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.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Samuel and food, II
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
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...
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.
Monday, November 16, 2009
Play group
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.
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.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Dave - a popular man with the town merchants!
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'!
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?
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.
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.
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