Samuel and father Christmas

Samuel met Santa Claus (Father Christmas, Pere Noel) today.  It is beginning to appear that I am becoming more accepting of this multi-culturalism.  Today was an extreme example that I did have great difficulty with.

Samuel and I attended a message mothers support group christmas party at the hard Rock Cafe in Paris.  A good time was had by all.  It was a challenge to hear a Santa Claus saying "Happy Christmas."  Yes, Santa had a British accent.  Very, very strange.

Samuel and paper.

Sorry the pictures are in the wrong order.

Since Julia departed for the US on Monday Samuel and I took a picture to send her a message.  The lower picture is what we wanted to send.  The top picture is Samuel beginning to destroy the message seconds after it was placed in his hands.

We are looking forward to Christmas as Samuel will not care for his presents but instead he will only be interested in playing with the paper in which his gifts are wrapped.

Samuel is very tough and also very, very fast.  On Tuesday(16/12) Samuel was laying on our bed as I was folding and hanging his 1 year clothing which I had just washed.  I placed his t-shirts on the bed between Samuel and the edge of the bed.  As I turned toward the remainder of the clothes on the dresser, no more than 18 inches from the bed I heard a thump. There was Samuel on the floor holding a freshly folded t-shirt in his hands and mouth.  He cried for about 5 seconds as I picked him up and laid him on the bed.  As he was placed on the bed he began to laugh and smile.  An amazing kid.  It appears that he will be able to survive his incredibly incompetent papa.

-Dave

Samuel's new feeding toy

Not the best picture to see Samuel's new toy. Julia's friend Claudia sent us a blue airplane that attaches to Samuel's spoon.  The idea is to make eating fun.  Unfortunately it has not worked with Samuel.  And no, we do not usually feed Samuel with Molson on Julia's lap.  

We are having difficulty getting Samuel to eat solid foods.  He no longer screams when we try to feed him. Now, he just closes his lips and refuses to open them.  We sing, we laugh we play with him and nothing seems to work.

For all the mothers out there; any suggestions as to how to get Samuel to eat?

Julia packing

It worries me that Samuel is smiling while Julia tries to smuggle him into her luggage for her trip.  Usually that place in the suitcase is reserved for Molson.

Pizza delivery in Paris

We finally broke down.  Sunday was Julia's last day in Paris before leaving for 4 days in Cincinnati with P & G.  We had plans to go out for pizza for lunch after church but it was raining when we left the church and even though we had an umbrella we decided that the walk was too long to the pizza parlor so we came home and had a typical Parisian lunch of meat, cheese and bread.  We had hoped to go to our favorite restaurant for dinner but Samuel did not cooperate when he refused to eat during his evening meal.   He took 3 ounces of milk and then pushed the bottle away and started to cry when the solid food was presented.  Just did not feel that it was appropriate to take him to a restaurant when he was not eating.  So Julia had the idea of googling for food delivery in Paris and we discovered a couple of pizzerias that deliver.  The pizza was good(not enough sauce for my taste, but I am American) but it was not warm when delivered so we had to use the oven to warm up.  The pizza was also expensive(welcome to Paris).  20 Euros for 2 medium pizzas.

We did go to the American Cathedral(which we have joined as members) on Sunday for the children's Christmas pageant.  Christmas 2010 Samuel will be a sheep.   It was very typical of Christmas pageants with a few hams stealing the show, a few kids refusing to participate. Overall a very heartwarming experience.  The pageant included songs in English, French, and Spanish as the congregation is very diverse.

-Dave