Vancouver 2010

For as long as I can remember, the Olympics has been the TV highlight of my family's life. Being the HUGE gymnastics family that we were/are, life stopped when the Summer Games began, and we would all be glued to the television for two weeks every four years. I vividly remember the 1984 games, when we first had a VCR, and taped the gymnastics coverage. Pretty sure we watched Mary Lou Retton at least 1000 times. But the winter games were a pretty big deal too, especially the skating. Well, it just so happens that Robert is an equally huge fan of the Olympic games. So you can imagine how excited we are, especially now that we have invested in satellite tv, for the 2010 games to begin. And now I look forward to sharing the fun of spectating the Olympics with Andrew. And just so there would be no confustion about who to root for, Aunty Susie sent the boys these ever-so-appropriate track suits!

Funny, funny Uncle Billy

Robert and I deliberated (disagreed!) on baby boy names throughout my entire pregnancy. But two days after his birth, when we finally came to an agreement on the perfect name, neither one of us had any clue that an actor, who was formally married to Reese Witherspoon, had the same name. Of course, it didn't take long for everyone to let us know and in fact, people started asking me if I had a thing for the actor or something!!!

Aunty Susie sent a huge package in mid-November from Canada for the boys' Christmas presents and birthday presents. She said it was ready to go on November 1st, but was awaiting the completion of Uncle Billy's personal contribution to the box. It arrived in mid-January, but was actually great that it was late, as the boys celebrated Christmas all over again when they (i.e. Andrew) opened up her generous package. The above photo is Ryan of course, sporting the little jumper that almost made me wet my pants. The fine print states "REESE NEVER WOULDA DUMPED A PIMP LIKE ME". Ryan was wearing this outfit the last time I took him to creche. (though it was underneath a sleeper as it is unfortunately still too chilly here to sport the little outfit on its own) When I picked him up, the day care providers made no mention of the outfit. I wondered if they "got it", or did they just think that Ryan's mommy is downright mad and hence opted for silence!

The happiest little baby on the planet

His name is Ryan Philippe Chamberlin. I just recently realized that I have not yet posted much information on the little angel #2. But when one of my best friends just asked me how I was adjusting to being a mom of two, I reflected on how easy it has been. And that's in large part thanks to the very happy, easy-going little guy that he is. If you make eye contact with him, he will smile. He seldomly cries. Even last night, when he woke up several times with a very stuffy nose and obviously uncomfortable; we turned the lights on, Robert and I both looked at him, and out comes that smile that lights up his whole face. He is not phased by ANYTHING Andrew does to him, including but not limited to playing the harmonica or roaring like a tiger in his ears, lying on top of him, smothering him with hugs and kisses, licking him, sucking him, playing doctor on him, splashing him in the bath tub, waking him up, pulling toys away from him...the list goes on. Robert was wondering if Ryan would be scared to see him after his two week business trip, just like Andrew was when he was a baby, but no-can-do, as soon as Daddy picked him up upon his arrival, out came that beautiful, magical smile once again. I remember countless trips in the car with Andrew screaming bloody murder in his car seat...not this little guy...I am not sure I have ever even heard a peep from him in the car. He just stares at his brother...and smiles. I won't say he NEVER cries...he definitely lets me know when he's hungry, tired, or just wants to be in my arms, but even then, it's not the do-your-head-in wail of many babies, it's a soft, high-pitched whine that stops immediately when his needs are met. He really IS an angel!

Day in the snow with Andrew's HERO, his Daddy

First of all, Happy New Year everyone! For Andrew, 2010 started off a little rough. Andrew and Robert went to our next door neighbour's New Year's Eve party and had a wonderful time. I was feeling a little drained and decided at the last minute, to stay in with Ryan. Unfortunately, Andrew woke up the next day with a high fever, complete with cold sweats, and subsequent vomitting. It continued on so much that we made a visit to the ER by Sunday morning, just to be on the safe side. On a side note, we were yet again extremely impressed with the French health care system. Andrew was examined, given a prescription, said prescription filled and we were all back home within an hour and a half! As it turned out, our next door neighbour's 20 year-old son had contracted the exact same bug and was so ill that they called the doctor in for a home visit at 2:00am the following night. Anyway, we decided to take extra precautions so that Ryan would not get the same thing, Robert took over "Andrew duty" and I kept Ryan as distant as possible. The love and tenderness on Robert's part, in the way he cared for Andrew, yet again warmed my heart. For three days, he slept beside Andrew in his bed, continually cleaned up the vomit, showered with him several times daily to reduce the fever when the Tylenol wasn't doing its thing, finding creative ways to get him to take his meds and drink enough fluids, and even brought his flash light and lap top into Andrew's room to be by his side at naptime so he'd be there if he threw up again.
Almost from birth, Andrew has been a Mommy's boy, almost always choosing Mommy to do whatever it is for him or with him. However, in the last few months, Daddy has become Andrew's little hero. It's probably a combination of several factors, one being that more of my direct attention has been aimed at feeding or soothing baby Ryan, but we have also made a huge effort to make the adjustment of another baby as seamless as possible for Andrew, planning extra special activities for Andrew and Robert (zoo, Marineland, Fun City, farms, playgrounds, and the most recent, a day in the Alps as seen in the photo above) so that he has not felt "left out" in any way. I am happy to say that I think it has worked as there continues to be not ounce of jealousy or resentment of the new addition and he showers or rather, smothers Ryan with hugs and kisses daily! Anyway, over this time, Robert and Andrew have developed a very tight bond, which brings me immense joy. When there was a time that Andrew wanted no part of Daddy putting him to bed, or even helping him with a pee or poo, now Mommy is not invited! However, there are times when it may go a little far...the other night when we were cleaning up the toys before bed, we were in the midst of "parking the cars" in his toy garage and I got reprimanded for not doing it the way Daddy does it!

Docteur Andrew!

I know I've said it before, but I continue to find that each stage with Andrew gets better than the last. The other night, we were cooking stirfry together in the kitchen and I accidentally touched the hot stove, not long enough to cause any serious burn, but enough to make me yelp and jump up and down holding on to my finger. Andrew ran off and I honestly thought I had frightened him, but as I was soaking my finger under the cold tap, he returned, lab coat on and doctor's kit in hand, all ready to "fix my finga". Bless his heart.

Noel 2009

Our first Christmas season in France was amazing. Don't get me wrong, the family and friends were dearly missed, but I just found the sparkle in Andrew's eyes over everything "Christmas" made me feel like a kid at Christmas all over again. Even though they do fairly little around here in terms of Christmas decorations (in comparison to North America), Andrew's eyes completely lit up at each Christmas light, jingle bell and Santa Claus we saw in the stores. Decorating the tree was also a huge highlight. We had three Christmas parties, two for Robert's work and one at Andrew's school, all were a total hit, and in fact, Andrew is STILL talking about his school Christmas party to this day. Our month of December began with the purchase of 3 advent calendars. Each evening, we opened a new window, but before doing so, we counted to the current date. The first one we counted in English, the second in French and the third in Spanish. On Christmas Eve, we captured the counting all the way to 24 by Andrew in all three languages...if I can figure out how to do it, I'll post it on this site. Since my good friend Bec was alone with her two boys for the holidays, we invited her in to share the holidays with us. On Christmas Eve, I made ajiiaco, a traditional Colombian dish, which has now become our family Christmas Eve tradition. We ended the evening by writing a letter to Santa and reminding him how good a boy Andrew (and Baby Ryan) has been all year long! It was my intent to keep Christmas "small" as I want Andrew to understand from an early age that the true meaning of Christmas goes far beyond the opening of presents...though I guess that would not have been evident if you saw the way the bottom of the tree looked on Christmas morning! Our first Christmas as a family of four was a quiet, yet very joyful and relaxing day. We have started the habit of talking about the favourite parts of our day at the dinner table...Andrew's favourite part of Christmas was making Daddy blow up with his new blood pressure checker!!! Andrew would put the blood pressure thingy on Daddy's arm and each time Andrew squeezed the bulb, Daddy would pretend to be inflating, until he exploded. To this day, I've NEVER seen Andrew laugh so hard in his life.

Happy 3rd Birthday Andrew!

After much consideration, we decided in the end to have a small celebration, just the four of us. However, thanks to modern technology, Abuela and Tia were with us on the webcam to join in on the happy birthday song and the opening of gifts. After our little lunch party consisiting of Andrew's favourite foods (quiche Lorraine and gateau au chocolat!), we spent the afternoon in old town Antibes. At Christmas time, many of the local villages set up miniature amusement parks, complete with artificial snow falls, cross country or snow shoe tracks and, Andrew's favourite, riding the jeep along a path of artifical snow. He went on almost all of the rides, and had an absolute blast. His favourite gift was his giant Tiger from Aunty Lo and fam (his obsession with lions and tigers began on his first visit to the zoo just after he turned two, and has not stopped). Our gift to him was a new bicycle, though unfortunately, we haven't yet had much practise riding it due to the cold, rainy weather that is typical of this time of year in the Riviera.
Robert and I reflected on the day of his birth...though at times it feels like a million years ago, we remember it as if it was yesterday.