The Charters Abroad

Twins one year doctor appointment

2011-04-12T16:29:00.000+02:00

I will deny this if ever questioned but I miss the French medical system.

Took the boys in for their one year check-ups today. Everything is fine. The boys are healthy and growing.

Called the doctor a few weeks ago to set the appointment. They called last week to reschedule because the doctor we wanted to see was going out of town. Then they called Saturday to say that the appointment that was rescheduled to 1000 needed to be changed to 1100 due to the doctor having to do rounds at the hospital to cover the doctor going out of town. In France there are no gatekeepers. You call the doctor office and, lo and behold, the doctor answers the phone and schedules their own appointments.

We arrived at the office 5 minutes early for our 1100 appointment. No one in the waiting room. Still took 15 minutes before we were escorted to the exam room. The exam room was very cold. It was cloudy and rainy outside with a temperature in the mid 60's but the AC was on in the doctor office. Can't you just open a window?

The nurse, of course, no sign of doctor yet, weighed and measured the boys. Benjamin is 24 lbs 10 ozs and 29.5 inches, Nathan 22 lbs 8 ozs. and 29.75 inches. We then returned to the very cold room with the twins, wearing only diapers at his point, to await the grand and glorious appearance of the doctor. After waiting for 10 minutes the nurse came in and told us the doctor would be right with us. Fifteen minutes passed and the doctor burst through the door.

All I will say about the doctor is that she wrote our take home instructions on a paper towel and seemed baffled by Benjamin's simple diaper rash. She tried to convince us that it was psoriasis or a yeast infection. It was as if she had never seen a diaper rash before.

Needless to say, our search for a good pediatrician starts anew.

Random stuff

2010-10-28T09:32:00.000+02:00

Samuel's new favorite word is "DD". Samuel speak for dvd. He is allowed to watch one "educational"(!) (Baby Einstein, Sesame Street) DVD every day. We probably should allow more than one as they have helped him a great deal with his language development. For those of you that do not know, he is also seeing an orthophonist twice a week. Aurelie is Samuel's first girlfriend. She is all he talks about. Every time we tell him he is going out he says "orely" in a very excited voice.

We have spent the weekend washing, folding and putting away the six and nine month clothes for the boys. Benjamin has already outgrown his 9 month clothes and needs to be in 12 month. The 12 month clothes, in terms of length are a little big on Nathan but we are lazy and do not want to have to sort three different sizes of boys clothes so Nathan is also going into 12 month this weekend.

We have continued our laziness by keeping the boys in their pajamas on some days, instead of putting them in real clothes every day. We figure this saves us 2-3 loads of laundry every week.

Nathan is very close to crawling. He has begun to push himself up onto his hands and knees to the point where we can see space between the floor and his belly.

The cats hate us. We have begun locking the cats in the basement over night. Neither Julia or I are sleeping well. Our sleep problems are not helped when every morning between 0400-0600 one of the cats begins a mournful wail that can last for more than a minute. Our reaction was to put the cats outside every night but it has been falling to near 0 over night so we decided to be nice and only lock the cats in the basement.

The boys are doing very well with their solid food. They get rice cereal mixed with formula at the 1100 feed. They normally eat almost all of the cereal. The positive aspect is that we can give them their bottles and they are then still able to eat their cereal. This was something that Samuel was never able to do. If Samuel finished his bottle he was full enough and refused to eat after.

So far we have been very blessed. The boys are sleeping through the night. Samuel has slept through since he was two months. We have been very lucky being in France where both Julia and I have been with the boys every day. We also had the same fortunate circumstance with Samuel. Julia did not return to work until Samuel was 18 weeks old.

Une Greve

2010-10-24T10:56:00.001+02:00

Welcome to our winter of French discontent. In summary, the French government is attempting to revise the retirement rules. They want to raise the retirement age from 60 to 62. This, of course, has set off strikes across industries and the country since the beginning of September.

Living in the suburbs and with Julia not yet having returned to work we have not been that effected by the strikes. Except for having to cancel a couple of language lessons due to train disruption life has proceeded as normal.

The strikers have a good plan in that they are attempting to shut down the oil/gas refineries and ports so that fuel is unable to be processed or transported. As of today about 30% of petrol stations are closed due to lack of fuel. Julia spoke to one of our neighbors yesterday who spent an hour driving around looking for an open petrol station. We were smart and filed both tanks as soon as we heard about the refineries being struck and since we do not drive much we should be okay with petrol for a month or more.

The only other time we were effected by the strikes was when I tried to go to Castorama (DIY store) and when I reached the street on which it is located it was blocked by police motorcycles. Apparently there is a high school on the street and the students were violent that day and turning over and burning cars.

That is the one aspect of this strike that I did not understand in the beginning. Why were high school and college students striking to protest a rise in the retirement age? At first I was amazed at their participation and shocked at their lack of a grasp of economics as it is clear that France cannot continue within the current system as their are currently just over 3 workers for every retiree and within a decade the ration will fall to 2 to 1. A ratio that is clearly fiscally untenable.

Yesterday I finally found an article which provided me with the rationale behind the youngsters supporting the strikes. Apparently the age that a French person gets their first real job is 27. An astonishing fact that I was unaware of. Of course, there are temporary jobs that they can attain that will pay the bills but it is at an average of 27 where they get their first job that allows them to begin contributing to the social system to which the changes are proposed. The youngsters are upset because if the people that already have jobs are forced to stay in the jobs two years longer it means that there will be an even greater wait for the young French to get their first real job.

C'est la vie en France!

Go is going .........................

2010-10-03T12:54:00.000+02:00

A refresher for those of you who may have just recently begun following the blog.

Our twins were conceived through IVF. We were not expecting twins. Therefore, the twins acquired the nicknames of Bo & Go. BOGO, buy one, get one free.

Back to the story.

Go (Nathan) is a very active child. He has learned to roll from his back to this stomach so now he can roll wherever he wants. Until he hits an obstacle and cries for help. The good news is that he is also active when he is at the halte garderie(HG).

The women at the HG tell us that Samuel ignores his brothers when they are there except when another child comes near the boys. Then Samuel will walk over and stand nearby, watching his brothers to ensure that they are okay.

It is quite adorable to watch the boys interact with Samuel. Whatever he does to them they just laugh and smile and look at him as if he could do no wrong. Nathan is especially taken with Samuel. We have tried to take video of their interactions but every time we break out the video cam Samuel runs over and thinks it is a new toy to play with.

Bo (Benjamin) is still very attentive if not overly active yet.

We have had a good week with the boys. It has now been 8 days since we changed their schedule from 5 bottles to four per day and changed their bed time from 2230 to 2030. So far (knock wood) they have slept through the night until we wake them at 0700 for their morning bottle.

Samuel had his first potty accident yesterday. He enthusiastically carried his potty into the living room just as we were sitting down to give the boys their bottles. He sat on the potty for a few seconds before jumping up and running off to the dining room with no pants or diaper. After a few minutes he returned and while he was standing in the living room he quite suddenly proceeded to have a poo on the living room tiles. I admonished him with a strong "Samuel" and immediately realized I was wrong to have done so. We both then encouraged him that accidents happen and tried to teach him so that the could learn from the accident. This parenting gig is not easy, but it is fun. Most of the time.

Luckily I was feeding Nathan so Julia had to clean up the mess. Nathan is a picky eater and we do not stop once he has taken the bottle into his mouth,. If we take the bottle out of his mouth he may stop eating even if he has taken only a few ounces of milk. Benjamin on the other hand, is a beast and will eat anything anytime we give it to him. He does become quite agitated if we take the bottle away before he finishes but he calms down and returns to drinking as soon as we return the bottle to his mouth.

I am still recovering from my vasectomy. No pain but I am still feeling groggy and queasy from the anesthesia. I have had three surgeries in the US and fully recovered from all of them in less than 24 hours. I am left to assume that the anesthesiologist used a inordinate amount of anesthesia to put me under as I am still feeling the effects 96 hours later.

Julia goes in for her surgery tomorrow. The boys will be in the HG so I will be able to take her to the hospital but she will have to take a cab home on Tuesday as I will be home with the boys. She has been told her recovery will be anywhere from 2-3 weeks. The primary restriction will be on lifting so she will be unable to be left alone with the boys.

-Dave

ch, ch, ch, ch, changes....................

2010-09-26T10:17:00.000+02:00

Julia and her friend Poonam are enjoying a relaxing 2weekend at a spa near Versailles. So it is a testosterone filled weekend of baby Einstein dvd's and Dr. Suess books.

All of us have had small colds for the last week. Saturday morning Julia took Samuel to the pool while I took Benjamin and Nathan to the doctor. Good news, Benjamin just has a cold with no infection. Nathan has a slight chest infection so has been put on antibiotics for a week. We expected this as they have been in the halte garderie for 9 of the last 10 business days.

After Poonam and Julia left I hosted a French/English conversation group at our house. It consists of an Australian couple, a French couple and us. We met the Australian couple through message, an English speaking support group in Paris. Joe and Kylie have three kids. Lily who is Samuel's age and Emily and Luka who are a few years older. Sebastain and Kattel have two kids, Joseph, Samuel's age and Katrine, who is 5. It was sometimes difficult to follow the conversation with the 6 kids have a raucous good time with Samuel's toys. The conversation group meets every weekend and will help me with my French as I will have people who will not be judgemental if I make a mistake. It will also be beneficial for Julia to practice her conversational French before she returns to work.

Saturday was the first day that we reduced the number of bottles that we give the boys. We had been feeding the boys 5 bottles at 0700, 100, 1500, 1700 and 2200. Starting Saturday they get bottles at 0700, 1130, 1600 and 2000. We had been putting the boys to bed at around 2230 and they had been sleeping through to 0700. We actually had to wake them up at 0700 in order to give them their bottles.

Saturday night our garde de nuit, Muriel, watched the boys. She fed them their bottles at 2000 and put them to sleep in their bouncy seats. They are sleeping int heir bouncy seats because of their congestion. Sleeping in an upright positions helps their sinuses to drain. And......................................they slept through to 0700. I know I am probably jinxing us but for at least one night everything is going according to plan.

V is for.......

2010-09-22T17:38:00.000+02:00

I am beginning to appreciate French culture more every day. After the birth of the twins we decided that we did not want another children and decided that the best option to ensure this was for me to have a vasectomy. After our "scare" of a few weeks ago this became a priority.

Julia enthusiastically put it upon herself to make this happen. Her enthusiasm immediately turned into despair as she discovered that the word vasectomy does not exist in the French medical vocabulary. Apparently the French male is especially chauvinistic and birth control in this country is the sole responsibility of the female. One urologist she spoke to said "A man would not be a man if he did that to himself."

Fortunately, for all five of us, we were able to find through friend a doctor in St Germain-en-laye that performs vasectomies. Next Wednesday(29th) is the day. Of course the French are not quite up to the medical standards of the US and I will have to have a general anesthetic rather than a local and be in recovey in the hospital for 4-5 hours after. In the US it is an office procedure that the patient walks out of the office 30 minutes after the incision.

A tale of two days.......

2010-09-22T10:20:00.000+02:00

Yesterday(Tuesday 21st) I fed Samuel his dinner at 1830. His favorite food is mac and cheese. He has not yet taken to eating vegetables. So we had the idea of buying macaroni made of vegetables. Good idea, right? Well, for the first time Samuel refused to eat his mac and cheese. Half of the macaroni is green shaded not the normal yellow color. He refused to eat any of the green macaroni. If he was able to separate the yellow macaroni from the green he would eat it but the green macaroni never got close to his mouth. I also gave him a vegetable medley(peas, green beans carrots, potatoes) in addition to the mac and cheese. The good news is that he picked the carrots out of the vegetables and ate those. A light finally came on and we thought lets buy vegetables that aren't green and see if he will eat non-green vegetables. So we will be going to the fruitier to buy whatever non-green vegetables they have in stock in the hope that Samuel will eat them. Anyone have any advice as to how to break a toddler of a green food phobia?

The evening was better. Julia had gone shopping earlier in the day and bought two slices of chateaubriand. So I was outside grilling the meat and corn on the cob when the moon rose over the river and shone through the cherry trees in our backyard. Very beautiful, serene and calming. The memories of the fight over dinner quickly faded into the grey recesses of my mind.

Samuel has another girlfriend.........

2010-09-18T09:24:00.000+02:00

All three boys have been going through adaptation at the halte garderie this week. The halte garderie is a state subsidized day care. It costs us 10 euros per hour to have all three boys looked after. The adaptation is a process where the twins have started by going for a hour on Monday and they worked there way up to 3 hours by Friday. Next week they will go for 3 hours on Monday & Tuesday, then 6 hours on Wednesday and Friday. If they adapt well the week after they will begin their full days on Wednesdaya nd Fridays.

Yesterday(17th) Samuel was in HG from 0900-1600 and the boys were there from 1300-1600. Which meant that we had a few hours without a child in the house for the first time since April. It was eerily quiet in the morning while Samuel was away. During the afternoon Julia had a doctors appointment so I walked the twins to the HG. After dropping the twins off I walked to the brasserie California and sat at an outdoor table drinking a beer and doing the IHT crossword. Julia joined me after her appointment and we both sat in the sun enjoying the sites and sounds of Chatou.

We both walked to the HG to pick up the boys. Another couple was there picking up there 15 month old daughter. As they and we were getting organized Samuel and their daughter chased each other around the entry way. Twice Samuel gave her hugs during this time. When the other couple was ready to leave Samuel chased after them and gave their daughter a final goodbye hug. Very sweet.

Benjamin is now in 9 month clothes. On Wednesday I went to pick up the twins at HG and they brought Benjamin out to me and his pants were unbuttoned and unzipped. This was the subtle French way of telling us that they thought his pants were too tight. We took the hint and dug out the 9 month clothes. Now Benjamin is in 9 month clothes while Nathan is still in 6 month clothes.

Samuel is still a challenge when eating. I am very happy about one development. Samuel still loves cheese but now he only eats american cheddar cheese slices. His favorite meal is mac and cheese where we melt a cheddar cheese slice over macaroni. This is the only meal he eats regularly eats.

The worst of having a baby in a foreign country.

2010-09-01T10:42:00.000+02:00

Sorry, again, this is being updated in August, almost 5 months after the boys arrived.

Sorry for having been gone so long but we have been enjoying our new family.

Benjamin and Nathan are both over 3 kilos now. They are doing what babies are supposed to do. They eat, sleep and poop. They are spending a few more minutes each day awake so that we can see their beautiful eyes. I think they are already smiling but it is not yet possible.

We have been working on entries describing the birth and the days after but I thought I would share the worst moment of the birth.

They boys were born at 1056 and 1058. We were told that they would be allowed to spend an hour with us before they were to be taken upstairs. As we were sitting in the delivery room holding the boys, Benjamin developed a slight rasp to his breath. Our midwife said that he probably had fluid in his lungs and that it would take time to work its way through his system. During this hour the staff told us that Julia would stay in the delivery room until 1300 and then be taken upstairs to her room.

At 1200 the staff came and put the boys in a cart to take them to the neonatal unit. We told them that I wanted to go with the boys. They did not say that this would be a problem. We then left and took the elevator to the second floor. When we reached the neonatal unit they then told me that I would not be able to enter for 20 minutes as they needed to run tests and prepare the room. Feeling frustrated that they had not bothered to tell me this before I left my wife in the delivery room I decided to return to the delivery and wait with Julia. I returned to the first floor only to discover that the door to the maternity area was locked with a secure keypad. I waited a few minutes but no one entered or departed through the door so I decided to return to the waiting area outside the neonatal unit.

After waiting the required twenty minutes I pushed the button and they let me in. Being extremely tired I failed to notice the signs that I needed to wear protective clothing. As I started to walk down the hall and very frantic nurse came yelling toward me to return to the entrance and don protective clothing. I was then taken to the nursery where I was shocked to find only Nathan. Luckily a nurse spoke passable English and was able to inform me that Benjamin had been taken to the intensive neo-natal unit and that I would not be able to see him until his status had stabilized. Needless to say my heart rate and blood pressure rose exponentially. She told me that the problem was not life threatening but that he was having problems breathing. This was occurring around 1230. I sat down and held Nathans hand through the incubator. He was responsive and alert. It was distressing to see your newborn son with tubes attached to his nose and monitors placed all around.

For the next hour I constantly asked about Benjamin and was told that he was okay but that I was not allowed to see him yet. By now it was about 1330 and I was also beginning to become anxious about Julia. I had been told that she would stay in the delivery room for about an hour before being brought upstairs to see the boys. If that timetable had held she should have arrived or be arriving soon.

Around 1345 an intern, who spoke some English, came to take me to see Benjamin. It broke my heart to have to leave Nathan but I was overwhelmed with worry and guilt concerning Benjamin. As I walked into the intensive care neo-natal unit that held Benjamin I almost fell to the ground. There were two nurses and one doctor hovering over his incubator. He had at least 4 tubes and monitors connected to his 2.5 kilo body. His incubator was a boiling 36 celsius. The new staff did not speak English and all I was able to understand was okay and not urgent.

The staff left me alone with Benjamin and I sat holding his tiny little hand in mine with my mind racing between Benjamin in front of me, Nathan in his own unit and worrying about my wife who should have arrived by now. About 1430 a nurse entered the room and I was able to communicate to her that my wife was missing and that I needed to find her. I was able to have her take me to a phone and call Julia's cell. I have to admit at this point in time that I had done a very stupid thing. When Julia's water broke I had taken my phone and plugged it in top charge so that the battery would not die during the time at the hospital. Unfortunately, during the rush to leave the house I forgot my phone.

I used the phone to call Julia's cell and my call immediately went into voice mail. Of course, the nurse had walked away while I was waiting for the call to connect. After this I returned to Benjamin's room as I was unable to find any staff in the ICU neo-natal. After a few minutes a male doctor entered the room and thankfully he spoke some english. He told me that Benjamin was having respiratory problems but that it was nothing to be concerned about. After feeling re-assured about Benjamin's condition my thoughts settled on Julia. I told the doctor what I had been told about Julia and that she should be with the boys by now. He, in typical french style, said "Yes, she should be here" and he turned and left the room.

At this point I was mentally and physically drained. I made the decision to leave Benjamin alone and returned to the neo-natal unit to see Nathan and the english speaking Nurse. When I found the nurse and explained to her the situation she immediately grabbed another nurse and had her take me down to the delivery room where I was shocked and relieved to see Julia laying back on the delivery table. I pushed my way into her room and told her that Nathan was okay but the Benjamin was in ICU. She immediately began screaming for a nurse to take her to the ICU. Please understand that this now nearly 4 hours after the birth of our twins.

A few minutes later I was pushing Julia into the ICU neo-natal and with communication established we were able to ascertain that Benjamin was not in danger but they were just being cautious. It was then that we had to make the difficult decision to part as Julia stayed with Benjamin, due to being able to communicate with the staff, and I returned to Nathan's side.

It was only later that Julia finally told me that the english speaking nurse told her that she had never felt sorrier for a new father than when she saw me come back fro the ICU. I have never felt so helpless and torn. Who was my priority? My newborn son in ICU or my wife who may have been in the delivery room hemorraging blood.

Of course, the next 5 days were extremely trying as we had to balance two newborn twins in separate neo-natal units with maintaining our connection with Samuel. All of that will covered in another post which I promise will not take another 5 months to write.

Random stuff

2010-08-20T14:12:00.000+02:00

Have been remiss in not posting to blog. We are now on facebook and facebook is more convienent to our current lifesyle. Short blurbs that can be quickly shared. It is hard work to keep the blog updated and interesting with 3 young boys but we will try.

Yesterday (19th) we had tp take the boiys to the doctor for their month shots. Since the boys were receiving shots all 5 of us go to the doctor. It is unfair to the doctor and to the one of us that would take them to the doctor to do it with just one of us. Once the first twin receives his shots, if he does not react well, it is difficult to comfort the first while the second is receiving his shots. So our solution is all five of us go to the shot appointments.

Benjamin went first and weighed 7.57 k.. He has almost tripled his birth weight. His growth chart is practically vertical. From 10% at birth to 85% at 18 weeks. We are amazed at his growth. Considering that he was 5 weeks premature his growth is nothing less than phenomenal.

Nathan is growing but not at the pace of Benjamin. Nathan weighed in at 6.8 k. He is at the 75% but his line is not nearly as steep as Benjamin's.

The sad part of the trip was when we returned home. I got one of the boys out of the passenger side of the car and opened the gate and walked toward the front door. Julia got the other twin out of his seat and helped Samuel out of the drivers side of the car. As I reached the front door I turned around and Julia was placing the twin on the stoop, the gate was closed and Samuel was nowhere to be seen.

As I was asking Julia where Samuel was I saw his head pop up through the gate. He had been locked out.
Julia immediately unlocked the gate but Samuel ran away from her. Apparently she had closed the gate in his face as he was following her into the yard. Samuel ran directly to me and refused to look at or hug his mummy for at least five minutes. All was soon forgotten by Samuel. We tried to explain to him that it will not be the last time that he is forgotten and left behind. It will happen again.

Samuel does not like watermelon. Very disappointing. He loves what are called in France Yetigel. I cannot remember what they are called in America. Yetigels are the summer treat of fruit flavored frozen water in small tubes that you slowly suck on until they melt and then you drink the sugar saturated water.

I get my 36 hour break for August next week. I will leave for Antwerp on Wednesday morning and return early Thursday evening. What we have learned over the last 5 months is that Julia and I love each other and our boys very much but we have been together under the same roof since February 1st. We decided that a quick remedy is that each of us gets a 36 hour break every month. Our trip coincides with a visit by the garde de nuit so the one of us that stays behind is not left completely alone with the boys. In July we both spent our trip in Brussels. We try to visit spots that are within a 2 hour train ride of Paris.

Samuel can now say I love you. Well, almost. He says "I la."

Nathan is a smiley baby. Subsequently his nickname is Smiley. Samuel calls him "Miley."

I love France.....

2010-07-03T10:12:00.000+02:00

I love France! Never thought I would write those words. We had a garde de nuit last night. Translates as night duty. A young woman, says she 21 looks about 12, stayed with the boys from 2200 last night until 0700 this morning. We both were able to get a good nights sleep. All for only 50 euros.

Old post that was not posted timely.

A typical day....

2010-07-03T09:15:00.000+02:00

0700-Wake up and feed the twins. One feeds from a breast and the other gets a bottle. When finished with feed, Julia expresses milk.
0800-Wake up, dress and feed Samuel.
0900-1100-Do laundry, play with Samuel, clean up after Samuel, wash bottles and pump parts.
1100-Feed the twins. One feeds from a breast and the other gets a bottle. When finished with feed, Julia expresses milk.
1200-Feed Samuel.
1300-Put Samuel down for his nap.
1300-1500-Julia and I eat lunch and talk(imagine that!).
1500-Wake up Samuel from nap. Feed the twins. One feeds from a breast and the other gets a bottle. When finished with feed, Julia expresses milk.
1600-Feed Samuel a snack.
1600-1830-Do laundry, play with Samuel, clean up after Samuel, wash bottles and pump parts.
1830-Feed Samuel. Every other night the twins get a bath. When preparing Samuel's dinner we also make and refrigerate Samuel's lunch for the next day.
1900-Feed the twins.
1930-Take Samuel upstairs for bath, book(s) and bed. The one that does not take Samuel upstairs prepares dinner.
2000-Eat dinner.
2100-We alternate the evenings. One of us goes to bed while the other stays up and does the dishes and prepares the bottles for the evening feeds.
2300-Feed the twins. The one that feeds the twins then tries to sleep in the downstairs guest room or on the couch. We keep the boys downstairs so that the one who went upstairs at 2100 can, hopefully, get about 6 hours of uninterrupted sleep.
0400-Approximately. When the boys wake up hungry, the one that was downstairs goes upstairs and wakes the other up and we switch positions. We are trying to get the boys to sleep through the night so we let them sleep as long as they can.

Samuel is French.....Oh no!

2010-07-03T09:01:00.000+02:00

When Samuel and I are outside kicking or throwing a ball around he does not say ball, he says "ballon." Not only does he say ballon, according to our neighbors, he says it with a perfect French accent. The battle is lost before it has even begun.

Great news

2010-05-28T18:03:00.000+02:00

When Julia picked up Samuel from the halte garderie (French day care) today they told her that we have been allotted three spots on Wednesdays and Fridays for all 3 boys to attend. This is good so that I can recommence my french lessons as I still have about 36 hours remaining.

The best part is that we have been granted a floating day every week. We can call two weeks in advance to schedule this day but it will be subject to availability. What the floating day means is that we can drop one, two or all three of the boys at the halte garderie for an entire day of care.

Really nice to have so that one week we can drop off the twins and I can spend the day with Samuel, maybe go to farm or the zoo. While the next week I can drop off Samuel and spend the day with the twins. If Julia is able to get a day off of work she can spend a day with Samuel or the twins. Or Julia, Samuel and myself can go to a zoo or a museum.

We will take advantage of these days. Julia will not return to work until January so on days when the three boys are in HG and I have my lessons she may come into Paris with me and we will have lunch after my lesson and then spend a few hours wandering the streets of Paris, going to a museum or getting an Italian ice near the Jardin du Luxembourg.

We both realize, and have promised each other, that it is important that we spend time with Samuel without the twins.

-Dave

I feel loved ...part II

2010-05-24T09:05:00.000+02:00

Later on Sunday morning. I was lying on the couch holding the boys while Samuel was playing with his truck on the floor. Julia was upstairs taking a quick nap.

Suddenly Samuel stands up and points to the ceiling and yells "Mummy, mummy". There was no noise from upstairs to inspire this comment.

I am the one that got him up, dressed him, went to the boulangerie to buy his croissant, fed him his croissant, gave him his milk and changed his diaper. And all he wants to do is play with the cat and his mummy. Yes, I feel loved.

Discalimer-The above is sarcasm.

Il est American!

2010-05-23T16:13:00.000+02:00

We had the boys circumcised today. Our midwife knows a rabbi that makes house calls so we had the procedure done at the house today. Immediately after the procedure Julia was able to feed and comfort them.

The funny part of the day occurred when the rabbi was leaving. We were standing by the door receiving last minute instructions with Samuel standing between me and the rabbi. I gave Samuel the euros to pay the rabbi and he looked at it, gave a wry smile, and tried to run away. The rabbi said "Il est American." I hope it was meant as a joke.

We then told Samuel to give the money to the rabbi. He walked toward the rabbi with the euros in his left hand. Samuel grabbed one 50 euro note with his right hand, handed it to the rabbi, and turned to leave with the remaining euros still in his left hand.

I feel loved..................

2010-05-23T09:16:00.000+02:00

When I went upstairs to get Samuel ready for the day he was laying awake in his bed. I walked into his room and threw out my arms saying it was time to get up and give Papa a morning hug. Samuel did not move. I said it again and he did not move. I proceeded to the armoire to get out his clothes for the day when Molson walked to the entrance to Samuel's room and meowed. Samuel immediately sat up, crawled out of bed and began chasing Molosn down the hallway, screaming "Ca, Ca ,Ca". Samuel still does not pronounce his t's. It left me feeling very loved and appreciated.

-Dave

We're back......

2010-05-23T01:48:00.000+02:00

Sorry for not posting for awhile but life has been rather hectic around here.

We had our first family outing on Friday. Samuel had to be at HG at 0900 and the boys had a doctors appointment at 1000. We were only 10 minutes late in leaving the house. Not bad since it was the first time we had to get all 3 boys out the door at the same time.

Everything is fine with the boys. Benjamin is 3.45 kilos and 51.5 cm while Nathan is 3.4 kilos and 49.5 cm. Both are growing at a pleasing rate. All they do is eat, sleep and poo. But that is what babies are supposed to do.

I think the boys made a pact in the womb. During the day they will sleep together on their play mat. During the night it is a different story. While one of them sleeps the other is fussing, not crying, but fussing loud enough to keep us awake. When we fed them they switch responsibilities so that they are each getting some sleep while we are getting very little.

Samuel is the perfect big brother. He is constantly hugging and kissing his brothers. He sits on the couch next to us and holds the bottles while we feed the boys. When they are done eating Samuel takes their empty bottles into the kitchen and puts them in the sink. When we feed the boys we take them out of the blanket we keep them wrapped in. When Samuel sees this he grabs the blanket and brings it to us and lays it on his brother so he stays warm and cozy. He is also very diligent in keeping his brothers supplied with pacifiers.

The car seats are arranged in the car so that Samuel is facing forward in the middle seat with a brother on either side facing the rear. When we brought the boys home from the hospital Samuel reached out with one hand on each brother. It was the sweetest sight. It was as if he was trying to tell them everything was going to be okay.

Samuel's new favorite words are key, shoe and bad cat.

Weather here has been perfect so today we took all 3 boys out into the backyard. While Julia and Samuel threw balls at each other I sat on the porch holding the boys. Quite enjoyable.

I have started 3 blog entries detailing the birth experience and the immediate aftermath but they are quite long and I have still have quite a lot to add. Keep checking back as I hope to have them posted soon.

-Dave

Quick update

2010-04-12T22:31:00.000+02:00

Apologies for not providing better and updated information but it has been a trying 4 days.

Benjamin has been moved from the intensive neonatal unit to the regular neonatal unit.

Julia will probably be coming home on Wednesday. The neonatal unit has mother/baby rooms and she was given one of these Sunday night. But Nathan is attached to several monitors and these monitors constantly go off whenever Nathan movers. Imagine trying to sleep with an alarm clock going off every 15 minutes.

Benjamin is as we expected the active one. The nurses have called him "tres sportif." Nathan is very calm and very quiet. Much as Samuel was.

Samuel is continuing to grow up. Yesterday I asked him to put his socks on and he sat on the floor and tried top put his socks on. While he was doing this I sat next to him and pointed to his toes and said "Toes". Samuel responded with what sounded like "toes." I then pointed out that he has 5 toes and I counted them out. Samuel then repeated what sounded like "five toes."

I talk to him every night about what is happening and why his mother has not been home. I hope he understands but it is difficult to tell.

Both Benjamin and Nathan have had bouts of jaundice the last few days. They have spent a few hours each day under the light therapy and it seems to have worked.

The doctors tell us that the boys need to be autonomous in their eating habits before they are able to come home. Nathan has breastfed but hr takes a few swallows and then falls into a very deep sleep. Very cute but we would rather see him eating. Benjamin has yet to be breastfed as he had a tube up his nose to assist his breathing and a tube in his mouth through which he was fed expressed breast milk.

Our friends and neighbors have been wonderful. Last Thursday our cleaning lady took Samuel with her to a friends house, which she also cleans, and Samuel had an extended play date with our friends son. On Friday our cleaning lady dropped Samuel off at the HG. On Saturday I took Samuel to the hospital to spend some time with Julia and while she was watching Samuel I visited the boys. For Sunday we asked a neighbor to watch Samuel for a few hors so I could visit the hospital. This neighbor has a young daughter named Claire. We had told the neighbor that I would drop Samuel off between 1530-1545. I was quite touched that her daughter was hanging out in front of our house from 1500, riding her bike around, waiting for Samuel to make his appearance.

Benjamin lifted his head today. Later than Samuel did it but very early for a newborn to raise his head. Benjamin also almost rolled over yesterday.

Nathan lays very still and coos.

-Dave

Officially at beached pregnant whale status

2010-03-24T22:31:00.000+01:00

I went into a local Italian deli yesterday and realized I am now officially at beached pregnant whale status. It had been a few weeks since I had been in there - since I don't get out that much these days! - but the nice woman who runs the shop took one look at me and said 'They still haven't come??' I'm not even at 33 weeks yet!!! When I told her that, she pointed out that yes, well, of course it was twins, which would explain why I was so enormous....... Sniff. Even our cleaning lady pointed out that I grow exponentially every week (and that was before she saw me flapping my arms trying to sit up on the sofa). I am very happy that the babies are healthy and growing well... at the same time, my belly has taken over my body. I think I still have feet, but I'll get back to you on that in a couple of months....

Latest scan update

2010-03-24T22:23:00.000+01:00

The twins now weigh 4.5 - 5lbs each! Just had the latest scan yesterday and all is well. Bo (on my left and the first one that will come out) still has his head down and is a little bit longer and skinnier than Go. Unfortunately we couldn't get any good pictures of them because they are so squeezed in together. Bo has his face right up against the membrane separating him from his brother's buttocks :-) and Go has his face turned firmly inwards, with Bo's feet resting on his head. Both the boys seem to be in very good shape... I thought Samuel was active when I was pregnant with him, but these days I can look down and see my entire belly moving dramatically!

Nearly at 33 weeks. From all the various medical opinions, it looks like we have a good shot of waiting until end April / early May before giving birth, which will be great for the babies.

Samuel's new bed

2010-03-24T11:21:00.000+01:00

On Monday morning Julia took Samuel to the toddler playgroup so that I could have a few hours without Samuel "helping me" so that I could put Samuel's new bed together. The linen is a jungle motif to match the walls and curtains. What we like about this bed is that it can be expanded. The goal is that as Samuel grows the bed can either be turned into bunk beds or it can be built up with a play area under the bed. This may be important depending on the size of the house we are able to afford when we move.

We have raised a very selfish boy......

2010-03-17T09:27:00.000+01:00

Samuel no longer wishes to share his bread with the ducks. He chooses to eat the day old baguette rather than throw the crumbs into the river for the ducks/geese to eat. The ducks do not seem to mind but the geese look as if they are ready to come out of the water and take the bread out of Samuel's hand.

Allez les Blues!!!!!

2010-03-15T18:06:00.000+01:00

Experienced my first live rugby mach yesterday. France v. Italy at the Stade de France. Not a compelling match as France won 46-20 and had a 46-6 lead with 10 minutes remaining but relaxed and allowed Italy two easy trys to make the score slightly more competitive.

Attended the match with John, an englishman, married to one of the women we have met through the local baby playgroup. I was supposed to go with our neighbor, Eric, but when I called him on Saturday to finalize plans he reluctantly said he could not go. He pretended to be sick but I think he just forgot to put it in his calendar. Their shades have been down since Friday morning so I think that they are out of town for the weekend. In the end it worked out best as John is a sports fan who used to play Rugby.

We met at the Chatou-Croissy RER station(John and Harri, his wife, live in Le Vesinet one RER stop west of us.) We took the train to Chatelet where we exited the station to have lunch at the Frog and Rosbif. An english pub in the heart of Paris. The food was not that good but I was able to have a cheeseburger with fries(Not even close to the quality of Quatman cafe in Cincinnati but you take what you can get when you can find it). The redeeming quality of the pub is that they have their own microbrewed beers. Very good and served cold.

We then returned to the startion and took the RER D to the Stade de France. Lesson learned, for future events at the Stade we will take the RER B as the station for it is much closer to the Stade. During the walk from the staiton to the Stade we passed a number of street vendors selling merquez, chipolatas and kebabs. French tailgating? Noticed that the vendors did not have sausage buns, instead they had taken a traditional baguette, torn it into 3 piece and cut a slit for the sausage. May have to try one next time I go.

The Stade de France is nice but spartan. The first thing I noticed upon reaching our seats is that their is not a scoreboard. There are two large video screens at each end but there is no where to permanently see a score or a game clock. Occasionally the video on the screen would include a score and a clock but you had to squint as it was a very small box in the upper left hand corner.

The match was a sellout but we(Julia) had found a special deal for the tickets. We bought 110 euro tickets but we found a bogo deal. Our seats were very good. We were on the 22 yard line about 6 rows up into the middle section. Close enough to the middle to have good depth perception and high enough to be able to see the angles and speed of the game.

There were two bands in the Stade. A blue clothed band to our left and a red clad band to our right. I always enjoy sporting events with live music rather than the piped up volume of most north american sporting venues.

The fans were very polite. The French clapped after the Italian anthem. They even clapped during the introduction of the Italian team. Not sure if this is typical or just because france was so obviously the better team and the Italians were not a threat. Wonder if the French will be as polite when they play the English on the 20th?

What is the French fascination with doing the wave? They must have tried to do the wave at least 20 times during the match. Very distracting.

The symbol of the France Rugby team is the gallic rooster. The fans wear what appear to be blue chickens on their heads in support of the rooster. The all-blacks have the haka and the French have the blue chicken. Not very intimidating.

The return home was interesting. We had to cross under a motorway to return to the RER station. There were two entrances to the underpass and French gendarmes were stationed at each entrance. They would alternately close the entrances. We were not sure why until we were finally allowed through and the underpass was jammed with people. They were singing and very happy but moving very slowly.

I finally made a male friend and he tells me that they are moving to Aberdeen, Scotland by the 1st of May for a new job. I may be stuck in the world of ex-pat mothers forever.

All in all a good time was had. Hoping to make another male friend in time for the world cup. Would be fun to return to the frog and rosbif to watch a few matches.

Culinary disaster... or how not to make oven fries

2010-03-12T22:36:00.000+01:00

In a moment of great hubris, I decided that I would take over making oven fries this evening... We had decided to have a rare meal of burgers & fries, but I thought I could make crispier and so better (to my taste) fries than Dave. HAH. Let it be known that the internet is full of lies. In my search for how to make the perfect crispy oven fry I googled away, full of trust. 121 positive reviews for a recipe... what could go wrong?! (As Dave would say... you need a RECIPE to make FRIES???? ... but I digress)

Full of innocent and happy anticipation, I prepare the fries and put them into the oven. Beautiful potatoes... delicately laid out on a baking sheet, filling the kitchen with mouth-watering smells... until the moment of truth: time to flip them.

Lesson: Never put potatoes on aluminum foil. Unless you want to demonstrate stronger sticking power than superglue.

These poor potatoes sacrificed themselves for nothing. A soggy, sticky and partially burnt mess was all that was left. And Dave and I (and Samuel) went fry-less. :-( Never again will I try to make fries. And the internet... sniff. My eyes have been opened. Lies... all lies... !!

31 weeks and counting...

2010-03-12T22:23:00.000+01:00

Just completed 31 weeks of pregnancy and so far, so good. One more week and the twins would only be 'medium premature'... 3 more weeks and they would only be 'small premature' and 5 more weeks... and they are considered almost full term. In fact the standard in France is to induce at 38 weeks (end of April) if we make it that far - although our doctor would probably be willing to let us go at least another week.

The great news is that the doctor is very pleased with how things are looking right now and believes that as long as I keep taking life relatively easy I may well hit the 38 weeks of pregnancy! Not quite sure how I will move at all at that point - I already feel like a pregnant beached whale flapping my extremities when trying to get anywhere... - but this would be great for the twins.

We've started sorting out clothes, etc., to get ready for the big day. Daunting to think that soon we will be a 5-person family (particularly on days when Samuel decides to be more stubborn or excitable than usual!), but equally we're very much looking forward to getting to know our two new sons.

A new video

2010-03-03T11:33:00.001+01:00

A video of Samuel playing the piano is being posted to youtube as this is being typed.

Samuel's new words

2010-03-03T09:59:00.000+01:00

Chee is cheese. His new favorite food.

Peek-a-boo is now coo-coo. Last night during dinner Julia was trying to play peek-a-boo(putting your hands over your eyes, quickly removing your hands and saying peek-a-boo) with Samuel. When Julia said peek-a-boo Samuel responded with coo-coo.

Samuel sets a new record

2010-03-02T10:30:00.000+01:00

Samuel is constantly pushing the limits. Last week Samuel set a new personal best by stuffing 3 rolls of toilet paper into the downstairs toilet. Yesterday Samuel managed to climb into his Stokke highchair and jammed himself into it sideways. He needed our help to get out. This morning he moved his plastic dining chair in front of the bookcase so that he could reach the second shelf.

Samuel put his pants on all (almost) by himself this morning. He choose his pants fromthe drawer and he refused to give them to me so I had him sit on the floor and told him to put his pants on. It took him some time but he managed to get his pants on his legs. I helped him stand up and he was able to pull his pants up to his behind but was unable to pull them up all the way.

We survived the windstorm on Saturday night. Our terrace furniture also survived but was provided a scenic tour of our backyard.

Other recent events...

2010-02-22T12:01:00.000+01:00

A few other updates from Chatou...

Samuel has had a rough few weeks. He can now proudly display his first four molars (total number of teeth now 10!), but this has been accompanied by no doubt a certain amount of pain and also a period of reduced immunity to infection... which has led to him picking up a number of bugs. Over the last few weeks he has had 2 ear infections, a stomach bug (gastro), conjunctivitis, and this weekend, tonsilitis. The good news is that he is such as good-natured little boy that when he isn't well he generally just lies on one of us to cuddle and sleep, in between periods of running around and playing.

When he is well, Samuel is becoming increasingly energetic and active. He loves being outside, feeding the ducks and birds on the river (just outside the end of our garden) or walking with Papa around the town. He is very opinionated and stubborn - but while this can be difficult, like when he decides to throw a lot of things on the floor when he knows he shouldn't, it can also be very sweet as he is absolutely determined to help where he can - carrying in groceries to the kitchen, doing the laundry, carrying his bowl or spoon to the sink when he is done. Most importantly, though, any baguette carrying in the house must be done by Samuel... held vertically (practically taller than him!), so that he can chew on the end.

Samuel is gradually eating more 'human' (ie adult) food. So far, he adores croissants, baguette and cheese... it is good to know that even if he looks like a carbon copy of his father, he takes after me in part!! He has enjoyed banana and mandarin on occasion, and loves chewing on green beans or bell peppers - but most other foods get chewed on and then eventually spat out again. Samuel also does a great chipmunk impression... if we don't carefully watch what he puts in his mouth, he will store enormous quantities of food in his cheeks before spitting it back out again an hour or more later. Suffice to say, we still need to work on his table manners... !

Dave and I get to spend our days playing with Samuel, often going outside to feed the ducks and birds by the river, and watching Samuel chase the cats around the house. We are enjoying the relative peace before the storm that will come so soon with the twins.

Last weekend I went to a very French meeting at the Mairie (town hall) to sign up Samuel and the twins for the halte-garderie for next year. Of course, we still don't know where we will be living after my maternity leave - whether we will need to move again for my next job, or whether they will want us to stay here - but we have to get on the official town hall list for child care to have even a chance of getting a place. After an hour of listening to the person from the early childhood service describing the multitude of different options for child care in France (and all the bureaucracy associated with each one!) I filled in a form that we hope will allow us to at least have all 3 children in care two days a week - which will be good for them (socialization) and for us. We won't know any more until June... so we keep our fingers crossed until then.

We are still debating when to have Samuel's 2nd birthday party. Since he turns 2 on April 23rd, it is a bit too risky to assume we will be able to have a party either on or after that date... so we are thinking of moving the party forward to the beginning of the month, before the French school holidays. Let us know if you would like to come and help celebrate!

A night at the Opera...

2010-02-21T18:35:00.001+01:00

Last night, Dave and I had our last great adventure before the twins arrive. We went to the Opera to see Verdi's Don Carlo, after which we went to a very famous traditional French brasserie (Bofinger) and spent the night at a hotel nearby before coming home this morning. My cousin Fiona came to visit us from London and was kind enough to watch Samuel for the night while we were away.

It was wonderful to be out on the town - particularly for me, after so many weeks of mostly just sitting or lying on the sofa, trying to be good and not do 'too much' (lifting, walking, anything.. which leads to contractions and pelvic pain, and an increased risk of early delivery). The Opera was good... in parts. It is one of Verdi's masterpieces, and the singing and music were really excellent. However the scenery, staging and lighting were somewhat too austere/dark, the acting rather wooden and the concert hall much too hot. Added to which was the fact that the opera lasted 4 hours, which got quite uncomfortable for both of us, and we had forgotten that the surtitles would be in French, and while Dave's French is good enough that he understands a lot of it, it is impossible to understand all that is going on if you aren't really fluent. So... a good experience, and I'm very glad we went... but not sure we will be going to another 4 hour opera again, particularly if the surtitles aren't in english!

After the Opera, we walked around the Bastille square to dinner at the Brasserie Bofinger. This is one of the oldest brasseries in Paris (built 1864), has beautiful art nouveau architecture / design, and is still very popular. The great thing about being nearly 7 months pregnant with twins is that people see me coming from miles away! When we made the reservation, we made sure they knew about the pregnancy, and as soon as they saw my belly we were wisked past the other waiting diners to our table - very close to the front door, but not in a high-traffic area. The food was fantastic and the waiters surprisingly friendly and chatty.

Our hotel was just a short walk away - opposite the Opera. My assistant had negotiated a great rate with them for us, as well as an accessible room with a big bed. The only downside was that this room was on the ground floor next to reception, so we had quite a bit of street noise during the night. Since I also snore like a freight train these days, poor Dave got very little sleep! But it was nice to be out until late for once and not to have to worry about waking Samuel up in the morning (thank you Fiona!!).

And that was the celebration to end our carefree days without 3 little terrors running around the house....!

Last(?) date night

2010-02-21T18:28:00.000+01:00

Huge thanks for Julia's cousin Fiona for making the trip over from London this weekend so that Julia and I could have one last big night in Paris before the twins arrive.

Julia and I went to see Don Carlo at the Bastille opera on Saturday evening. We checked into our hotel(directly across the street from the opera) around 1630 and found our way to a brasserie where we had a light snack, as the opera was 4 hours long and we would not have dinner until very late. While we were having our snack a few of the musicians wandered in and had dinner and drinks(coke only). Something we never experienced in Cincinnati with the symphony. We made a slight mistake with what we ordered as our assortment plate came with a half bottle of wine. Of course, Julia cannot drink and I hate to se good wine be wasted so I felt obligated to drink the entire half bottle. In hindsight I should not have done so as Don Carlo is 4 hour is long and the wine made me very, very sleepy.

The opera was very good. The voices of the cast were outstanding. The art direction of the production was disappointing. The lighting was quite unusual as the cast were mostly in shadows for the performance. Not sure if this was because they are not good actors, with the shadows their faces were very seldom fully visible to the audience, or if the director was attempting to add an element of suspense to the production.

I learned during the performance that my French, while improving, still has considerable distance to go before I can read and comprehend. We decided not to buy the program so Julia quickly used wikipedia to read the synopsis but I was confused throughout the performance concerning the plot. I found that I am able to understand the verb context and tenses but the actual subject of the sentence would most often elude me as the subject word was not part of my limited vocabulary.

After the performance we had dinner at Brasserie Bofinger. A classic French brasserie with glass domed ceilings and large pots of flowers and a great amount of brass. The food was very good and Julia was treated like a queen(4 carafes of water, one of which was served without it being requested. Unheard of in a French brasserie). We both had the filet de bouef with poivre sauce. Excellent. Julia had the profiteroles and I the mousse au chocolat for dessert. It was the largest mousse au chocolate I have ever been served in Paris. We then returned to the hotel and proceeded to pass out as it was 0100 and neither of us had been up that late in a very, very long time.

Bo and Go are 28 weeks 'old'!

2010-02-21T18:16:00.000+01:00

We had our latest scan on Tuesday and all is well. Both little boys are growing well - they are now over a kilo each (approx 1.1kg for Bo and 1.3kg for Go) - and all seems perfectly fine with each of them. The good news is that Bo (who will be the first one out as he is positioned slightly lower down / closer to the exit) has turned around and now has his head down. This means that - as long as all goes well - I should be able to give birth to them both normally and without a c-section. Go is still in breech position (head up), but hopefully he will turn around once Bo comes out and leaves him some space! In the meantime the boys are in opposite positions, each of them with his legs curled around his brother's head. Not quite sure what a few months of them kicking their brother in the head will do for them... but no doubt it is simply the start of a long joy-filled fraternal relationship...!! This is apparently a normal position for twins as it allows them to make the best use of the available space, and since they are now starting to be pretty tightly squeezed into my belly, with any luck they won't move position again.

Unfortunately, no good ultrasound pictures this time - the doctor was in a rush as she was running late, and with the boys getting quite big and squeezed together, it is apparently harder. Hopefully we will have some next month.

It seems like every time I look down my belly has expanded further. At 6 1/2 months pregnant, I already feel almost as pregnant as I did towards the end of my pregnancy with Samuel - the twin effect. We are hoping and planning for another 10 weeks of pregnancy (ie to end April) so that the babies aren't born before 38 weeks - which would be the best for them. I have to admit though that I am beginning to think that by then I will be waddling around the house wearing a sheet and eating not from the table but from my own belly-table... since I won't reach the table anymore!!

We have been watching the winter olympics and I find it increasingly amazing just what the human body is able to achieve. Anyone that has seen the moguls skiiers (human springs!!) or the incredible stamina, determination and unbelievable dedication of these athletes has to be left in amazement. Equally, in my own small way, I find it astonishing to see how my body continues to expand and adapt to allow our two little boys to grow happily inside me.

I am reaping what I have sowed........

2010-02-14T15:05:00.001+01:00

Yesterday morning(Saturday) I heard Samuel walking in the hallway. Suddenly the door to the room flung open and Samuel ran(as much as he can run in his sleepsack) to the edge of the bed and proceeded to crawl into bed with me. It happened so quickly I did not have time to issue an invitation or to stop him. This occurred about 0700.

Background-Friday morning Samuel had opened the door to the room and stood in the doorway until I said his name and he walked to the edge of the bed where I grabbed him and pulled him into the bed. It was 0730 and almost time to get up.

A perfect morning?

2010-02-11T15:54:00.001+01:00

It was a dark and snowy night(with apologies to Charles M. Schulz and Snoopy). It was 0641 and my slumber was suddenly broken by the sound of the slow approach of the inchworm(the inchworm is Samuel's bedtime toy and two of its many attachments are a rattle and a bell). As I rub the sawdust out of my eyes I realize that Samuel is standing outside the door to the room. I can hear him breathing. I hear him sucking on his pacifier(ala Maggie Simpson). Okay, I promise no more pop culture references.

As I am contemplating whether to get up or let a standing Samuel stand, the door is quietly and slowly pushed open. Revealing Samuel in the light from the downstairs hallway. Samuel is wary to enter the room. This is the first time he has opened the door but he has entered and destroyed the room on many previous occasions. I slowly raise up on my left elbow. Samuel sees this and begins to suck harder and faster on his pacifier. I hold out my arms to Samuel and beckon him forward. "Good morning Samuel. Do you want a hug?" He walks to the edge of the bed and places his head on my hip and stretches his arms out wide to encircle my stomach. I give him a kiss on the top of his fuzzy blonde head.

I then tell him that it is time to go back to bed. He frowns and lowers the inchworm, without dropping it. He slowly turns and begins the long trek to his room at the other end of the hall. When he enters his room he stops, turns and begins to cry. I get up and go to him. When I enter his room he is standing with his arms outstretched above his head. I offer him my right index finger which he tightly grasps in his left hand. We begin the short walk to his crib. He crawls into the crib and I lift his legs and little behind into the crib and stroke his back.

I return to bed wondering why I waited so long to have a child.

-Dave

A bedtime story.....

2010-02-10T22:14:00.000+01:00

Put Samuel to bed this evening with the usual routine. Bath, book and bed starting around 2030 and finishing near 2100. I then came downstairs to share some time with my wife and was scolded for talking too much while she was working on the computer so I headed upstairs with my book. As I neared the bottom of the stairs I could hear the inchworm above me, meaning that Samuel was out of bed. My quiet but firm request of "Samuel, go to bed", was met with a resounding howl of protest. As I start up the stairs I spy Samuel standing near the office door. As I reach the top of the stairs I say again, "Samuel, time for bed" as I walk towards him with my finger extending toward him. He switches the worm to his other arm and grabs my finger and we slowly(as he is wearing his sleepsack and it is the only thing that slows him down when he walks/runs) walk toward his bedroom. With a soft squeal of protest Samuel crawls through the opening of his crib, I help him swing his legs into the crib while I bend down and give him another good night kiss on the head.

-Dave

An extremely long post........

2010-02-10T17:13:00.001+01:00

We are in the process of adapting to Julia being home and not working, well not working much as she takes about 1 phone call per day from work. With Julia being home, doctors appointments and illness we have yet to be able to establish a routine.

The weekend we bought Samuel's new bed he contracted conjunctivitis and a slight ear infection. This weekend he contracted gastro and Julia had it on Monday and I am recovering from it now. Samuel became ill on Saturday evening, he vomited a few times and became lethargic. Sunday was not any better as he vomited in the morning and we enjoyed a very peaceful day at home with Samuel laying on one of us for the entire day. On Monday he appeared to be better so we resumed his normal routine of food which turned out to be a mistake. His normal routine consists of fruit yogurts and petite suisse(A French yogurt children s dessert.) Unfortunately the reintroduction of milk so soon after the gastro causes a recurrence of vomiting on Tuesday morning. This afforded us the opportunity to meet the British doctor in the nearby village of Croissy. She seems very nice and has an easy to get to office. Sometimes I forget the conveinence of life in france. After Samuel and I left the doctor's office we drove to the Chatou city centre, parked and proceeded to go to the grocery(Super U) for bread and huedebert(small pieces of toast), the fruitier(for apple juice and fruit), the butcher(for diner for Julia and I) and the pharmacy(for Samuel's meds). All of which are located within a 45 second walk of the parking lot for Super U. We would have picked up a baguette for lunch but the boulangerie was closed for unknown reasons.

Julia and I had our next to last date night for awhile a few weeks ago. We went to a 1 star restaurant near the Arc d'triomphe called Le Chiberta. It was our most expensive meal ever but it was very, very good. I had more black truffles that night then I had had in my entire life. The only disappointment was that Julia was not able to partake in the wine portion of the tasting menu.

Our last official date night before the arrival of the twins will be on the 20th when we goto see Don Carlo at the Paris opera. it is a 4 hour performance and we hope that Julia will be able to sit through the evening in comfort. Julia's cousin, Fiona, is coming over from England for the weekend to watch Samuel so that we are able to spend the night in Paris and not have to rush back after the performance.

Samuel has finally adapted to the section being taken out of his crib. In the evening he now goes to sleep almost immediately and does not roam around the upstairs. In the morning,m if he wakes before us, he will roam the halls with his inchworm bell ringing so that we wake up. He has yet to discover that he can actually enter our room and wake us up. That I am sure will come soon. His nap time is very inconsistent. We put him in his crib around 1300 but he always gets out and plays(or drops his toys down the stairs) at the top of the stairs so that we know he is there. He usually falls asleep after about one hour but he falls asleep on the floor at the top of the stairs or outside the office door. He is very cute when he does this as he is flat on his back with his legs flayed in a V shape and his arms stretched out at right angles from his body with the inch worm tightly grasped in one of his arms.

The other day we thought that Samuel said cookie but this would have been odd as neither of us use the word cookie. After much thought(neither of us have been sleeping well) we determined that Samuel must be saying gouter(pronounced gootay) which is French for taste or snack. A gouter is what the HG calls the afternoon snack that they give the kids.

Samuel has a girlfriend. One day when I went to pick Samuel up at the HG I was standing at the inside door and Samuel was in the far corner. Both the carer and I were calling him. He ignored both of us. A little girl, a few months older than Samuel, walked over to him, grabbed his hand and walked him to me at the door. Very sweet.

One other day when I picked him up they told me that he was starting to get aggressive, pushing and sometime shitting the other kids but that this behavior is perfectly normal. Which we already know as Samuel is quite aggressive with us, often hitting and throwing items when he does not get his way. It tests our patience when he does this but we try to be calm and tell him that hitting and throwing is unacceptable behavior.

Samuel is French, Oh no!!!!......Part deux

2010-02-04T15:45:00.001+01:00

This morning I was sitting on the couch with Samuel sitting on my lap facing me. I asked him to give me a kiss and pointed to my right cheek. He leaned in and gave me a very sweet kiss on the cheek. He then leaned back, reflected for a moment and then leaned to his right, my left, and proceeded to lean toward me and kiss me on the other cheek.

Samuel is French, Oh no!!!!

2010-01-30T15:25:00.000+01:00

Samuel and I took a walk to the boulangerie this morning so that Julia could sleep in. It was a beautiful morning as the sun was rising and the snow(Yes, it is snowing again in the city where it never snows!) was gently falling. A very enjoyable but crisp walk. When we returned I asked Samuel to carry the baguette into the kitchen which he did enthusiastically. When he returned to the front door I was in the process of removing my coat and shoes, so I handed him the bag containing our croissants and pains au chocolat and asked him to carry those into the kitchen. Big mistake.

After I had finished taking of my coat and shoes I rounded the corner and spied Samuel standing in the living room with the bag on the living room table and a croissant in his hand. Samuel had not only taken a croissant out of the bag, he had torn off one end of the croissant and was eating it while trailing crumbs all over the floor. This is very much the French way of eating a croissant, not the crumbs, but the tearing off of a corner and eating a criossant by pieces is very French.

We need to move soon.

2010-01-29T16:23:00.000+01:00

Glory, glory, Samuel slept through the night for the first time since we removed a section of his crib. The downside is that he is no longer taking 2 hour naps in the afternoon. For his naps we take him upstairs and leave him alone. He almost immediately crawls out of his crib and walks to the top of the stairs carrying his inchworm(it makes noise when he walks). He then proceeds to sit there, quietly, sucking on his pacifier, patiently waiting for one of us to come and get him.

One hour later. Had to go pick up Samuel early from HG. He picked up conjunctivitis last Sunday and had been feeling better since then. But the HG called saying that he had had a very runny diaper and was acting very apathetic. So I went to get him. When I walked in he looked very tired and pale(but he is half British). I asked him to come to me and he went to one of the carers and gave her on of his patented leg hugs. I was only slightly devastated.

Yesterday was family haircut day. My hair was cut first so that Samuel could see that it is fun to have one's haircut. When we had had our haircut individually both of us had failed to notice that our coiffure has a small table and chairs with toys for kids to play with. While I was getting my haircut Julia was sitting with Samuel playing at the table. When my hair was finished the stylist cut Samuel's hair at the table while he was playing with the toys. He was very happy while his hair was being cut.

Last Saturday Julia and i went to see Invictus. We had wanted to see it for awhile. When Samuel and I were at the city centre shopping on Saturday morning I happened to walk by the city centre movie theatre and noticed that, not only, was it playing Invictus, it was playing in V.O.(version originale). Which means it is English with french subtitles. Great to discover that our local theatre plays movies in English. We had thought that our only option was to travel to the Champs Elyssee to see movies in English.

Very French moment on Thursday(yesterday). Samuel and I went to the city centre to shop. One of our stops was at the cheese shop. A women entered the shop before us. Fifteen minutes later we were finally able to place our order. This woman ordered 92 euros of cheese.

Samuel sleeping

2010-01-27T14:16:00.000+01:00

My heart stopped this morning. I went into Samuel's room to wake him up. He was laying on his stomach with his arms straight out from his body with his head hanging over the edge of the mattress, looking as if he had a broken neck.

Luckily, before I panicked Samuel snorted so I knew he was okay. I am almost 50, I do not need mornings like this.

Samuel has adapted to the opening in his crib. Last night I had to put him to bed 4 times. The first time I put him to bed I went into the office to check the news. Within a minute of having sat down I heard Samuel and his inchworm plodding down the hallway. I then put him to bed again and went downstairs. We both heard him get out and walk to the top of the stairs, where apparently he fell asleep. When he did wake up he started to cry while laying on the floor outside the closed office door.

The difficulty getting him to sleep last night was a surprise as he did not nap well. For the last two days he has crawled out of the crib and spent most of his nap time sitting at the top of the stairs, quietly(thankfully) waiting for me to come upstairs.

Samuel has a new bed

2010-01-24T21:55:00.000+01:00

We were finally able to get out and pickup Samuel's new bed today. Samuel is not spoiled but he now has a castle bed. Okay, maybe he is a little spoiled.

Sometimes things in life just work out. Call it karma, good luck, whatever sometimes life just works. We had been talking about buying Samuel a bed. Julia did some research and we had decided to look at a Flexa bed. The day after we decided this a thread was posted on this English language mothers support group in Paris we belong to that stated that a woman had just bought a Flexa bed but it was too big for their son's bedroom. They were offering a 600 euro bed for 400 euros. Sometimes life just works out.

To pick up the bed today I had to drive Julia's Audi for the first time. A very nice ride which I have to get use to driving more (trip home from hospital?). Driving the car is not a problem, the difficulty comes in parking the car. As long as the insurance is paid up, I will do my best.

We came home late(1230) so we immediately fed Samuel and put him down for his nap. When it was time to wake Samuel up I came upstairs and sat at the computer to check the news and I heard the pitter-patter of little feet running down the hallway. Samuel turned the corner into the office with his pacifier in his mouth, a smurf in one hand, his inch-worm in the other and his animal storybook folded over his arms. He has learned to get out of his crib and leave his room when he wakes up from his nap.

-Dave

The power of massage.

2010-01-23T11:59:00.000+01:00

Last night, Friday, Julia received one of her two weekly massages. We always try to give Julia a massage on either Friday or Saturday night so that Julia can take full advantage and sleep late the next morning.

Last night Samuel fell out of his crib at 0130. When I went to get him, Julia was asleep snoring. When I returned 5 minutes later, Julia was still asleep snoring. Must have been a very good massage to sleep through Samuel screaming.

When I walked into Samuel's room after he fell out of his crib he was on his knees trying to crawl back into his crib. It hopefully won't be long until he learns that he can get in and out of his crib whenever he wants.

Samuel sleep update

2010-01-21T14:23:00.000+01:00

Tuesday night Samuel fell out of his crib twice. The first time I went to him. By the time I got to him he had calmed down and was almost asleep. I helped him up and assisted him in crawling back into the crib and he went to sleep immediately. He fell out again around 0545 and Julia was the first to get to him. He had crawled/rolled off the blanket that we have placed on the floor to cushion his falls. Apparently it was not until he rolled off the blanket that he began to cry.

Wednesday night and so far during his Thursday afternoon nap he has not rolled out of the crib.

Now, if we could get him to eat his morsels, life would be good.

-Dave

Samuel update-part II

2010-01-19T10:03:00.000+01:00

Woke up Samuel this morning a few minutes after 0800. When I walked into his room he was asleep but he woke up when I opened his shade. He was reluctant to get out of his crib on his own. I sat on the floor in front of the crib opening with my arms open saying "Vien a Papa".(Come to Papa)

Samuel then stood up and walked toward the opening, placing one hand on each upright to balance himself. He then proceeded to step out of the crib. This would have been a positive development if he had not been wearing a sleepsack. For those of you that do not know a sleepsack is like a potato sack with neck and arm holes that fully envelopes his legs and feet. He tripped and I caught him. Will have to teach him to scoot out of the crib on his belly.

Samuel update

2010-01-19T07:56:00.000+01:00

Samuel fell out only once last night. It was early, just before we were going to bed. I walked into his room and he was sitting on the floor with his bedtime toy, the inchworm, laying on the ground next to him. I picked him up, hugged him and told him that everything was okay. I then explained to him again why we took the piece of his crib out. He is a big boy now and we trust him to be able to get out of his crib on his own. I don't think he believed me.

-Dave

Samuel and his first Broncos game

2010-01-18T22:28:00.000+01:00

For those of you that do not know I am a tried and true Denver Broncos (American football) fan. They will be playing a game of football in London's Wembley stadium. October 31st is the date. Samuel and I plan on attending. It is a bit early for Samuel to attend a game but with the twins on the way we are unsure of when we be able to return to Denver so we plan on taking advantage of them playing only a 6 hour drive away.

The only thing that would make the weekend even better would be if Chelsea has a home match at Stamford Bridge the Saturday before. The Chelsea schedule will not be published until the sumer so we will just have to wait and see.

New restaurant-addendum

2010-01-18T22:22:00.000+01:00

Long day-forgot something about the restaurant. It is typically French in that our meal lasted 2 hours. As we were trying to leave a women who we thought was a server came over to us and started to talk to Julia. She introduced herself as the wife of the owner, who had been our server, and asked us how everything was and how Julia was doing with the pregnancy. turns out that they have owned the restaurant for about 18 months and they have 2 kids, 2 & 4. The kids were sleeping in the back as they cannot afford a babysitter while working the long hours that they do. Very nice couple, He speaks some English. The evening reinforced to me again not to be too quick to judge as both Julia and I had assumed that the women who greeted us and showed us to our table was the owner as she was older(50ish) and seemed to be in charge. When it turns out that the younger couple who were working as the servers are actually the owners.

Samuel is asleep in his crib with the opening. I put him to bed and went downstairs to give Julia a massage fully expecting to hear a clunk followed by screaming but it has been quiet. After the lack of nap this afternoon Samuel should sleep through the night unless he falls out.

New restaurant

2010-01-18T18:41:00.000+01:00

Saturday night we were able to have a date night. Through our typical blind luck, our sage femme (midwife) lives less than a kilometer from us and she has 3 daughters who are of babysitter age. Best aspect of this is that we do not have to drive to pick up or take home a babysitter.

We finally were able to go to a local restaurant that we had heard good things about. Normally a 15 minute walk we drove due to Julia not being able to walk far. The restaurant is located in a strip mall(an American concept?) that runs parallel to the main road entering Chatou across the Seine river bridge.

A small place, maybe 40 chairs, with an understated decor but excellent food at very good prices. A 3 course meal is only 30 euros. Julia had the pave with bernaise sauce and I had duck with pineapple. Excellent, we will definitely return. It is our new restaurant to take visitors.

It was a fun evening Julia and I actually had a conversation that lasted for 20 minutes before we mentioned either Samuel or the twins. That had not happened since August.

Friendly Samuel

2010-01-18T16:03:00.000+01:00

Forgot to post this when it happened.

One day last week Samuel and I were returning from a shopping trip to the city centre. Samuel is not as enthusiastic about riding in the stroller as he once was. I try to accommodate him when we return home by stopping at the corner and allowing him to walk home the final 100 meters. When we did this last week we walked around the corner and one of our neighbors, Nadya, was outside her house saying goodbye to a visitor. Samuel, who had not sen her since Halloween(October 31st) enthusiastically ran to her with his arms wide open and practically jumped into her arms. Nadya and I then had a conversation which was 2/3 French and 1/3 English. I may actually be conversant before we leave.

We are both very happy that Samuel is so very friendly and not the least bit scared to approach strangers or people that he does not know well. Neither of us have a clue how to teach him to be wary of strangers without reducing his infectious attitude toward meeting new people. Still trying to find the book with all the answers about being a great parent.

Big weekend for Samuel

2010-01-18T15:52:00.000+01:00

Our little boy is growing up.

Tomorrow(Sunday) we are going to take a section out of his crib so that Samuel will be able to get out of the crib if he so pleases. He should be fine for his nighttime sleeping as he seldom wakes up in the night. It will be interesting to see what happens during his daytime naps as he is usually awake for two of his naptimes during the week. He is n ot usually loud or screaming. We just hear him playing with his inch worm or his musical aquarium.

Well everything is now a day behind. Julia had an OB appointment in Le Vesinet on Saturday morning and afterwards we stopped at the official swine flu vaccination center so that I could get my shot, Julia and Samuel had received theirs over a month ago(french bureaucracy would not allow me to get my shot at the same time or place as it was designated only for infants and pregnant woman). Normally I would not have received the shot but because Julia is pregnant we thought it best that I receive the shot. Especially since most hospitals are limiting visits in the maternity wards to fathers only and some even require that fathers wear masks. We did not want my not having received the shot to be an issue when it is time for the twins to arrive.

Unfortunately I reacted badly to the shot and spent most of Sunday in bed. We were also supposed to go on Sunday and pick up Samuel's first bed. That trip has been postponed a week.

Well, Samuel just had his first nap in this crib with an opening. Did not go well. The positive aspect is that he did not fall out. The negative is that he spent most of his nap crying and screaming(sometimes quite loudly). He was awake when I finally went to get him at 1515. He was awake sitting in his crib. I had him crawl out on his own so that he learns that he can get out and not have to wait for me to come and get him

Thursday, January 14th

2010-01-14T12:01:00.000+01:00

Another Thursday, another trip to the city centre.

Samuel gets very excited when he realizes that we are leaving the house. He says "go, go". He runs to the front door and points to his shoes on the desk and his jacket hanging on the coat rack. I have learned that it is best to get dresssed for the outside first as once Samuel is dressed he is very impatient and not willing to wait for others to get ready.

On our return trip from the city centre, Samuel was riding in his jogging stroller and I noticed hat his mittens had come off. I asked him to put them back on and much to my surprise he was able to use his right hand to put his left mitten back on. He then immediately took it of and turned his head to look at me as if to say "You did not tell me to keep it on." He is already smarter than either of us. We are doomed.

Samuel has a very funny routine when we return home. When we walk in the door the first thing we do is unfasten the strap of his wool cap. He then reaches up and pulls the cap off and places it on the desk. He then tries to unzip his jacket, he often needs help, but as soon as the jacket is unzipped he will take it off himself. He then drops it on the floor but a very stern look forces Samuel to pick up the jacket and hand it to us so that we can hang it on the coat rack. He then proceeds to sit on the bottom step and try to take off his shoes. For this he needs help. This morning was particularly funny as Samuel missed the step for the first time and fell on his behind. He had a tremendous grin when he did this.

There are many positives in having Julia work from home. One of them is that we are able to have regular evening meals. When Julia was working she would often not arrive home until 2000. With Samuel beginning his bedtime routine at 2030 it made it difficult to have a "normal" meal prepared. We had become accustomed to having Picard frozen meals, especially soups, which are very, very good(for frozen meals). Now we have established a routine where Julia will begin feeding Samuel his dinner at 1900 and I begin to fix dinner at the same time. Fifteen or twenty minutes after Samuel is finished with his meal we all sit around the table and eat a delicious(most of the time) home cooked meal. Samuel will then share part of our meal as we give him vegetables and potatoes from our plates.

-Dave

We are still learning

2010-01-13T13:28:00.000+01:00

Last night(Tuesday) Samuel had his teeth brushed for the first time. He enjoyed the toothbrush being in his mouth. Our kit for his dental care also includes a rubber cylinder that fits over an adult finger that is used to massage his gums. That is what is is designed for. However, Samuel had other ideas as he constantly closed his mouth over my finger and did not allow me to massage his gums.

Samuel also has a seventh tooth coming in. Explains why his cheeks have been so red for the last two days.

We had to move to France to become Kentucky hillbillies. Backstory-When we were living in Cincinnati we found it comical that the mornings when we placed our trash on the curb, that numerous cars and trucks, mostly trucks, would cruise our neighborhood rummaging through the trash and taking things that we and our neighbors were throwing away.

Our next door neighbors were throwing out two young child bicycles. They both need some work, a rusty chain needs to be replaces, a brake cable is broken but we took them and they are now stored in our basement. We may never actually use them but we currently have a full size basement so we have the space to store the bikes until we move.

Samuel the problem solver

2010-01-11T14:19:00.000+01:00

On Sunday(yesterday) when we returned from our errands Samuel wanted to carry the baguette into the house. he was dressed in a very bulky cold weather jacket with mittens on his hands. he was unable to hold the baguette in his hands and he was holding it in his arms with his mittened hands trying to keep the baguette from falling to the ground. He was holding the baguette when he approached our front gate. Our gate has a very small step, about 2 inches, which is not a vertical step. There is a slight angle to the step. As Samuel approached the gate he attempted to step up, without being able to see well because the baguette was blocking his vision. French baguettes are almost as long as Samuel is tall. He lifted his foot up but placed it on the slight incline. When he lifted his other foot, gravity took over, and Samuel and the baguette fell to the ground. He did what he has been taught to do. He got up, brushed himself off and grabbed my hand and I helped him over the step.

Today we ran a few more errands which included buying a baguette for lunch. When we returned home, Samuel again insisted on carrying the baguette into the house. He approached the gate with baguette in his mittened hands. He adjusted the baguette so that he could hold it with his left arm. He then reached out with his right hand to steady himself on the pillar that holds the gate and he then proceeded to step over the incline and continue on to the front door.

Similar situations separated by 24 hours and he learned from the mistake he made the day before and develops a new solution, with no prodding from me as I was distracted taking the pushchair out of the car.

Samuel continues to grow, as do we.

2010-01-10T13:23:00.002+01:00

Samuel now has a vocabulary. The other day he was sitting between us on the couch when he dropped his snack trap of cheerio's and he very clearly said "Oh no."

Today is Sunday and we had our traditional Sunday morning breakfast of croissant and pain au chocolat. Samuel had his standard croissant. We are slowly learning as parents. We have been attempting to feed Samuel "real" food while we eat our meals. We would hand Samuel green beans , baguette, whatever we were eating and he would immediately place it in his mouth. We noticed that Samuel did not actually eat much, as most of the food ended up on his bib or tray as it dribbled out of his mouth. We finally realized that we should regulate how much food we give Samuel(as Homer Simpson would say D'oh!). This morning we were eating our breakfast on the couch, watching the snow fall and the river cruise by, while Samuel was sitting in his high chair. Julia slowly gave him pieces of croissant to eat. She waited until he had swallowed the previous piece until we gave him more. Doing this, he ate about 90% of the croissant. A massive improvement over previous meals.

Samuel does love classical music. As we were eating this morning a promotion featuring Vivaldi's four seasons came over the radio and Samuel immediately threw his arms in the air and started waving them and swaying his head and shoulders from side to side. I would like to say it was in time to the music but Samuel is cursed as his parents are with no rhythm.

Samuel and I went to the boulangerie this morning. We drove as we had a few other errands to run and it was a brisk-4 this morning. As we were leaving with our order I handed the baguette to Samuel and he tried to carry it to the car with his mittens on his hands. Very cute as he struggled to hold the baguette but refused to let it fall to the ground even though he could not grip it with his hands. The women at the boulangerie were very encouraging as he determinedly walked through the door to the car.

-Dave

Thursday is laundry day!!!!!

2010-01-07T14:28:00.000+01:00

Samuel has a cute if not somewhat disturbing fascination with helping with the laundry. He has learned the buzzers that sound when the washer/dryer finish their cycle. When he hears the buzzer his arms immediately are thrust into the air over his head with his index fingers pointing toward the sky. He begins to run toward the laundry room, slowly lowering arms as he nears the door to the laundry room. When he arrives at the door to the laundry area his arms are extended in front of him making it easier for him to bang on the door demanding access. He then assists in the emptying of the dryer and the moving of the clothes from the washer to the dryer. He then must hit the buttons that start the cycle son both machines. Only when he is done with all these tasks does he give himself a big round of applause.

Samuel's vocabulary is expanding

2010-01-07T11:46:00.000+01:00

Samuel had his first day at the HG for 3 weeks yesterday. He was very excited to enter. A bit surprising since we dropped him off 30 minutes earlier than usual and there were not as many kids in attendance. We dropped him of early as Julia had 2 doctor appointments and since she is no longer able to drive(at least long distances or during rush hour) I had to drive.

One of Julia's appointments was for a scan. Everything is well. Bo & Go each weigh about 500 grams and, if you believe the accuracy of the scans, they are both in about the 90th percentile for size.

Just want to let everyone know that it did not snow in Paris last night. It just confirms that it never snows in Paris.

When we picked Samuel up at the HG Julia had a talk with one of the carers and they agree that Samuel is ready to start eating puree with morsels of food. The HG is also able to take babies when they are 3 months old. So when we complete the application for next year we will ask for days for Samuel and the twins. Samuel has charmed them(as he does with everyone who meets him) so she did not foresee any problems with our application. While Julia was in the office conversing, Samuel and I were in the outer area getting him dressed for the cold. While we were doing this Samuel began expressing himself in a way he had not previously done. Samuel was enunciating the word kaka. I was shocked because it was the first time I had heard him speak the consonant k. When I told Julia later in the evening she said that it is the french word for pooh. We wonder if this is the beginning of Samuel learning all the things we don't want him to learn at the HG.

The strangest occurrence of the day happened when we returned home from the HG Samuel was fine on the drive home. When he walked in the front door he began to cry and scream in a manner that he had never shown before. It continued off and on for 30 minutes. We do not know what caused this behavior. Our best thought was that Samuel did not nap well at the HG and he was just tired.

Julia is in the office today for the last day. She is cleaning out her desk and completing her filing. Samuel and I were supposed to drive her in but with the snow last night Julia ended up getting a ride form a colleague that lives about 1/2 kilometer from us. He will also give her a ride home.

After Julia left around 0830 I was laying on the couch reading the newspaper and Samuel walked over and crawled onto me and laid on me for over an hour. Very unusual behavior for Samuel these days. He did not sleep, he just laid on me with his head resting between my arm and stomach. It reminded me of earlier, quieter days. I miss those days. Interested to see how many quiet days we will have with the twins and Samuel.

Samuel has begun saying no or non quite often. It is interesting that sometimes he seems to say the English no and sometimes he says non with a French emphasis.

At dinner Wednesday evening we had curry with green beans. Samuel was given a number of green beans to eat and he ate most of them. However, a good amount of the green beans ended up down the front of his overalls. Immediately after dinner I took Samuel upstairs for his bath, book and bed. The routine was changed somewhat as I undressed Samuel in the bathroom so that any green beans in his clothes would not be tracked all over the upstairs. As anticipated the green beans fell onto the tiled bathroom floor and Samuel even helped to pick up the pieces and throw them in the toilet. One time he was slow in returning to help and I tuned around and he had taken a roll of loo paper and dropped it in the toilet. He hadn't done anything like that since we were in NY. Hopefully, it is not an action that he will continue to exhibit.

We have the dumbest cats in the world. Samuel's new favorite exercise is to chase the cats. The cats, especially Molson, are not smart enough to run away. When he chases them on the ground floor they are not smart enough to run up the stairs where he cannot get to them as we have a baby gate at the bottom of the stairs. As I am typing this Samuel has Molson backed into a corner in the hallway and Molson is unable to get away. Once the twins start crawling we are certain that both Molson and Preacher will go outside one day and never return. We would understand.

Samuel has been brought into the office. Molson has been saved, for now.

,,,,,,,,dddddddddddkdkss.... ,HJBVYW6YW6TQBBWBDJNnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnVvPKJOJIGI;BWU//.

Samuel says hello.

ttfn

-Dave

A good meal

2010-01-03T16:49:00.000+01:00

Just fed Samuel his snack. Since this is Sunday his schedule is a little off as he had a croissant with us when we eat breakfast. For his snack today he ate a half jar of chicken and peas puree and a petite suisse. That is not what is the good news. The good news is that Samuel fed himself the entire snack. I sat him in his chair and put the bowl of puree with the spoon down on the table in front of him while I put his bib on him. As I was placing his bib around his neck he reached out and grabbed the spoon from the bowl. He often does this but usually only to play with the spoon. Today he grabbed the spoon and dipped it into the puree and then he placed it in his mouth. He was not getting much food onto the spoon, so it was his longest snack ever in terms of time, but he fed himself every last ounce of the snack. I did help him a few times by guiding the spoon into the bowl and getting more puree/suisse onto the spoon. Also had to help him not turn the spoon over so that the puree did not fall off onto his bib. He was very, very proud of himself and he was feted with hugs and kisses from both mama and papa.

Not sure if his action was inspired by my promise at the beginning of the meal that he would be able to help with the laundry when he finished. Samuel is the best laundry helper in the world. He not only removes the clothes from the dryer and takes them to the guest room where he helps me fold, he also unloads the clothes from the washing machine into the dryer and starts the dyer. He then walks into the hall and picks up the next load of clothes for the washer and proceeds to place the clothes into the washer. This takes him 3-4 trips but he greatly enjoys it and always gives himself a great big clap of his hands when he is done.

-Dave

Bonne Annee

2010-01-02T23:02:00.001+01:00

We had friends over for lunch on Thursday. They have a little girl about 8 months older than Samuel. We had them eat lunch together and Samuel actually ate some of Emily's food. They were sitting at Samuel's small table and he reached over and grabbed a few pieces of her ham and cheese. It may be time to move him onto bigger kid food. He is not too keen on eating his puree. Thursday night we were watching the Return of the King and I was eating popcorn. Of course, Samuel, as usual, wanted to share. Normally he would chew and suck on the popcorn and then spit it out. Last night he actually ate most of it. This morning Julia was having rice krispies for breakfast and she shared some with Samuel and he was so enthusiastic that she put some in his smallest stacking cup(A very popular christmas gift) and he gladly lifted the cup to his mouth and let the rice krispies fall in and he ate them all with only a few spilling onto the floor. Another positive of having friends over was that we were able to have another buche.

Since Julia has become pregnant she has had cravings for chocolate chip cookies. She baked some the other day and this is a picture of Samuel enjoying his first chocolate chip cookie.

Okay, Julia stole most of my thunder. I will just have to sit here being happy loading songs into my new ipod, courtesy of the P & G works council. There are benefits to being in a socialist country. The works council at P & G has a line item in the budget to provide Christmas gifts to the entire staff. This year the choices were an ipod or a coffee maker. Julia chose the ipod and gave it to me as a Christmas present. The works council gets all the credit and the company pays for it. I do love living here.

Learned over the past few days that we will actually receive cold hard cash from the government after we have the babies. Not sure how much it will be but we will take all that we can get. Do feel a little guilty as we have yet to pay our taxes, but we will eventually pay them, we promise.

Samuel's new favorite word is no. Everything is no. Except food, where everything is O. As in CheeriO's. An American breakfast cereal that serves as a snack for toddlers.

Samuel and I have been trying to go for a walk everyday, despite the cold weather. The highs the last few days have been 0 or 1. We take day old baguette and try to feed the ducks. Unfortunately most of the ducks seem to have finally felt the cold and flown south. There are a few hardy individuals left but not many. We still have swarms of white birds, which resemble sea gulls, hanging around. The white birds are quite aggressive when it comes to bread in the water. They first team up to ward off any ducks that may be in the vicinity. Once the ducks are out of the picture the white birds turn individual and begin to attack each other for the bread. Quite an interesting social dynamic.

Julia and I were finally able to take advantage of the holiday season and watch the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy. Had forgotten what wonderful films they are. It took us 6 days to watch the entire trilogy, an hour here and hour there, but we finished it and we were both glad that we found the time to do it.

Samuel is enjoying the fruits of his Christmas. Good thing is he doesn't seem to favor any one toy. He plays with everything. The above picture is Samuel riding his new bike. Don't worry it does not have pedals. He holds onto the handlebars, sits on the seat and pushes off with his legs. He loved the bike when we opened the box and we let him ride it for a few minutes in the house. He did not enjoy it so much when we took him outside. Between Julia and I we have about 25 new books which should keep us busy for awhile. We learned from Samuel that our reading time will decrease significantly upon arrival of the twins.

Samuel sitting on the couch trying to drink out of one of his new stacking cups while surrounded by new cars and trucks. He is a very happy little boy.

Happy New Year!

2010-01-01T15:52:00.000+01:00

Very best wishes to all for a wonderful, happy and healthy New Year. We hope to see as many as possible of you over the next year... or at least talk to you frequently, since we won't be travelling much!

We have had a very peaceful and restful holiday week. Samuel has really enjoyed everything about Christmas. He was so excited when we brought home the tree and has loved playing with the decorations and seeing the lights come on every evening. Today we took the tree down and he was a great little helper, finding ornaments and giving them to us. He loved seeing the lights up all over the house, and clapped sometimes when they would come on. He discovered the joy of presents - opening shiny wrapping paper and boxes, and discovering wonderful new toys to play with. Luckily, he isn't the sort of child who focuses only on one thing - he really has no favorite toy, but enjoys playing with nearly everything, so he has really appreciated everything that he received this year (many thanks to all those who sent him presents!). We have spread out the new toys through the house (his room, office, living room) so that he has fun new things to play with in the areas where he usually spends time. It will be interesting to see how much he remembers - if anything - by the time we get to Christmas next year!

Samuel has even started the New Year with a big step forward in his eating habits. Over the last couple of months he has increasingly wanted to share our food - but most of what he would chew on would be pushed back out of his mouth again. Last night and this morning however he ate solid food (popcorn and dry rice krispies) and swallowed nearly all of it!

The cats greatly enjoyed their Christmas turkey, having been stuffed full of leftovers during the last few days. If it weren't for the fact that they both react to the presence of The Bird in the house as if they hadn't eaten since the previous Christmas and the turkey was stuffed full of catnip, all would have gone smoothly... Instead, however, I had to exile the cats from the house as I took apart what was left of The Bird (to avoid relentless howling, desperate attempts to snatch morsels and pathetic displays of fake starvation). While Molson rapidly found a space where he could stare me down through a window, Preacher decided to hide under the deck. Bad idea. She is either losing her mind or her eyesight... she couldn't seem to find her way out again and would only miaow pathetically from underneath the deck. Everntually, late that night, we were able to encourage her to come out by getting her to follow a light and our calls. Silly cat. But, who knows... maybe we foiled a dastardly plot by Molson to monopolize all The Bird for himself... !

Dave and I have had a peaceful time, mostly just reading and enjoying Samuel's company. All still seems to be going well with the pregnancy (now 21 weeks along!), although unfortunately since just before Christmas my pelvic ligaments turned into loose bungee cords and I now walk like Frankenstein... nothing serious for the babies, just a lot of pain and frustration for me (and more work for Dave) as I can barely walk or drive. Not much anyone can do about it, and hopefully it should go away after the babies are born. In the meantime though, I most likely have to work from home for the next couple of months as I won't be able to make it into the office anymore.

With very best wishes to you all, from all of us

Julia, Dave, Samuel, Bo and Go (for those of you that haven't got this yet - Buy One, Get One free...) - and Molson and Preacher

Christmas videos

2009-12-27T14:52:00.000+01:00

The videos of Christmas 2009 are now posted to youtube.

Christmas pictures

2009-12-26T17:41:00.000+01:00

The Buche!!!!!

Julia waking up Samuel on Christmas morning. How did that stocking end up in Samuel's crib?

Samuel wearing his new tool belt.

Samuel enjoying his new rocking horse.

Samuel and Julia after the opening of the crackers.

Samuel and the Christmas tree seconds after Samuel came downstairs. He was quite excited.

Samuel's Christmas message

2009-12-25T10:54:00.000+01:00

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Bonne Noel from Chatou

2009-12-25T07:04:00.000+01:00

Samuel did not have a good Christmas eve. We did not go to church because of his behaviour. Twice during the day he had to be put into timeout. The terrible twos have started early.

While we were having our traditional Christmas eve family meal of fondue Samuel was quietly sitting in his high chair, chewing on his baguette when he would suddenly throw it to the floor and begin to move his hands rapidly through the crumbs laying on the tray of his high chair, sending them to the floor also. We don't know if he feels ignored and this is his way of grabbing attention or if he is bored and wants to move on to other things. Looking forward to the day he can talk and tell us what he is feeling. Of course, he will be open and honest and tell us the truth when we ask.

The rest of the day went relatively as planned. The fuse to our electrical transformer blew as I was making the pastry for the pumpkin and mince pies. We had to scramble to finish a few items but everything was finished on time.

Samuel and I made a late afternoon run to the city centre to pick up the turkey(7 kilos), fondue meat, baguette and buche de noel. The buche de noel may replace pumpkin pie as my favorite christmas dessert. It has clearly surpassed mince pie as number two. Our buche is very light and creamy, made mostly of a chocolate mousse.(A picture will be posted soon).

With Samuels cooperation we hope to go to church on Christmas morning. The difficulty is that the American Cathedral does not offer babysitting services for either the 1700 service on Christmas eve or the 1100 service on Christmas morning. It has been awhile since we tried to have Samuel in the sanctuary as last time we attempted it he did not have a good reaction to the organ music.

After we finished our fondue we brought Samuel upstairs and while sitting on our bed I read him Twas the night before Christmas and then Julia read him La mysterieuse nuit de noel(the french version of the same title).

Earlier in the day we had continued our tradition of watching how the grinch stole christmas and a charlie brown christmas. We watched the grinch first and Samuel was fascinated. He sat quietly(for the first time all day) between us on the couch with his eyes fixed on the TV screen. This lasted for about 15 minutes until he became bored and started climbing all over us.

I also introduced Julia to the Santa tracking technology. She did not know it was possible to know where Santa was on his day long journey.

If all goes well, pictures and videos will be posted on boxing day.

Ttfn

-Dave

It never snows in paris, part deux......

2009-12-18T12:17:00.000+01:00

Christmas in Paris means not being able to go anywhere. The RER A is still on strike. The French cannot drive in the snow.

I do admire our post woman. Thursday I was thinking that the poste would not be delivered due to the weather. Especially since our recycling was not picked up on Wednesday and our trash had not yet been picked up on Thursday. Much to my surprise I spied our post woman, on her bike(the traditional French method of postal delivery), delivering our mail. She was riding her bike while wrapped in a very large parka and scarves with a very small slit through which one could barely see her eyes.

Left a little after 0900 this morning to drop off Samuel at the HG and was amazed to see a line of cars(about 10 cars/trucks) slowly moving along the avenue gambetta at about 10 KPH. A car was driving that slowly along a major access to the quai. The road was wet from Thursday's snow and it had started snowing about 10 minutes before we left but there was absolutely no excuse to be going that slow.

On Thursday, Samuel and I drove to the city centre after he woke from his nap in the afternoon. It had stopped snowing around 1100 and the roads were not snow packed, just wet. As we pulled out of our street we ended up behind an old woman who was driving slowly but stopped for every curve in the road and almost stopped for every car coming from the other direction. Very, very frustrating. There were just enough cars coming from the other direction that we were unable to pass.

When we did return home on Thursday it was quite beautiful at the house. If you look at the picture posted yesterday the little tree in the left of the picture is adorned with christmas lights. When we returned on Thursday we turned on the lights on the tree and stood in the living room watching the lights twinkle in the darkening night and shining off the snow sitting on the branches of the tree. Even Samuel stood still for a few seconds and marvelled at the sight.

It never snows in Paris.........

2009-12-17T10:24:00.001+01:00

The view from our living room this morning. The snow is still falling. Tried to leave at 0930 this morning to drive to the city centre to do some shopping. Made it around the corner to the butcher. Traffic was backed up before I could even get to the quai. Turned around and came home. Samuel was cute dressed in his wellington boots for the first time. Unfortunately they are too big and it is difficult for him to walk in them. Samuel did enjoy standing outside and feeling the sensation of the snow falling on his face. Tremendous grin followed.

Samuel in his Christmas sweater. Sorry for the stains but it is evidence that he is indeed now eating(sometimes) solid food.

HG Noel party

2009-12-16T12:35:00.000+01:00

Today was the Christmas party at Samuel's HG. We stayed for about 40 minutes. Was able to have quick, short conversations. Was easier to converse in French with the two helpers that speak some English.

Samuel was the only child wearing clothes that were Christmas related. But his sweater was tasteful. Gray with 6 penguins wearing Santa hats standing in the shape of a Christmas tree. A few of the helpers were wearing Santa hats.

We have had difficulty finding a Christmas outfit for Samuel this year. Julia even looked for one when she was in London and was unable to find there.

Samuel is definitely a mini-me. When we were at the HG for the party Samuel spent most of his time hovering around me being an unusually shy Samuel. However, he did approach a very fashionably French women. She was dressed in skin tight black jeans, knee high red boots with a skin tight grey sweater. Samuel approached her, charmed her, put his arms in the air requesting a hug and when she put her arms out to pick him up, he ran away and hid between my legs.

Christmas in Paris(Or the French hate Father Christmas(Santa Claus))

2009-12-16T12:02:00.000+01:00

Wednesday- The online english language support group that we belong to had arranged for a Santa Claus to be available for pictures this afternoon. Usually pretty easy to get to. Just a short walk from the Franklin Roosevelt metro stop on the 1 line.

Well, since last Friday the RER line that runs through Chatou has been on strike (Greve in French). There has been limited service between 0730-0930 and 1430-1830. Other times there are no trains running. Of course this is only on the spur of the line that runs through Chatou, the rest of the RER A line is still running at normal.

So we are left with the following options-Take a cab, the bus or drive. Driving would be a challenge as the only way to get there is to dive the champs d'elysse and navigate the etoile at the arc d'triomphe. Not sure if I am ready to do that on a Wednesday afternoon and then try to find a place to park.

The malls here in France do not have Santas. A few of the amusement/play parks that are open have a Santa but none of them are convienent to our location. We are still exploring options but it appears that we may not have a picture with Santa and Samuel for this Christmas.

A great morning......

2009-12-13T12:28:00.000+01:00

Sunday morning in Chatou. Woke up at 0800. Went for another run. So glad to have the path just outside our garden. This morning it was quite chilly, 0 c(31 f) and the fog/mist was just beginning to lift off the river as I started my run. Next time I go for a run I may take leftover baguette as the ducks are still on the river and their quacking adds a new sound to my run.

After the run I took a walk to the city centre and it started to snow just as I turned the corner. Yes, I know, I have been told that it never snows in Paris. It was warm enough where the snow melted as soon as it hit the ground but it was very serene to walk through the quiet Sunday morning streets with snow lightly swirling through the sky.

When I returned home it was time for a pain au chocolat and a mug of chocolat chaud. With Julia still in London I took the liberty of having my Sunday morning breakfast in bed. it was very relaxing to lay in the bed, reading a book, eating a pain au chocolat, drinking a chocolat chaud and watching the river slowly flow by. My life is good!

It has ben quite awhile since I felt his relaxed. It was a relief on Saturday night to sit on the couch wrapping birthday and Christmas presents and not have to worry about whether Samuel could reach the scissors and wrapping paper.

I miss Samuel and Julia terribly but I did not realize how long it had been since I have had a break from the daily routine of raising a very active and inquisitive toddler.

-Dave

Scan update and other news.....

2009-12-12T15:39:00.000+01:00

Here are the newest scan pictures. The picture on the top is the baby on Julia's right and the lower picture is the baby on Julia's left.

If you are religious, or even if you are not, please pray for Julia.

We had the 4 month scan on Thursday morning. Good news is that both babies are growing and looking good. In fact they are currently both far above average in size for twins. Julia is well and healthy.

Now for the bad news(or good news depending on your point of view.) The gender of the babies are(is)......................they are both very clearly boys. We are both very happy that they appear to be healthy and in a good state. But we have to be honest and admit that we are both disappointed that one of them is not a girl. I know that I am disapointed as I wanted a little girl to spoil. The pressure is also off of Samuel. Once the twins arrive Samuel will no longer be the only son of an only son of an only son of an only son. We will have three branches to hopefully continue the Charter family tree.

Julia is more worried about having 4 males in the house that may all be Tauruses. She will be overwhelmed by the testosterone.

Julia and Samuel are visiting Julia's mother in London this weekend and I am spending some much needed alone time in Chatou. I love my son very dearly but I needed a break. This morning(Saturday) I woke up at 0800 and did not have to get him up, feed and clothe him. I was able to go for a run along the very swollen river and enjoy a very peaceful sunrise. A spiritual experience that was very moving.

I feel the love.....

2009-12-09T17:33:00.000+01:00

Picked up Samuel at the HG today. I rang the bell as Samuel was already standing near the door. He turned, saw me and proceeded to beat on the door with both hands. I was buzzed through the security door as Samuel was led through the inner door. I approached him with my arms wide open expecting a great big hug. Much to my dismay Sameul immediately dropped to all fours and began searching for his shoes under the bench. Amazingly he was able to identify his shoes among the 6 pairs that remained. It was even more amazing as his shoes had been moved from where I left them in the morning.

For those of you that care I am receiving my love right now as Samuel is sitting in my arms, refusing to be put on the floor, as I type this. Of course, it has nothing to do with his love for me, rather it is all about his love for the keyboard(which is just out of his reach.)

-Dave

Learning curve

2009-12-08T11:45:00.000+01:00

Not Samuel's learning curve. His is fine and working well. Mine needs work.

This morning Julia had a work call to make from the house from 0800-0930 so Samuel and I hung around until she was finished so that she could spend a few minutes with Samuel before she left for the office. Samuel and I usually leave for the city centre and shopping between 0915 & 0930 on Tuesday mornings(weather permitting). We usually try to leave so early because the shops are not that busy and we are able to return home so that Samuel and I can play(Actually it is more like watching Samuel throw things and me telling him to pick them up then watching him pick them up and throw them down again.) before he eats lunch and goes down for his nap.

Since we got a late start this morning Julia dropped us off at the city centre on her way to work. After we had finished our shopping I decided that it would be good to go to the boulangerie, I needed the exercise since we did not walk to the city centre, and I thought it would be nice to buy Samuel a croissant since he enjoys them so much on the weekend. Lesson learned-never give Samuel a croissant to eat while he is in the pushchair. BIG mistake! His jacket and the pushchair lining are now waiting to be washed. Croissants are much flakier than baguettes.

Writing this while sitting in the office listening to christmas carols through the mac. Samuel is dancing to "Grandma got run over by a reindeer." For those who have not been fortunate enough to hear the song, it is an American classic.

I will address the previous post later.

-Dave

Selective memory....

2009-12-05T14:32:00.000+01:00

Lies, pure lies. My dear husband forgot to mention in his post below that the pumpkin pie mix actually said you should use an unbaked crust - not a baked one - so, with his agreement!, I make one unbaked (which I was unsure about) and one baked.

I think he just likes to think I'm trying to poison him. It was probably the cats.

Pregnancy is going well... and the bump is now very noticeable and growing fast. Carrying two is definitely taking more of a toll on my system than one, but so far all is manageable. We're not sure how much Samuel understands about the fact that there are babies on the way (and his life will never be the same again!) but when we ask him where the babies are, and to give them a hug, he goes straight to touch my belly.

Julia

A long rambling post....

2009-12-05T13:39:00.000+01:00

We were scheduled to have a scan yesterday. We arrived at the hospital at 1420 for our 1430 appointment. We were taken aback to see our doctor also sitting in the awaiting room. A little background: Doctors at hospitals in France share offices. The doctor that we were scheduled to see begins seeing patients at 1330. She obviously arrived to find that the doctor using the office before her was running behind schedule. At 1430 the previous doctor finally left the office and our doctor came out and told the first couple to come in and told us that we were second after them to be seen. By 1530 the first couple had yet to depart the office. At this point it was too late for us to have the scan as there was still another patient ahead of us and we needed to leave no later than 1630 in order to return to Chatou to pick up Samuel from the HG. We were both very disappointed to not have the scan. People tell us that this is normal for France. Welcome to socialized medicine, where the needs of the patient are second to the needs of the system.

On to happier notes. Julia picked up Samuel from the HG and spoke to the carers about Samuel's progress. They say he does not speak recognizable words while in attendance but that he does quite clearly understand what they are telling him in French.

My wife tried to kill me at Thanksgiving. Julia made the pastry for the pumpkin pies(Yes, we have two pies because the can of pie mix is made for two). Julia asked if she needed to pre-bake the pie crust before filling the crust with the pie filling. I told her that the can of mix said that the crust should be pre-baked but she decided to not pre-bake one of the crusts just to see what would happen. Well, when I had a piece of the non pre-baked pie on Thanksgiving night I became quite nauseous and was up most of the night with an upset stomach and diarrhea(classic symptoms of food poisoning.) I love my wife.

On Friday, after the scan fiasco, we went to the Marche de Noel(Christmas market) at the Chatou city center. it was very small but quite nice and quaint. Julia was able to purchase a fresh baked nutella crepe. There was a kiosk selling books and we were able to find a french copy of twas the night before christmas. It is called La mysterieuse nuit de noel in french. It does not rhyme like the English version but it si the same story. We will be able to begin the tradition of reading the story to Samuel in both English and French this year.

We were at the market from about 1700-1730. At this point it was dark. The sun sets here about 1615. While we were at the market the market christmas lights were on and Christmas music was playing but the Chatou ville lights were not on. It is the same here in that the municipalities place lights on the street lights and string lights across the major streets. very disappointed in the French again. Neither of us understand why the lights are put in place but not turned on, especially during the city sponsored holiday market. Makes no sense. When we were driving home the few lights on the major street that runs by our house were on.

We also purchased our Christmas tree on Friday evening. It was delivered this morning. Samuel is quite excited.

Useless trivia. The names of the reindeer in French are: Fleche, Cabriole, Courage, Robuste, Nerf, Vaillant, Etoile, Comete, Eclair, and Tonnerre.

Our marriage may end on June 12th. On that day the USA plays England in the group stages of the world cup. Both flags will be flying from our terrace at the start of the game. Only one will be flying at the end. Which one will it be?

I am typing this from the office. a few minutes ago Samuel brought his pacifier and inchworm into the office from his crib. When i turned around I noticed that Samuel no longer had the pacifier. I did not see it anywhere in the office so asked Samuel "where is your pacifier?" He stood up, looked around and walked over to the filing cabinet and grabbed the pacifier off the top of the filing cabinet. I then carried him into his room and placed him in his crib for a nap.

TTFN
-Dave

It is official....We have a ghost(s)

2009-12-01T21:42:00.000+01:00

Since we moved in last summer I have thought that we have a ghost(s). Unexplained noises, items moving from where we had left them. I thought, am I going crazy? Well, Monday I finally received my proof that we have a ghost.

On Monday Samuel and I went to Carrefour to do some bulk shopping. When we returned it was close to Samuel's lunch time so I left the bags in the entry way and prepared to feed Samuel. While I was feeding Samuel I had the stereo playing Christmas CD's. When I was finished feeding Samuel I prepared my lunch. To eat my lunch I turned off the stereo and turned on the TV to watch Morning Joe(a news and political discussion show). When it was time to put Samuel down for his nap I turned off the TV and carried Samuel upstairs and placed him in his crib. I then went downstairs and started to carry the bags down to the basement. After a few trips I was bending over to pick up a bag when suddenly the stereo began playing a Christmas CD. For the last 45 minutes the stereo had been turned off. Suddenly it was on. Either we have a ghost or the cats have learned how to turn on the stereo.

The only conclusion I can reach is that I am losing touch with reality(a theory which I am sure some of you support) or we have a ghost. Hopefully a friendly ghost.

-Dave

Life with Samuel means.....

2009-11-28T16:20:00.000+01:00

Never being alone in the bathroom again.

Hearing squeals of laughter from Samuel and shrieks of horror from the cats.

Hearing Samuel's villainous (but cute) laugh when we tell him not to do something and he looks at us like he knows we are too far away to stop him.

Asking ourselves why, why did we buy all these toys when all he wants to play with are the newspapers, books and cd's.

Cute Samuel story:

As mentioned earlier we hosted the playgroup on Monday morning. When it was over most of the balls from Samuel's ball tent were scattered around the dining room floor. later in the day on Monday Samuel and I were walking past the dining room and we stopped and I asked him to put the balls back into the tent. Without hesitation he walked over to the two nearest balls, bent over, picked them up, walked over to the tent and threw them in. He got a very big hug and kiss for this. He only did this for about 10-12 balls before he became bored but it is amazing behavior for a 19 month old. Not looking forward to the day when he starts asking "why?" whenever we ask him to do something.

-Dave

Thanksgiving shopping in Chatou

2009-11-26T14:15:00.001+01:00

We are postponing Thanksgiving by one day. We were supposed to finish our shopping and make the stuffing, pies and cranberry sauce on Wednesday. Unfortunately Samuel has the sniffles and did not go to HG on Wednesday. I also had a very, very sore throat to the point where I could not swallow. It has been a frustrating 3 weeks as one of us has been sick every day for the last 3 weeks.

We did our Thanksgiving shopping today(Thursday). Samuel and I picked up the baguette and the Turkey while Julia went to the SuperU to pick up a few items. We parked in front of the SuperU and Julia, Samuel and I walked to the SuperU together and Samuel and I said goodbye to Julia in front of the SuperU. Samuel was not happy with this and began to fuss. As we started to walk an elderly women came out of the door of the SuperU. She heard Samuel fussing and turned over her shoulder and gave him a big smile. He continued to fuss. She stopped walking, turned around and waited for us to catch up with her. She then proceeded to talk to Samuel(all I heard was tres mignon-very cute) and reached out her hand and rubbed the back of her hand along his cheek. He calmed down and reached the point where he reached out his arms and gave her a great big Samuel hug. For a day I like the French.

Today Samuel carried the baguette from the boulangerie. We may not do this in the future as the end of the baguette immediately entered Samuel's mouth. Very cute but also very messy.

Edited to add-Our local fruitier has fresh cranberries! Yeah!!!!! I feel guilty as I asked my sister, Beth in Colorado, to ship us two bags of cranberries(one for Thanksgiving and one for Christmas) and now we will be unable to use them. How long can cranberries stay frozen and still be good to eat?

-Dave

Samuel and playgroup

2009-11-26T14:06:00.000+01:00

A new baby/toddler playgroup started in the western suburbs about 6 weeks ago. This Monday last(23rd) Samuel and I hosted the playgroup at our house.

It was very interesting to watch Samuel interact with the other kids in his home environment. When we go to other homes for playgroups Samuel is very good at sharing and playing with others. When we hosted it was quite a different story. Samuel was constantly grabbing his toys out of the hands of the other kids. We have a playpen where we store most of Samuel's toys that extends from the terrace area of the living room. One time Samuel was standing in his playpen and a little girl about 16 months was trying to get into the playpen. She would grab the gate and try to open it and Samuel would grab it and slam it shut so that she was unable to get to his toys.

The only thing of his he shared openly was his little vinyl tent that is filled with balls. He and a boy named Oliver spent 20 minutes throwing balls at each other and knocking each other over and generally having a great time.

Apparently we have work to do to teach him that it is not only good to share someone;s toys but it is also fun to share his toys with others. Doesn't bode well for when the twins come along.

-Dave

Samuel and the HG

2009-11-18T12:31:00.000+01:00

Dropped Samuel off at the HG at 0900 this morning. We were able to find a parking spot right in front of the entrance so we left the pushchair in the car and we walked the short distance.

After I took off Samuel's jacket and shoes I kissed and hugged him goodbye and opened the door into the play area. He may have been intimidated as four little ones were standing in the way, blocking his entrance into the play area. The carers were calling his name and asking him to come in. I gave him a slight push on the tush and he turned around and grabbed my legs and gave me a hug. For the first time in a long while he did not want to enter the HG. I picked him up, gave him a kiss and a hug and handed him to one of the carers who carried him into the play area. I quickly arranged his food and diapers and left the HG. He did not cry but he definitely was not his normal enthusiastic self gong into the play area.

Samuel and food, II

2009-11-17T12:33:00.000+01:00

I know it is wrong to put a lot of weight behind one good day but we have to take our small victories when we have them.

For lunch today I gave Samuel half a jar(100 g) of legumes, pates & jambon. As usual he fought me by refusing to voluntarily sit in his chair. When he finally gets into the chair he kicks his legs to the point that the table is bouncing off the ground. It would be funny if it was not happening to us. Today something different happened though. When I was able to get the first spoonful of the puree into his mouth he immediately calmed down and started accepting the spoonfuls of puree. It even got to the point where if I delayed in getting the spoon to his mouth he would open his mouth wider and lean as far forward in his chair, as he could without falling out, in order to shorten the delivery time of the spoon. He normally only acts this way when he is being fed a fruit puree or a petite suisse. The entire process of lunch took only 15 minutes.

Snack is at 1600, We will see how it goes.

-Dave

First time for everything...

2009-11-17T11:43:00.000+01:00

Had to put gas(petrol) in the Polo for the first time since it was delivered. The most expensive tank of gas I have ever purchased(50.13 Euros). Drastic change in lifestyle. In the US I would purchase a tank of gas every week, here it took 4 months to go through a tank of gas.

Play group

2009-11-16T22:20:00.000+01:00

We were finally able to attend the monday morning playgroup. It is a good mix of nationalities, 2 Brits, 1 Australian, 1 Spaniard, 1 native French and 2 Americans. I was the only male in attendance over the age of 20 months.

Samuel had a good time with the new toys to play with and cookies to eat. He did let me know when it was time to leave as I was sitting on the floor talking and he walked over holding his shoes in his hands. He then proceeded to sit down next to me and attempted to put his shoes on. I helped him put his shoes on and he stood up and proceeded to walk to the front door and began banging it with both hands. We quickly said our goodbyes and came home just in time for Samuel to have lunch.

Dave - a popular man with the town merchants!

2009-11-15T14:22:00.001+01:00

Saturday afternoon I went to run some errands in town. This is the first time I have done so in a while - Dave usually does this, almost exclusively so over the last few months where my nausea has meant I haven't wanted to go close to any type of food store. As I tried to chat up the town merchants (who had all largely forgotten me), I found that if I mentioned Dave then all of a sudden I was ok.

The butcher wanted to know if Dave was going to watch the all-important France-Ireland football game that night (and then went into a discussion of American football); the greengrocer spent his time telling me what a nice man my husband was, after understanding that he wasn't going to sell me lots of other things as I was following Dave's shopping list. He even remembered that Dave came from Denver. Dave has clearly been able to overcome any communication barrier enough to make himself known as a much-appreciated regular in the town centre - from now on, I will just keep introducing myself as 'Dave's wife'!

Preparing for the twins... anyone have a bus we can drive?

2009-11-15T14:08:00.000+01:00

We spent our Saturday morning at a second-hand sale run by the Paris 'Twins & More' (Jumeaux et plus) organization. Several hundred euros later, we are now the proud owners of a double stroller (into which we can clip either two infant car seats or two stroller seats), another Baby Bjorn bouncy seat (a pair to the one we already had), and a few more sets of newborn clothing (since the twins will likely be quite small at birth). Pushing the double stroller is not at all the same as a single - it is like driving a lorry/truck instead of a hatchback.

The good news: at least we saved a lot of money vs. buying new stuff. The bad news: we are going to need a bus to get anywhere in the future!! Just fitting all this stuff into our big estate car / station wagon was tough enough. Suffice to say that by the time we squeeze 3 carseats across the back seat, put the large double stroller base + Samuel's stroller into the boot, there won't really be much room left. So... confirmation (if we even needed it) that for the next few years we are going to be shut-ins. Be warned... we will enjoy visitors (particularly those that help babysit!!)... but we aren't going to be going anywhere!

A few weeks ago we went to another second-hand sale, this one run by an excellent, large anglophone mother's organization in Paris (MESSAGE). Between that and our local town-wide yard sale we have also picked up another crib, changing table and a few other things. It's been interesting though to see the cultural differences at the events. The French twins' association affair was relatively small and restrained - even half an hour after it opened there were still not many people there. The clothes were cute, French, and so often very nice / pretty / smart vs the often more functional anglosaxon clothing. In contrast, the MESSAGE event had a crush of people waiting to get in well before it opened and was a complete free for all once it did. Clothes were often from anglosaxon countries and cheaper. The great thing is that with all of these events, we can get most things we need second-hand - and can sell on what we no longer need also.

A trying week....

2009-11-13T17:32:00.000+01:00

Julia is still felling tired and nauseous with the twins. She has also been fighting the remaining elements of the bronchitis she had a few weeks ago.

Meanwhile, my flu-like symptoms have turned into whooping cough. Needless to say, neither of us have had enough sleep n the past week. On top of that Samuel has had a few bad nights this week where he did not sleep through the night. We can't complain as he sleeps through the night almost all the time. I just wish he had slightly more compassionate timing. One night I was up with him until 2 Am and finally had to go wake up Julia to take over as Samuel was unable to fall asleep with me sitting in his room with whooping cough

Samuel has also been ill. He has had a discharge from his eyes and a slight cough for a week. Julia was able to drop him at the HG this morning but they called just after noon saying that they thought his eye discharge was conjunctivitis and that he was contagious and that he could not stay at the HG I went to pick him up and Julia came home from work and took him to the doctor and he officially has conjunctivitis.

On the other hand. Samuel is very cute when I wake him up in the morning and from his naps. He very forcefully takes his pacifier from his mouth and throws it into this crib as if to say "I'm a big boy, Ii don't need you."

Samuel's progress with solid food has been sporadic at best. He loves his petite suisse and fruit pots. He is very much hit and miss with the meat/veggie purees. At the HG today he ate a full jar. For his snack today he took half a jar of puree. While yesterday I succumbed to his intransigence and tried giving him one spoon of puree followed by 2 spoons of petite suisse in order to get him to eat the puree.

Tomorrow is a big day as a twins association of Paris is having a sale and there should be bouncy seats, multiple strollers and other items for twins available.

-Dave

Samuel is growing up...

2009-11-11T12:02:00.000+01:00

A few days ago we prepared a rotisserie chicken for dinner and I made some chicken stock the next morning. After the stock was complete I poured it into tupperware containers and left them on the counter top to cool. About an hour later thee was a plop and a scream from Samuel. He had managed to grab one of the tubs and proceeded to pull it off the counter so that the stock covered the left side of his shirt and most of the kitchen floor. I thought I had placed the tubs out of his reach but he is growing every day. Soon nowhere will be safe from Samuel's reach.

Samuel has also recently discovered the toilet paper roll. He enjoys joining us when we use the loo, which all the experts say is something he should do, but he recently found the loo paper holder on the wall and that if he pulls really hard that the paper comes flying off the roll. Big smile and a big mess.

Samuel now enjoys bringing our dish towels from the kitchen to us when we are sitting on the couch in the living room. Very cute but not really helpful.

-Dave

Samuel and up

2009-11-10T16:48:00.000+01:00

As we have noted in other posts Samuel is lagging in language skills for the average 18 month old. We joke that this is because he is in a trilingual(French, English english and American english) environment.

Because of this we take every opportunity to try and teach him new words. A word we are currently emphasizing is up. Samuel constantly is walking up to us with his arms outstretched wanting to be picked up. When he does this we ask him "Do you want to be picked up?". His usual response is to continue to stare at us and then he places his feet on top of our toes and stretches his arms even higher into the air. Is it glaringly obvious that neither of us should be teachers as our 18 month old thinks that up means stand on our toes.

Pray for Julia

2009-11-09T18:12:00.000+01:00

The twins official due date is May 15th. They are expected to arrive around the end of April. This will mean that Julia will be in a house with four Tauruses.

Samuel is already enough of a challenge. As we found with the food situation, Samuel will do what he wants to do when he wants to do it. He is now eating regularly and with enthusiasm. If we take more than 2 seconds to fill the spoon and move it toward his mouth, he is opening his mouth wide and leaning far forward in his chair trying to get the food into his mouth a nanosecond earlier.

We have created a monster.....

2009-11-09T17:57:00.000+01:00

Samuel loves helping with the laundry so much that he gets upset if he sees me walking out of the laundry room with laundry in my arms and I did not ask him to help me. If I leave the laundry room door open, he goes into the room and stands and laughs and claps while the washer and dryer are working. He needs a better masculine role model!

Sunday night bed time

2009-11-09T12:42:00.000+01:00

We are doing our best to try and keep Samuel on a schedule. Currently we are trying to start his bath,book and bed process at 2100. Last night we started at 2100 by carrying Samuel upstairs to the bathroom where we lay out his towels and toys and turn on the space heater. We then go into Samuel's room where we turn on the space heater, ready the humidifier and get out Samuel's bedclothes. Normally I will also get out a book to read to Samuel after his bath and place it on his table which is next to the rocking chair in which we read his bedtime story. Well, last night as I was doing everything else Samuel walked over to his bookcase and took out Richard Scarry's bedtime stories and walked over to the table and placed the book in the space between his stuffed animals that is where we usually keep the book we plan on reading to him. Very sweet.

Samuel and food

2009-11-07T18:10:00.000+01:00

Today(Saturday) was a good day. The background is as follows. For the prior two weeks Samuel did not attend HG as it was closed due to school holidays. Just before the school holiday we saw the pediatrician for Samuel's 18 month check-up. Samuel's weight had changed only slightly from his 15 month check-up. This obviously concerned us.

So, for the 11 days that Samuel was with us and not at the HG we decided to change his feeding schedule. We dropped him from 4 bottles per day to 3 and provided him a meal with puree and snacks throughout the day. If he refused to eat his meal we did not follow up with a bottle, he just waited until his next meal to eat. If you read the previous post you know this was mostly unsuccessful.

Well, last Friday(6th) Samuel returned to the HG. Julia dropped him off and picked him up as I have been sick all week. Off topic note-This is great house in which to be sick. Julia worked from home on Wednesday so I was able to spend most of the morning in our bed which has a huge sliding door leading onto a small terrace. Laying in bed staring out this large door looking at the clouds gently floating by, the river charging ever forward and the branches of the trees gently blowing in the wind is very relaxing.

Okay back to the main story. When Julia dropped Samuel off she was able to have an extensive conversation with the HG workers and they agreed plan so that Samuel would be on the same feeding schedule 7 days per week. We started that plan today and it was mostly successful. Samuel now starts his day with a bottle of 8 ozs. of formula with 4 teaspoons of rice cereal mixed in. For lunch he gets a 190 gram jar of meat/vegetable puree followed by 2 petite suisse(yogurt like snack). He then takes his nap. When he wakes from his nap we give him a snack of a 120 gram pot of fruit puree with a yogurt. In the evening we will give him a bottle of formula, puree, cereal and olive oil.

When Julia fed him his lunch he ate about 1/4 of the puree which is more than he has ever eaten for ether of us. He then scarfed down 2 petite suisse in record time. For his snack he consumed the entire 120 gram apple/pear puree followed by 1 pettite suisse. Where has this eating machine been for the last year?
Our only concern is that we do something to screw up his progress. But for now at least Samuel is eating and eating well.

Samuel and the twins

2009-11-07T14:56:00.000+01:00

This morning Julia and I were siting on the couch discussing what needed to be done today while Samuel was standing on the floor between us. I looked at him and asked "Samuel, where are the babies?" He immediately took his hand and put it on Julia's belly. I need to keep the camera handy for such moments.

Samuel continues to amaze....

2009-11-05T17:12:00.002+01:00

A few days ago I was doing laundry and Samuel was assisting in moving the laundry from the washer to the dryer. I decided to ask him to empty the dryer and take the clothes to the guest room. Much to my surprise he did exactly what I asked. He reached into the dryer, grabbed the small amount of clothes and proceeded to walk around the corner into the guest room where he placed the dried clothes onto the guest bed.

Not sure if he actually understood my request or if he was mimicking what I usually do when I do the laundry. There is no way to know for sure how he knew what to do but he is constantly mazing me with his understanding of what we ask him to do.

Twins? Just kidding!!!

2009-11-05T17:08:00.001+01:00

When Julia was pregnant with Samuel it was like being single again. She would come home from work, take a nap, wake up, we would eat dinner and she would go back to bed. Life was good.

With the twins it is very much like being a single parent. My respect for single parents continues to grow.

Good news and bad news- Samuel is eating solid foods now. He eats at the HG the 2 days he is there. With us he sometimes eats a little bit of solid food. However, he loves his petite suisse. It is a yogurt like product that is designed to be a snack. He opens his mouth very wide when we give him a petite suisse. We actually have to use the spoon to scrape the sides of the bowl to maximize the amount of petite suisse Samuel gets. But he does not enthusiastically eat his puree. He occasionally takes a few teaspoons but never does he eat all that we offer.

Halloween is scary. We hosted our first Halloween party on the 31st. We had about 20 kids and 25 adults in attendance. Lessons learned-25 kids on a sugar high make a huge mess. Luckily the weather was nice so we were able to herd the more rowdy kids out to the back yard.

Five of our neighbors graciously opened their doors to provide treats to the kids who wanted to trick-or-treat. Samuel, Julia and I went together. As we were leaving the 4th hose Samuel tripped and fell. Julia who was walking behind him tried to catch him and fell herself. My dilemma-my 18 month old son lying to my right with a bloody nose or my 3 months pregnant with twins wife lying to my left. Thankfully our neighbors came through again as they were able to help Julia while I and other parents took care of Samuel/ It was frustrating with julia as she was speaking french to the neighbors and I was unable to follow the ocnversartion so I was in the dark as to what, if anything, was wrong. Luckily, Samuel was fine. By the time we walked home(about 50 metres) he was smiling and happy. One of our neighbor kids, Claire, who is 10, took over watching him so that I could then spend some time with my wife. Julia had braced her fall with her hands so her right wrist/hand was very sore. No cuts, just pain.
Thankfully our partygoers understood that Julia and i were not the best of hosts and they took over and made sure that everyone had enough to eat and drink while I attended to Julia on the couch.

On the Sunday after Halloween Julia took a cab to the hospital, something I felt guilty about but neither of us felt comfortable either taking Samuel to the hospital with us or leaving him with a neighbor, because we had no idea how long she would have to be at the ER. In the end it was the right decision as Julia left around 1100 and did not return home until after 1600. All is well with the twins. Julia had a scan at the ER for the twins and everything looked normal. Unfortunately Julia then had to go to another ER in the hospital and wait there for someone to look at her hand. No break "just" a few sprained fingers.

Halloween

2009-11-02T14:48:00.000+01:00

Video of Samuel trick-or-treating is now up on our youtube account.

Twins!!

2009-11-01T01:32:00.000+01:00

As you can see from the ultrasound picture above, we are expecting two more little Charters to arrive most likely mid/end April! Both babies are doing very well so far and are almost the same size (6 cm from crown to rump). We had the 12-week scan yesterday and both of them displayed a very high level of activity and a rather worrying degree of stubbornness. (It is always rather concerning when you realize that you might be passing on certain genetic traits to your children... :-)) Just as Samuel did at the same stage, neither of them were still for an instant. They waved hands and feet and bounced around. There were times it almost looked like they could feel each other through their amniotic sac walls (they are side by side) and they were already pushing each other around!

We had the scan done at the clinique where we plan to give birth. It's a 25-min drive from our house and has a good reputation as well as having a basic neonatology unit (important for us as there is a high probability that the twins will come early - typically at 36-38 weeks).

The doctor that performed the ultrasound for us was wonderful. She tried 3 different scan probes, kept jabbing me repeatedly, but nothing would get the babies to move into (and keep!) a position where she could get the measurements and pictures she needed to make sure that all was well with them. If they did move into position, it was only fleeting - and at one point we could have sworn that we could see one of the babies smiling at us as this was happening! The doctor spent an hour and a half with us, talking to and cajoling the babies, and even got me to walk around the building for 5 minutes to help the babies move around... and eventually we got enough detail that it seems that all is well with them.

We will have monthly scans from now on, so hope to know more (including maybe the gender of the babies) next month. In the meantime we are figuring out the French medical system, trying to book a doula to help us (and translate!) for the birth, and dealing with the twice-as-bad nausea that comes from having twins (2x the hormones).

We cannot say enough good things about New York Presbyterian/Cornell, where we did our IVF in August. They truly are the best in the field as after 2 visits we now have the possibility of 3 children - where before, after disappointing results elsewhere, we weren't sure of having any.

The great news is that we finally get to benefit from being on a French contract with P&G - I will have a 9 month paid maternity leave! I expect to stop work around end Feb (if not earlier) and return to work in Dec / Jan. Of course... we will need this as the babies will likely arrive around the time of Samuel's 2nd birthday, so our lives are about to get extremely hectic. We also don't know when (and where) we will need to move again. I will have to be replaced in my job in France, so will need to change country again for a new job. We will let you know more when we do!

In the meantime, we continue with life as semi-usual, with me spending most of my non-work time asleep and/or suffering severe nausea (hopefully all over in the next few weeks!) and Dave being his amazing self in looking after (spoiling) me and having to be a mostly single parent to Samuel. The strangest thing is the speed at which my belly is growing... I had to move into maternity clothes at 10.5 weeks and am sure that I will soon be as big as a house!

Julia (+ the 2 little bouncy bumps)

Samuel and the laundry

2009-10-26T09:57:00.002+01:00

A video of Samuel helping with the laundry has been posted to our youtube account.

Samuel = genius (or are we just proud parents?)

2009-10-23T19:04:00.001+02:00

Tonight I was setting the table and I noticed that Julia's placemat and napkin were missing. Obviously Samuel had taken them and hidden them somewhere on the first floor. I did not say anything to Samuel but when I walked back to the kitchen to stir the soup that I was making for dinner Samuel appeared with the placemat and napkin in his hands.

With Samuel being our first we do not have the experience to know if this type of behavior is normal but Samuel does seem to be ahead of his peers in understanding what is said to him. Now, he is behind in responding and talking as he does not yet speak a single word clearly and often but he is obviously very intelligent, curious and happy which is all that we can ask.

Samuel has learned to turn on the lights in most of our rooms. He is not quite tall enough to turn the lights off yet but that will come soon. We do ask him to turn the lights off and he tries but he just cannot reach the top of the switch just yet.

Took a trip to Carrefour today(similar to Wal-mart, but the store is actually bigger than any Wal-mart that I have been in). Primarily went to look for supplies for a Halloween party that we are throwing on the 31st and was pleasantly surprised that they have a full aisle dedicated to halloween. Granted one side of the aisle was exclusively candy but the other side has costumes, decorations, hair coloring(they dedicated too much shelf space to this but maybe it is popular in France) and various gadgets. for Halloween we have invited some of our English speaking friends and we have also invited all of our neighbors and asked them to open their homes to trick-or-treaters so we should have some good pictures and video of Samuel trick-or-treating for his first halloween that he can walk.

When we got home today I was busy bringing the groceries into the house and Samuel walked into the back yard unsupervised. When I noticed this I immediately went after him but I was too late to prevent him from attempting to chase Molson down the little hill(about a 3 foot drop) in the yard. Samuel made it about half way down the hill before gravity took over. He rolled twice. Stopped, then rolled and a half times and ended up on his back looking at me. He did not know quite what to do. He looked as if he was going to cry but I laughed at him and told him to get up and chase the cat and he laughed and got up and looked around for Molson, who was long gone into the shrubs, not to be seen for awhile.

Was disappointed in that we had received a mailer from Carrefour which advertised a stand alone work bench(This is Samuel's favorite thing to play with at the HG) for little boys. Was looking forward to getting this for Samuel for Christmas but they did not have any displayed at the store. May have to buy it online. No, Samuel is not spoiled!!! If I type it enough it may be true.

You tube videos

2009-10-20T16:04:00.001+02:00

For those of you who follow us on you tube we have posted new videos today.

Samuel helps with the laundry

2009-10-19T17:42:00.000+02:00

We are boring. Sunday and Thursday are our laundry days. Samuel's usual assistance is to carry dirty clothes all over the house. He also places clothes in the empty laundry basket and pushes the basket throughout the ground floor(we have tiled floors).

Today I was doing laundry. I had taken the clothes out of the dryer and was in the process of moving clothes from the washer to the dryer when Samuel entered the laundry room and proceeded to place the papers he had been holding into the dryer. I asked him to take the papers out and he did. I then, for the first time, asked him to take the clothes out of the washer and put them in the dryer. Much to my surprise he started to do so. He did not get the clothes completely into the dryer but the effort was superb and he was laughing through the entire process.

It is amazing how much he is understanding what we say to him. He tries to help us put our shoes and socks on. He tries to put on his own shoes and socks but is not quite able to complete the process.

Last night(Sunday) we went out to dinner and were shocked to find that almost all of the local restaurants in Chatou and Le Vesinet(the nearest village) are closed on Sunday evenings. We ended up going to the Indian restaurant that we normally have delivered to our home. It was by far our cheapest meal out as it cost only 60 euros. The food is much better when it is hot and not just warm.

Samuel will be 18 months in only 4 days. Very, very hard to believe. He is such a little man.