Second adaptation day at halte garderie

Samuel had his second day of adaptation at the halte garderie today. He was there from 1030 to 1130. When I dropped him off today I told him goodbye and gave him his kiss as he sat on the bench after I took his shoes off. He was again very excited to see the play area and very anxious to enter and begin playing. When I opened the door to the play area he scooted off without a seconds hesitation and never looked back.

When I returned in 1 hour the carer met me at the inner door and we both called Samuel over and much to my surprise he actually came. Not as much of a fuss leaving today as yesterday.

Monday, Samuel will spend 90 minutes at the halte. Tuesday will be the big day as he will spend 2 hours and they will feed him his lunch.

After we left the halte we drove to the city centre to visit the butcher and the cheese shop. I was happy with the visit to the cheese shop as I was able to order 4 types of cheese and a half dozen eggs without a problem. the only problem was Samuel as I had carried him to the shop and when I put him down to pay he scooted off toward the front door which was open as it was a cool day in Chatou. I barely caught him before he was on the sidewalk.

Our neighbors have a little black kitten. When Julia came home tonight we noticed that the kittten was in the tree next door and seemed to be in distress. We spent about 10 minutes coaxing the kitten down out of the tree. Afterwards the kitten entered our yard and proceeded to jump on the windowsill that looks into our kitchen. Molson noticed this and jumped onto the kitchen counter and immediately began hissing and raising his fur at the intruder. The kitten failed to take notice of the ferocious Molson. Eventaully the kitten went away but not before reaching its paws in through our kitchen window(the windows here have no screens as there are very few bugs(as my wife says, but she is the same person that told me that it never snows in Paris(see previous blog concerning snow in Paris.))) for some stroking and petting.

-Dave

Samuel began adaptation at Halte Garderie today

The new halte garderie has a long adaptation schedule. We were supposed to start yesterday(Wednesday) but Samuel has had a difficult time adjusting to the time change and I was so tired on Wednesday(Samuel did not fall asleep until 3AM) that I would not have felt comfortable driving or even walking, as the path to the halte goes up a hill with about 75 steps.

So at 1030 today we began the adaptation. We started to day by leaving Samuel for 30 minutes. The time changes to 1 hour tomorrow and increase by 1/2 an hour until next Wednesday when we will leave him for 4 hours.

Today Samuel broke my heart. The halte garderie has an outer door which you need to be buzzed through which opens onto an outer area where the kids clothes and shoes are left and then they enter the play area through another set of doors. The parents are encouraged to remain in the area between the sets of doors.

This morning when we arrived Samuel walked through the outer doors and immediately walked to the inner door and began banging on the door with his hands. I had to pull him away and set him on a bench where I took off his shoes. As i was placing his shoes under the bench he slid off the bench of his own accord and walked to the inner door and began banging on it again. I walked over and opened the door and Samuel strolled into the play area without even a moments hesitation. I would have appreciated at least a quick glance over his shoulder but the moment the door opened I apparently ceased to exist.

When I returned 30 minutes later to retrieve Samuel, he began to cry as the carer walked him toward the door where I was standing with open arms. He only cried for a few seconds but it was very disheartening.

I am glad that our son is so happy and eager to join and play with others but once and awhile it would be nice to be missed.

-Dave

New pictures and update.......

Okay, I know the new picture is not a picture of us abroad. But it is the best picture of a very important day in Samuel's life and I wanted to share it with everyone.

BTW-Samuel now has 5 teeth.

We have to be very careful when Julia comes home from work. Today, Samuel was standing n the living room trying to figure out how to chase Molson into a corner so that he could pull his tail again, when he heard our front gate open. He immediately began running(as much as you can call what he currently does running) toward the front door and he was at the front door when Julia opened it.

I am so unprepared for Samuel walking and running....

A few minutes ago I was sitting at the MAC in the office and Samuel walked out of the room. A few seconds later I heard a loud plop followed by a scream. I ran into the upstairs guest room and Samuel was sitting on the floor and the fan was on full blast. The fan was not turned on when Samuel entered the room. I don't think the house will ever be child proof.

Samuel helps us unpack.....

Samuel "helping" us unpack.

Back in Paris

Apologies from the start for the sporadic posting of the last few months. We have now returned to Paris and we are hoping to become settled into a schedule and routine where Samuel and I will be doing something every day, so hopefully there will be plenty of funny stories to post.

Posts are not going to be in calendar order for awhile. We will post stories from our trip to the US as we remember them.

Today Samuel had his first adaptation at his new halte garderie. Of course, this was after he woke up at midnight, raced around the living room tearing up everything he could get his hands on and then abruptly falling asleep again at 0500. Our flight home arrived early, thank to tropical storm Bob which provided stronger than normal tail winds. This meant that Samuel did not get much sleep on the plane. We were surprised that he did not sleep through the night after we got home. Of course, the cats did not help as both of them were vocal in expressing their dismay(not sure if this dismay was directed at our disappearance or our return.)

We went to the halte garderie after we returned on Monday to drop off Samuel's paperwork and meet with the staff. Samuel had fun as he immediately began playing with the toys and completely ignoring his parents. But the news is good as Samuel will be in the halte garderie from 0900-1700 Wednesdays and Fridays every week. I will be dropping Samuel off every day before next Wednesday for daily adaptation where he will gradually spend more time at the halte garderie until he begins his full days.

Samuel had an experience this morning. He was standing in the play kitchen area of the halte with a bowl in one hand and a spoon in the other. A boy, approximately Samuel's age, walked up to him and tried to grabbed the spoon. There was a tug-of-war which the other boy eventually won and he walked away with his treasure. Samuel quickly followed and trapped him in a corner and proceeded to take back the spoon. No punches were thrown. Not sure if I should be proud or worried.

-Dave

Samuel and food

We saw the gastrointestinal specialist in NYC who did what we expected and referred us to the eating and swallowing clinic.

At the clinic it was determined that Samuel's difficulties with eating are not physical but psychological. We just have to be patient and keep working with him to try to get him to eat solid food.

He has improved while we have been in NY. He loves cheerios. He will eagerly put them in his mouth. Unfortunately, he does not swallow them. He will keep them in his mouth for a few seconds and then he spits them out.

Funny story from tonight(Saturday). While eating at the kitchen table we gave Samuel some cheerios and a grilled hot dog. He very happily hoarded his cheerios by putting them inside his overalls. After storing a few cheerios there, he began to hoard cheerios and hot dog slices in the front pocket of his overalls.