Obsession

The boys are quite recently hooked on an internet site that is brilliant for kids. I leave them alone at the computer completely and they navigate and play games (which are actually educational and fun) by themselves. They can't get enough of it, and I never get the computer anymore!

The site is www.poissonrouge.com. It doesn't matter what language you speak, though there are language options. 

Extra Long Hiatus!

Well, I have a spare moment right now, and so I end this low blogging motivation zone I have been in for some time now. Summer has been and gone, and this blog missed it all. It was fabulous though! Sun and lots of it, and playing outside as much as possible. Holidays to Languedoc, and to Province, visits from Grandparents (Ah Mama and Kong Kong) and friends (thanks Mel & Shaun, Massimo & Phil,  Greg), a trip to babyshower and catch up with the Brussels crew. September was the beginning of school for the boys now in Petite Section of l'ecole maternelle, along with the beginning of a lingering cold and cough for all three kids, AND the little one began to walk. 

I will write more, but let this brief note be the beginning I needed to get blogging again.

Paris Airshow - 20 June

Before heading off on a 2 week summer vacation , Sean very keenly took us all along to the Paris Airshow. I was keen, but must say, not so sure it was what I had imagined. I think I have seen better out at the Richmond RAAF back home. Perhaps I was just way out of my league, and all those exhibitors in all those exhibition halls that I totally ignored were really the most important part of the show, not the flying, which is all I went for. I also thought one would be able to climb on, into and around more, whereas it seemed mostly like we were not allowed to touch anything. So anyway, we braved the Saturday crowd with three children in tow, and walked the space making our way to the flying show part, and enjoyed what was on offer along with thousands of others. Towards the end however, everyone growing tired, and scared (the fighter planes are soooooo noisy), we headed back to the car before the end. Cutely for the boys, we could catch a little motorised train back to the makeshift carpark, a huge green space now filled with thousands of cars. I was feeling slightly disappointed at this point that I had missed seeing some kind of group air-o-batics, as that is what I had imagined seeing more of, we got off the train and started walking the grassy slopes back to our car. Suddenly the hugest thing seemed to be skimming over us, and we realised that we were now right under the flight path of the airplanes performing, the perfect view! Rolling above us was the Airbus 380, absolutely the hugest thing, can not believe it did not just fall out of the sky, but still such gracefulness. More jets whizzed past us, and finally we saw a fantastic display of acrobatic, smoking, planes, the Patrouille de France.  Here in the carpark our view was clear and being on a hill felt so close to the planes, with green space for the kids to follow running in circles and no worries about crowds or loosing them in the chaos. To be honest, I can't believe we ever left the carpark to begin with.

   

drums

I feel overwhelmed by the variety of things you can buy for kids. What is best? What would they really like? What will be interesting for longer than 1 hour the day it is given, discarded and never looked at again? Should it be educational (counting, reading, rationalising), even in the vaguest sense? Should it just be so much fun that you want to do it over and over again (thinking slip 'n slide all summer long)? Should it encourage creativity? If it makes noise am I going to resort to breaking it on the sly as it drives me increasingly over the edge?

The boys are fast approaching 3 with their birthday in August, and while they do have some requests (Buzz Lightyear and Woody for H, and a new helicopter, yellow car so far for O), and I have some ideas (puzzles, books etc..), I keep seeing things that thrown me and I think 'oh yeah, that would be great too', and I realise there is just so much out there, what on earth should I be choosing? 

Most recently we were at a friends place, well, really a friend of a friends place, a house with a garden in the outskirts of Paris. It was the most wonderful day, probably just because she had a garden growing wild strawberries along with a heavily burdened cherry tree requiring much relief, and the icing for the 3 year olds, tortoises in the garden! Not only this, but the house was at the edge of a forest, where we all took a long walk in the rain, splashed in a few puddles, and explored the lifecycle of the frog when we came across a pond with tadpoles. At this point there was no need for any toys, and I wondered if a house and garden might be the best birthday present for all of us. Driven inside by the rain and the need for food however, we soon discovered the real highlight of the day - a toy drum set. The boys LOVED it, it makes different loud sounds, and most definitely requires excited banging, one of our most recent favourite past-times. Should I be considering this? I might check out ebay and see what I can come across, as long as it is cheap, as I do worry that this could totally fall into the category of 'destroyed by mother driven way way over the edge by constant racket'.

Shoes

Recently I have been looking for some kind of summer shoe for E. After limited searching and disappointed sighs (with three kids I just can't get out and search for what I am looking for), I took a new direction and found a tutorial on the internet for making the little slip on shoes that are so popular for babies, and actually quite expensive at 30euros a pair. I was quite happy with the outcome, and have grand ideas in my head now for much funkier versions. Unfortunately I have to confess that I am not so sure I am saving any euros on this project, as now I have returned to Marché St Pierre (the fabric mecca) bought way too much extra fabric and will be sewing shoes for the next year if I really want to be cost effective. Look out friends having babies!

too fast - 6 months!

Where has the time gone! Way too fast this time around, the baby is already 6 months old (at this point nearly 6 1/2months). This is her this morning.

Climbing

H & O are climbing everything these days. Well, to be honest they have always been little climbers, but more recently it is more frantic, and more adventurous. This is one of our first tree experiences while out hanging in the Champ de Mars:

1000 days

The boys are 1000 days old today! Seems like a milestone... not sure how, but it's a nice round big figure, the next one being 10 000, some 24 years away, that 1000 is surely worth a mention.

I hope that they will still be this charming then....

Haircuts

The boys experienced their first 'formal' haircut on Saturday. By formal, I mean, we paid for their haircuts at the hairdressing salon, over the usual me restraining them between my thighs and fighting for each strand of hair I can get my hands on. Not surprisingly there was a real difference in quality of the cut. Gone are the jagged crazy layers and lop-sided evidence of my hacking, and voilà the much less traumatic result of lollipops on the counter to ensure rewards for braveness and dvd player for distraction. Not sure why I didn't think of the dvd thing myself... not that that would have actually given me haircutting skills, but perhaps mine would have looked slightly less amateur.

Ile de Ré

We just spent a beautiful week on Ile de Ré, a fabulous island just off the west coast of France at La Rochelle. The Island is a haven of beachiness: quaint white washed blue shuttered towns, long sandy (and at this moment empty) beaches, and endless days of sunshine. This flat small island is also covered in bike trails and bike rental locations, so we took the opportunity to check out the cyclist perspective (all three kids included), for a fabulous day of marais exploring, lighthouse watching, farmers markets, and the beach (ofcourse!) à la velo. We stayed in Les Portes de Ré, which is at the western end of the island, and perfect for us and our usual desire to be 'out of the rush' when on holiday. We did spend some time on the more popular southern coast, also lovely with beautiful towns, very tasteful shopping everywhere, and probably the best beaches on the island. 

The port at St Martin (the capital), a truly lovely fortified town, with quaint and popular port lined with inviting looking restaurants.

enjoying a stroll through one of the pretty towns. 

collecting crabs (dead ones) on the beach 

 

even Bella came on holiday, enjoying our large garden and holiday home rental, and here taking some quiet time with E.

back to the beach - even if it wasn't hot, it was blue skies and fine and perfect for playing in the sand and running at the water's edge

playing on the sand dunes was prohibited... but try telling rambunctious 2 year olds that. 

old German bunkers could be found along parts of the beaches

learning young to suck it in

Enjoying the cycling avec baguette 

fun at the water's edge



We will definitely be back!

similarity

It was pointed out to me yesterday how similar H and E are. I am actually really surprised, as I thought they were all really different looking, but in fact, it may just appear that I have forgotten what the twins looked like as babies! This is H 2 years ago, and E last week:

O's perspective Ile de Ré

Here are a few snaps that O took while we were on holidays:

me talking to the sales lady

looking through the mirror

me in my new t-shirt/dress

taking a moment in St Martin to feed E

having an ice cream

Kate Atkinson

I thought it might be of some interest, and a record for me, to mention who and what I am reading. I have the most unfortunate habit of never remembering authors names, and sometimes even forgetting book titles, even if I loved the book. So here is my attempt to keep track a little. One of my recent interests has been in Kate Atkinson. Years ago I read Behind the Scenes at the Museum, which I really loved and sits now in our bookshelf catching my eye frequently, so I thought it time to revive my interest and seek out some of her other titles. Human Croquet, Case Histories and When Will There Be Good News were all great recent reads. Unfortunately I can no longer sit and devour a book in a day as I wanted to do with all these titles, long gone is that freedom, but I have discovered that breast feeding is a perfect time for picking up a book and managing a couple of chapters at a time (or even just one, or a half if that be the case). All of these books share a commonality with the theme of untimely deaths in children, complex relationships unravel slowly, and timelines are broken and nonlinear reeling you in with fascination and desire to piece together the puzzle that is each character and how they fit together. You won't be disappointed!

Stay tuned for my next author, delving back in time to the evidently forgotten brilliance of Stefan Zweig...

milestones

We have reached a few milestones in E's life...

First food on 18.04

First sitting up 27.04

First trip to the beach 04.05

First bikeride 06.05

Yeah, you can go on forever about firsts once you start: first punch from big brothers, first face-plant in the sand, first smile at the dog... I will stop now as I know it can be so mundane for the observer, and obsessive for the parent!

Hiatus....

There has been quite a break in between posts just recently...

We have not been doing anything so new that it is worth posting about, but for those family who want to know what we have been up to - a bit of this, a bit of that. Over the weekend we went back to the Cité des Sciences to the kids interactive museum, where the boys had as much fun as ever. Such an excellent diversion for a rainy grey day in Paris. We spent the week on the Champ de Mars, enjoying really divine spring weather. Lots of playing in the parc, picnics for lunch, and catching up with little friends in the area.

We are also working on toilet training. I think the biggest hurdle to this process is me. I am somehow too tired and juggling too many kids and a dog to feel like facing the extra clothes I need to take out for accidents, and constant need to ask if they want to pee. So we are a bit slack on this front, though I do realise they are ready and mostly keen. However, around the apartment they are brilliant, and very motivated by these sticker charts we have been directed to. I have downloaded charts with matching stickers, along with other stickers too. The boys LOVE to pee and then fill the sticker chart in celebration. If you are interested here is the website address: freeprintablebehaviourcharts, which is fabulous for other behaviour charts as well.

We are off for a holiday this coming week to Ile de Ré, so possibly lots more interesting posts ahead...

Favourite flowers Champ de Mars

The trees are in full bloom on the Champ de Mars. I can't help but break into a huge smile when I go out, it is so beautiful. Must admit though, the onslaught of tourists arriving for the summer is a little trying and space consuming, not to mention the rubbish they seem to leave in their wake. Still, it is beautiful and in Spring you certainly realise how lucky you are to live here. Here are a few blossom perspectives on the Eiffel Tower: