and am not ready to chop them off as it near broke my heart the day I chopped off Andrew's curls and they did not grow back. So, aside from a chop to his bangs, he has yet to have his hair cut. (and he looks pretty funny, since I didn't exactly cut the bangs even, and ended up cutting way more than intended...and was rather unfairly reprimanded by Daddy for doing this, as I've said, he is more than welcome to do it himself!!!) Anyway, apparently as a result of the current do, he looks like a girl. Everywhere we go, I hear, "Bonjour Mademoiselle" or (in french) "she is sooo cute" or "she looks like her brother". We were at the pool the other day, and these two elderly ladies were talking to Ryan and telling me how cute she is and I didn't say anything, but when I pulled off his pants to put on his swim diaper, they were both shocked!!! And the latest, yesterday we went to McDonald's and while ordering, I was holding Ryan in my arms and ordered one Happy Meal (for Andrew) and when Andrew opened it up, we discovered it was the girl toy inside and not a boy toy! I must say, I do remember this happening with Andrew at this age, when his hair was longer and those curls were just to die for! Which brings me to another point: Andrew and Ryan are looking more and more alike it's scary. There are days when I look at Ryan and feel like I am having a total deja vu of Andrew at the same age. Some people say Andrew looks like Robert and Ryan looks like me, there are a few that say the reverse but for the most part, the consensus including my own is that they both look exactly the same and like Robert! Even though Ryan is my second child, and therefore I've already witnessed the tiny little things that feel like major milestones that amazed me constantly, I am still in awe of Ryan's daily achievements. Like yesterday, when he went to the Kleenex box, pulled only one Kleenex out (usually it's the whole box), and wiped his own runny nose! And when I tell him that it's time to go get Andrew from school, he goes to the front hallway and attempts to put on his shoes (and he sometimes puts on mine)! Or when he sees Andrew and I brushing our teeth, he joins in, by pulling up his stool, grabbing his toothbrush and immitates us to the tee. I must say, I really love this stage with Ryan. The boys play together often. Andrew remains pretty much obsessed and adoring of his little brother and is almost always on top of him or pulling him in his direction, which often frustrates Ryan to no end, and he practically constantly screams, but then seconds later it seems, Ryan is laughing hysterically. They make me laugh all the time. The other day they were playing on the kitchen floor while I was preparing dinner and Ryan was sitting on top of Andrew who was lying on his back. Ryan was jumping up and down on his bum, on Andrew's stomach and Andrew, giggling away, kept saying, "Ry-Ry, I'm NOT a jungle gym"!!!! As I was in the kitchen starting to clear dishes last night and they were finishing dinner, I heard nothing but laughter coming from the dining table. When I walked into the living room, I discovered both with their plates on their heads, ketchup oozing down their just-washed hair and the remnants of their fish fingers and french fries all over the floor! Andrew has really matured over the last couple months. He can now sit for an extended period of time with his markers and focuses intently on the picture he is colouring, which is almost always for me. All of a sudden he has sparked a bit of an interest in letters and writes his name on all of his works. When I pick him up from school, the very first thing he does is empty his backpack all over the school floor in search of the colouring he has done for me that day. So sweet! At bedtime now, in lieu of a story, he wants to play Postman Pat and will even request to be put down to bed so that he can get to the game. It is a memory game of cards, each player has to find pairs by flipping over the cards and remembering what is behind the ones once flipped over. He is pretty amazing at this game and is capable of winning without us allowing him to win (he hasn't quite learned how to NOT be a sore loser!). And then he loves to count how many cards he has and waits to see how many cards Robert or I have, to determine who is the winner. He asks questions ALL DAY LONG. Why something is the way it is. What does this mean? What is the translation for an english word in french or vice versa. One day I want to document all his questions in a day. They always begin with, "MOMMMMMY, why is...." and when he is at school, sometimes I think I'm going mental cuz I still hear a little voice saying, "MOMMMMY"!!!! He rarely cooperates when it's time to leave the house. Doesn't seem to matter if we're going to school, the beach, the park, whatever, he says he wants to stay home, and in his pajamas (and the second we walk back in the door, he heads to his room to put on his jammies, doesn't matter what time of day it is). My response when he refuses to get ready to leave is that the police will take me away, or him away, if I am caught leaving my little boy home alone so he must come along. This usually works as he is still pretty easy to rationalize with. He eats his veggies and drinks his milk because he knows this will make him grow big and strong. He brushes his teeth because he knows that if he doesn't, he'll get holes in his teeth, and usually after he has a sweet, I will soon hear the tap running in the bathroom and I know he is "brushing the sugar off"! He has taken a huge interest in building forts out of blankets and cushions but gets severely annoyed when Ryan approaches and immediately breaks down his fort and asks, "Mommy, can you please put Ryan away?" He also loves to play Hide and Seek in the house...it's hillarious as he usually picks the same hiding spots and starts making noises or announces his whereabouts when we enter the room he's in. Ryan likes to join in this game, he usually hides with me, and when Andrew comes to find us, he's giggling away!

Pros and cons of sick kids

CONS

1. When one child gets it, the other is doomed, not to mention the parents

2. Sleepless nights for the entire family

3. Inevitable worrying

4. Trips to the doc and/or pharmacy

5. Cancelled plans

6. More laundry

7. Huge mess of the house

8. Administering meds can be a challenge

PROS

1. No guilt about lazy days, letting the kids watch too much tv and staying in PJs

2. Lots more snuggles wanted from Mommy

3. No morning rush to school

4. Playtime at home, creative fun building forts, playing hide and seek, baking, Eye-Spy, etc.

5. Chores get put to the wayside

Neither list is complete and there are surely more cons than pros, but it's actually been a nice, lazy few days at home that I think in a way we all needed. And since the weather has been pretty crap of late, it doesn't make me feel like we should be out and about enjoying the day. That said, these are only minor illnesses that the kids have and anything more serious would lead me to see no pros at all, I'm sure. The flu started with Andrew and seems to have already made its way to Ryan. Andrew has had a fever since Thursday, and even with Paracetamol and Ibuprofen, it's still been difficult to bring/keep it down. A luke warm shower seems to work best. He wakes in the night, pjs absolutely drenched with sweat, then 5 minutes later, once in a clean dry pair, he's freezing cold. Ryan had a bad night last night (for him anyway, he woke up 3 times, crying, and with fever but it didn't take more than a quick snuggle and removal of a layer of clothing and one dose of Doliprane to get him back to sleep) Along with the flu, Andrew had his first bloody nose. I read up on them and learned that colds can cause nosebleeds in children. Two words: BLOOD EVERYWHERE!!! Two more words: FRIGHTENED BOY. He was absolutely freaked out, first when he saw it dripping on the sheets in our bed, but even more so, when he looked in the mirror to see it all over his face and pajamas. I tried to reassure him that it didn't hurt and it was normal, as it surely won't be the last nosebleed, but he was quite shaken up over the whole thing.

Andrew seems to be on the mend this morning, but I decided to keep him home one more day as last night wasn't very good for him either. And besides, Ryan slept right through til 9am and I had no intention of waking one sick boy to take the other sick boy to school.

Le Gastro

otherwise known as the stomach flu in North America. Started Monday night with Andrew vomitting all over me, Robert and our bedsheets, and lucky me, he passed those lovely germs along to his mommy. After the whole chicken pox incident, I have decided not to even bother trying to keep Ryan at a distance from Andrew when he is sick and vice versa. No matter how hard I would try to keep hands washed, toys separated, etc., Ryan will wander into the bathroom and start sucking on Andrew's toothbrush or something! So, hopefully, Ryan will not be next in line with this bug, but I won't be shocked at all if he is. Sucks, because we have social plans all weekend long, not to mention the fact that I had full intentions of wrapping up the last few Christmas presents, purchasing the stocking stuffers, etc. today and instead I spent most of the day with unwelcome liquids coming out of both ends! Pardon the graphics...it's been a rough day! Fortunately, this particular bug that seems to be going around the schools here, is a 24 hour thingy, and I am already starting to (slowly) regain an appetite, and Andrew was pretty much back to his normal self within a day, barring his decreased appetite.
One of the first things you learn when you become a Mom is that there are no such thing as "sick days" for us. No matter how bad I feel, the kids need to be fed, changed, bathed, taken and picked up from school, etc. and although Robert would be more than willing to help out, that does me no good when he is away on business, which, it so happens is the case right now. I think back to the old days of calling in sick when my job happened to be in an office, and the freedoms I had to stay in bed all day, nursing whatever ailment had come over me, and even still, feeling sorry for myself. And nowadays, I get a chance to throw up in between feeding Andrew breakfast and changing Ryan's poopy diaper! It's funny how us moms seem to manage when we feel this bad, but we all do. Our kids (speaking for all moms) don't walk around starving or naked or whatever when we're under the weather. We somehow find strength, somewhere deep down, to take care of our kids, before we take care of ourselves. I'm not patting myself on the back so much as feeling grateful for my own mother, who managed to care for us three kids primarily on her own, and undoubtedly during times of stomach flus, severe colds, etc. And inevitably, to this day, whenever I have a stomach bug, it is my Mommy's TLC I crave the most, complete with chicken noodle soup!
So this gastro thing brings me onto another subject that Susie and I spoke about at length today. Prior to moving to France, I haven't thrown up since I was a kid. (with the sole exception of one really bad night of drinking!) And yet, I've been living in France for 3.5 years and have already had 4 separate instances involving barf! And I now wonder why. Susie says that all of her friends who have young ones have in the not so distant past, been hit by a stomach flu. So, is this normal when you have little ones? I know for sure that at least one of the four previously mentioned occurrences was food poisoning. I bought a "Kebab", which is a special sandwich on a baguette with lamb meat, and was sick withing an hour of eating it. Here in France, the standards of hygiene are not quite at par with those in North America. And I'm quite certain the Food and Drug Admin would have some serious issues with some of the conducts of business in the bakeries and grocery stores alike. For example, in the US, you will NEVER see someone handling money and food simultaneously. If they handle your food, they will wash with antibacterial soap after touching your money, or more commonly, will simply wear gloves while preparing the food. That don't happen here! The bakery ladies take your coins (which supposedly have more germs than a public toilet seat) all day long, in exchange for a freshly baked baguette on the shelves. But in addition to that, I have noticed that prepared foods, such as quiches, pizzas, cold cut sandwiches, chickens, etc. are endlessly displayed at the bakeries and supermarkets in a non-refrigerated section! Even sandwiches with chicken and MAYONNAISE seem to sit for hours on a room temperature shelf. Quite frankly, I think this is just gross. I am the type of person that usually throws out cold meat or yogourt and the like ON the expiration date. I won't eat leftovers that have been in the fridge more than two days and I certainly would throw out a quiche if it sat on my own countertop for 8 hours. And finally, the other thing I have observed is that the number of public restrooms around here that do not have any type of soap to wash your hands (let alone a sink to wash your hands in to begin with and rest assured if there is running water to wash your hands, it will be NOTHING but freezing cold water) are far more common than those with soap. "Le gastro" is quite a common thing around here. But is it common because my circle is now one of little children that pass along their germs all day long, or does it have something to do with the less stringent hygiene standards in this country?

Andrew's 4th Birthday Party!

First off, I have to say that having a birthday in December sorta sucks!!! Without doubt, he was the best Christmas present ever for me and Robert back in 2006, but now that it's time to start having real parties for him, December is just a bad month for them. People are busy. Christmas events are in full swing, shopping needs to be done on the weekends. The weather is cold and unpredictable. And with the drastic change in temperatures, it's inevitable that people get sick; myself included and fortunately I got in to my doctor the day before the party, who got me on a whack load of meds including antibiotics for my sinusitis.


All that said, I am thrilled to say that the party was a huge success! It was obvious to see that all the children were having a wonderful time, particularly birthday boy, and that totally warmed our hearts. Based on the weather forecast, we decided to change the original date, which unfortunately meant that about 10 kids who had previously RSVP'd would not be available, not to mention the fact that we had to miss a good friend's party who had planned hers for the same date and time as ours. But in the end, it was definitely the right decision as it rained all day long on the day we had originally planned. And fortunately, there were certainly enough friends there to call it a real party, and it meant the world to me that everyone who could show up, did show up, even though it was a rather chilly afternoon, and even with several newborn siblings. I was reluctant to plan the party for a Saturday originally, because that is tennis day, and Andrew is often tired after tennis and in need of a good nap. But everything fell into place perfectly, as I was able to get both of Ryan's naps in before leaving, in addition to putting Andrew down for a good hour before we had to leave. Robert's sole responsibility was creating the "Stick the Eyepatch on the Pirate" game and setting up the treasure chest pinata, but in the end, he contributed significantly, including packing up the car and setting up all the food, drinks, decorations, etc. so that all I had to do was wake up the kids, pack them up in the car and meet him there 5 minutes before the first guest arrived. Organizing a party is definitely a more difficult feat here in France for several reasons. First off, I am the first to admit that if we were in the US, I'd have given Publix a full-on order of finger foods, sandwiches, and a ready-made, beautifully decorated cake at a relatively low cost and simply picked it up the morning of the party. Here in France, that doesn't exist. And though it is probably possible to find someone who would cater things for you, it would be outrageously pricey (I saw an ad for someone who makes birthday cakes for 100 euros...forget that!!!) Pretty much like everything else here, you just gotta do it yourself. I would have been happy to attempt a fun cake myself, but even that is more difficult when you have virtually no baking appliances (we left all our kitchen appliances in the US since they don't work on these outlets here anyway) and in addition to that, I've yet to find a cake mix here in France that makes the right sort of cake to design (all the mixes I've used here yield a very gooey cake, yummy indeed but not ideal to form shapes with!), so I use the cake mixes that Robert brings from the US on his business trips, and I'm afraid to attempt my own design, as if it fails, I am left with nothing! So...I made a big batch of "pirate cupcakes" and made a regular cake and topped it with a personalized pirate icing sheet that I had to order from an ebay store in the UK!!! (if my dying computer will let me, I will eventually post some photos of the day on this site) But as I lit the candle and we all sang Happy Birthday to our little guy in two languages, all the effort was so worthwhile. I so love the fact that our boys are being exposed to such diversity in all respects (language, culture, etc.) and a multi-lingual environment is just so special, and so unique to me. In fact, at the last party we attended, we sang Happy Birthday in FOUR languages! The father is Italian, the mother is Estonian, the common language amongst the parents is English and the common language amongst the children is French. How cool is that?!!!
Ok, so I started this a week ago, and like most things I start now, I seldom get a chance to finish properly and in a timely manner, but I'll wrap it up and say that Robert and I were really happy with the way that Andrew's first real party went, and feel totally blessed for all the amazing friends that came, some of whom I now consider like family, and additionally grateful for the comments I received by email in the days after about how much fun they, and their children had, despite the c-c-c-c-cold!!! And for me, the "icing on the cake" was when I put Andrew to bed that night. Our routine after story time is bedtime prayer, in Andrew's version: "Now I lay me down to sleep, I "pair" the lord my soul to keep, may angels watch me in the night and wake me up in the morning light...AMEN", and then we briefly talk about what we are thankful for, taking turns, and we give thanks for everything from each other, to blankets and doudous and chocolate easter eggs and sunshine and water to drink and a bed to sleep in and dragons and Peter Pan movie, etc. etc. etc. Well on his birthday night, the very first thing he said was that he was thankful for his pirate party and for all his friends that came. And that made me feel, even for just an instant, that we must be doing something right!

McDonald's

As much as I try not to bitch about the comparisons between France and home, which I learned quite quickly upon arrival here...Andrew's pediatrician snapped back at me quite directly, "this is not the United States", when I advised him about something they do different back there, anyway, I gotta say, the McDonald's here just blow me (and Robert) away. Ok, so it's certainly not my favourite place to frequent to begin with, but unfortunately, there just aren't a ton of things to do with kids here on rainy days, so McDonald's ends up getting our business more often than I would like to think. We've had a lot of rain here lately and as I type this, there is a rather brutal thunderstorm out my window, even I am a little scared, (fortunately the boys seems to be sleeping right through it) and on a side note, I'm thinking that if it's like this tomorrow a.m. and I am left to take Andrew to school with Ryan in tow, there's a good chance we'll be calling in sick! (it's a bit of a hike from the car to the school, not to mention a gazillions steps and I just ain't getting all three of us soaking wet for a day at nursery school!) Hopefully the rain will ease up by morning. Anyway back to my original train of thought, it rained all day Saturday, therefore no tennis lessons for Andrew and nothing to do...and we had to go out to get my new cellphone anyway, so we ended up at McDonald's for lunch and playtime. Now, McDonald's in France on a rainy day is a bit of a nightmare to begin with since every other family in the city and surrounding cities has the same idea as us...unlike in North America where you can pretty much find a fast food restaurant with a jungle gym on every other street corner, there are TWO that service about a million people in Antibes. And one of those two is 3 levels high, without an elevator, is always crowded, and I just strongly prefer to stay clear of it. So, we ordered our food and, as required, surrendered our photo identification to get a high chair! Imagine that! You have to give up your driver's license in exchange for the use of a high chair. Yes, of course you get it back, but come on...do they really think we're gonna walk out of the restaurant with the high chair (it's pretty crappy anyway, and of course doesn't contain a seat belt to fasten your child in)???? And quite honestly even if someone did steal a high chair, they must certainly be able to afford a new one as their prices are rather exorbitant, certainly in comparison to what you'd pay to feed a family of 4 in the US and although there is probably not nearly the amount of crap in the food here than there is in the US (which by the way, is the only explanation I have for the fact that I now weigh less than I did in Junior High - since I eat at least the same amount if not more food here in general, it is surely the lack of crap that is in the food that has me weighing so much less), but it tastes much worse here, (even the fries, which is surprising cuz in a country where they most definitely produce THE best French Fries in the world, those at McDonald's totally SUCK)....the place is always packed, so with the prices and the volume they sell, they must be raking it in. At least in the US, I kinda admit that I like the taste while I eat it, but don't exactly care for the way I feel AFTER I eat it. It tastes bad here AND you feel gross...and now I'm really beginning to wonder why the hell I go there?!!!!! Well back to submitting our driver's license for a chair, to make matters worse, all of the high chairs were in use. So Robert then went wandering around the restaurant in the hopes of finding a child who was almost done. There were THREE highchairs in total!!!! A "family" restaurant, that services a gazillion people, has THREE high chairs. Ok, so we put Ryan on a bench in a booth, he made one hell of a mess, but none of us really cared. We got through our meal and were heading over to the jungle gym area so the boys could have a play when Andrew advises us that he has to go pee pee. And of course this means that he has to go NOW! Robert volunteered to take him, and knowing from past experience, I said, "make sure you get the code first". He looked at me like I had 10 eyeballs. "What do you mean, the code????" Yes, that's right, the McDonald's in the heart of town, requires a code to open the bathroom door, obviously so that non-patrons off the street don't get a free use of the facilities. What actually made things even worse is that the code that Robert was given didn't work, and he had to wait even longer for an employee to open it for him. I seriously think he was ready to pack up his bags as soon as we exited that place. There are certain things we will just never get. These such are among them. But my point of comparison is that with which I am completely used to and in North America, the bathrooms are free to use to anybody who walks into the place, customer or not, and there are a ton of high chairs available for use that sit in the open lobby, waiting for the next customer in need. I know the French don't bat an eye at these such inconveniences in McDonald's...to them, it's completely normal that there are only 3 high chairs, which you can access by surrendering your passport, and that you need a code to use the bloody toilet. But like the Doctor said, "this is not the United States", so just cope Karen.

Update

Well...since my last post was entitled "Halloween" and I'm making a diligent effort at keeping this thing somewhat current (though still haven't gone back to blog about the Canada trips...one day!), I just thought I'd write an update on the latest in our lives.

We've all been recently hit with a bit of a cold/cough which of course is quite typical for this time of year, when the temps take some serious downturns and rains and winds set in. Robert and Ryan got it the worst, while Andrew and I escaped with just an endless cough.

We have booked another ski vacation, at an all-inclusive ski resort called Les Villages Club du Soleil, in the Hautes Alpes. Since we've already booked with this resort before (at a different location), we know not to expect 5-star service, or ultra luxury accommodations. However, what it does include, and for what you get for what you pay, well, you just CANNOT go wrong. I am most looking forward to: 7 days of meals that I don't have to cook or clean up after, in addition to 6 days of absolutely incredible skiing, exposing Andrew to skiing for the first time (he will have a one-hour lesson each day), kids camps for the boys that are open from 8:30am til 9pm at night (sorry Ryan, you'll be stuck in camp, but we promise we'll get you on the slopes when you're bigger too!), playing in the snow with the kids, and chilling out in our cozy little ski cabin at night with a good book in hand.

Many of you have asked how my mom is, and for those I haven't yet had a chance to email/call, she is doing fine...as I would expect the strongest woman I know to be. She has now undergone the first of 4 chemo treatments, and although she was hit hard for about 5 days with pain, nausea, weakness, mouth sores, etc. etc., she's now feeling significantly better and confident, though not keen obviously, on the prospect of 3 more rounds of treatment. She had her entire head shaved off before treatment began, as they suggest it can be less emotional to do it that way, than to find chunks of hair in your pillow, etc. Mom of course got a wig, and I nearly died when I found out how expensive they are, but even Susie says she can't tell it's not my mom's real hair. Susie also says that Mom makes a fantastic Sinead O'Connor, and I've asked to be sent some photos so that I can post them on my blog, on my facebook account and everywhere else I know, but for some reason, they haven't sent me any yet! I think the biggest source of comfort for my mom, throughout all this, has been Baby Haley's visits, and I'm eternally grateful for that.
We've been busy socializing lately, picnics, brunches, dinner parties, birthday parties, girls nights, etc. and I'm feeling way more back in the swing of loving life in France again than I was just a few weeks ago. We will be celebrating American Thanksgiving with our American friends again, and even though Robert is not a huge fan of turkey, I CANNOT wait to sink my teeth into the yummy bird!
Ryan remains an angel. He had a couple bad nights when he wasn't feeling so well, but now that he's on the mend again, he's his happy little monkey self. He is actually even starting to cooperate in diaper changes, and I was shocked the other day when he lifted his legs for me when I went to put on his pants. That said, he has taken to throwing absolutely anything and everything in the garbage or toilet, or even worse, pulling things out of said fixtures! Last weekend, I lost my favourite blush and foundation when he decided to empty the contents of my cosmetic bag in the toilet. Things keep mysteriously disappearing too, like all of a sudden there are only 3 plastic cereal bowls when there used to be 4, and now that he can push the stool to the counter, and then subsequently reach pretty much everything on the counter, I have a pretty strong suspicion that bowl is now sitting in a landfill site!

Andrew has achieved another milestone. He can swim now! To be honest, I'm still a little reluctant to not be right by his side in the water, but today at the pool, he swam away from me, not toward the side of the pool or to Robert, but to the middle of the pool, then turned around himself and came back. A first! Now that Halloween is over, the obsession about Christmas has begun for Andrew. A lot of stores have the decorations up already, the lights have been put up in the city (though not yet turned on), and the tv commercials are already advertising the Christmas sales...enough to get Andrew completely fascinated and obsessing over how many days til Christmas Eve. I'm so mad that I forgot to tell Robert to pick up Christmas pyjamas for the boys while he was in the States cuz it's officially now a tradition that we all wear Christmas pyjamas throughout the month of December and I'm not sure how easy it will be to find a nice, cute pair here for each of the boys, when Old Navy/Gap, etc. always have such adorable, cheap Christmas-themed pjs every year. Andrew is also excited for his Pirate birthday party, but most excited about the fact that there will be a Treasure Chest pinata to bash, just like at Karl's party. I hope he lets the other kids have a go at it! We decided to have it in a park/playground as we just wanted to do something simple for his first real party in France but I wanted to include lots of friends and since our backyard is a total state of mud all winter long and our place is just not very big, we opted for the playground. But since weather is very unpredictable at this time of year, it is highly possible there will be one or more postponement. Fingers crossed.
So that about does it. One day soon, I hope to get around to calling or at least email those I feel like I've been neglecting forever! I just find it so hard to make a lengthy phone call these days, as the best time for me is in the morning after Andrew goes to school and Ryan goes down for his morning nap, and of course that is around 3am in the morning Eastern time...and as much as I know you would just love to hear from me, there's something telling me you wouldn't be all that thrilled waking up in the middle of the night for a chat with me! And trying to carry on a conversation with one or both of the boys at home and awake totally does my head in; either Ryan is very grumpy that I haven't given him the phone I am holding and carrying on endlessly over it (despite the million toy phones he owns) or Andrew decides the minute I get on the phone that he's hungry, or wants to know whether a giant dragon is bigger than the beast from the beauty and the beast, or whatever!

Halloween

Ok, so although our intention was to go celebrate Halloween in the large anglo-community village of Valbonne with friends, the torrential downpour of the entire day prevented us from leaving the house. So in the afternoon, Robert and I decided to set up a trick-or-treating event at home. Robert really embraced the idea...he drew a picture of a witch, a ghost, a pirate and a pumpkin...and taped the pictures to the door of each house, i.e. bedroom. With only flashlights in hand, we knocked on the first door (the witch house), and Robert, disguised as a witch, answered the door. The plan was to of course say, "trick-or-trick" and collect our candies. But instead, Andrew clung to me, not recognizing Daddy, and forced me to hold out his candy bag for him to collect his treats! This continued on for the ghost house, whereby Robert was covered in a white blanket, answering the knock with a "whooooooooo is it"?...at which point Andrew ran off in tears and refused to go back into the hallway! Even after explaining that it was just Daddy under the blanket and witch costume, he refused to take one step out of the living room, so we turned on all the lights and I went back to make sure the pirate's house was a funny pirate, not a scary pirate, after some coaxing, he allowed me to carry him back to the pirate's house and since he was still scared, we never made it to the pumpkin's house! The poor thing had nightmares all night long...and decided that he is "not a fan of trick-or treating"!!!!! I REALLY hope that he will get to experience the real fun of real trick-or-treating in the coming years, while he's still young. I was envious listening to my friends' stories of how much fun their kids had trick-or-treating this year. Unfortunately the concept of trick-or-treating still doesn't exist here, so I may just have to plan for a trip home around Halloween...which doesn't sound so bad after all, as what a treat it would be to go trick-or-treating with cousin Haley.

Without a doubt, the highlight of Halloween for Andrew was pumpkin carving. Andrew was excited from the moment we selected the biggest pumpkin in the store, and talked non-stop about carving it, until the moment finally arrived. I, of course, roasted the yummy seeds as always, but learned the hard way, that if you eat too many, you will definitely get a tummy ache!

How to terrorize your 3-year old on Halloween

Step 1: dress up each family member in costume

Step 2: turn out all lights, leaving only the glow of the scary jack-o-lantern on

Step 3: go trick-or-treating in the bedrooms, with Daddy disguised in a different costume in each "house"/bedroom

More pics to follow

"Why he's all black like that?"

Despite our relative proximity to Africa, there does not seem to be a large population of blacks in the Antibes area. So, when we approached a coloured man in the produce aisle of the grocery store two days ago, this was the question that came from Andrew's mouth, in his "every day volume" which is pretty much at the top of his lungs. Not making a big deal of it, I just explained that lots of people have different coloured skin, some are light brown, some are very fare, and some are black, just like how he has red hair, Daddy has black hair and Mommy has blond hair...and of course we love everybody just the same! I must say, I felt a little on the embarrassed side, but fortunately for both of us, I strongly suspected this man did not speak English, as he seemed to make no notice of Andrew's question.
Perhaps this will be a chosen theme to one of the new books.

My next career

I've begun my new career...you will all soon be asking for my (our) autographs!
I have started to write a series of children's books. I have told only a select few, and am pumped by the enthusiastic responses of those select few, particularly that of the illustrator, who has not only been my best friend since fifth grade, but also the most creative person I know! And I'm also pumped by the response of my almost 4-year old, who was quite engrossed in the story, which I recited from my head, upon putting him to bed a few nights ago. Honestly, the stories/themes I have in mind do not require a creative wizard to produce, rather they are real-life situations confronted on a daily basis, with the goals of teaching a certain lesson in manners/behaviour, directed to a child in the 3 to 4 year age group. You will just have to wait til the books are published and sold world-wide in 40 different languages to learn more...ok, seriously, odds are slim, but it will be a fun little project in all the spare time I have! And by the way, if you are reading this, you already have an obligation to purchase the series, though I promise you that once I am rich and famous, you will get a significant discount!!!

The future Tiger Woods

Bad analogy. How' bout Jack Nicklaus or Phil Mickelson!!!

Yesterday, Andrew and I shared a full-on Mommy-son bonding day. Was soooo fun. We first went shopping together, followed by lunch at Hippopotamus, a "real" hamburger restaurant, in which Andrew behaved extremely well, waited patiently for the food, ate exactly the same (massive) portion as me, and we shared his fave, a mousse au chocolat for dessert. Then we headed out to go "golfing". Andrew just LOVED it. Of course we kept no scores, and golf to him was a lot more like hockey, pushing the ball with the club until arriving at the hole, in which he proclaimed proudly each time, "HOLE IN ONE"! He was just as equally interested in the surrounding scenery, i.e. massive dinosaur statues, waterfalls, tunnels, etc. but the first thing he asked me this morning when he came into our room was, "Would you like to go golfing today Mommy?"...would love to darling!

My godsend

This pic was taken exactly 24 hours after the cleaning lady came.

Admittedly, before I had children, I remember wondering why my friends who were stay-at-home moms had cleaning ladies. Seemed like such an unnecessary expense, when they were home all day long and had NO job. HA! Of course now...I get it. Sometimes I feel way more like a maid than a mom. Even now that Andrew is "capable" of tidying up after himself, keeping the house clean is like fighting a losing battle. Unlike most North American homes, there is no "playroom"; therefore the living room/family room IS the toy room. And even on the rare occasion when all the toys are put away, there is an endless stream of crumbs on the floor, toothpaste on the bathroom counter, pee on the toilet seat, bed sheets, pillows, blankets and doudous all over the floor, kitchen pantry contents dispersed throughout the house, books pulled off of the shelves, fingerprints all over the windows, clothes everywhere. But one day, every two weeks, the house is spotless, thanks to Ana, my godsend!