Samuel pictures.....

 Samuel had a difficult time this morning.  It is difficult to see but both of Samuel's legs are in the left leg of his trousers.  Now, I will not tell you who did this to him.  I would not do that to his mother.
The three of us at the Neuilly pool.  Samuel greatly enjoys the balls at the pool.
Samuel helping us unpack after my last rip to Denver.

A US tradition....

Go Xavier!!!!!  Go Muskies!!!!

More life in Paris.....

 BNB NBNS The weather in Paris has been beautiful for the last week.  Looks as if winter may finally be ending.   To take advantage of the weather Julia and I decided to meet Tuesday evening for a drink at a cafe before getting pizza for dinner.  I picked Samuel up from the day care and went to few stores to look for a specific brand of baby food.  No joy in our search.  I then proceeded to the place du marche to wait for my lovely wife.  My french lessons are starting to pay dividea BH ZXZHd.

Samuel types:  c dg ic 45 Hhhhk v NDM  M M MGEDV eve B c C BC XCA  Svb s b

Samuel has learned to use the backspace and page up buttons.

As I was saying.  My french lessons are starting to pay dividends.  Qu'est-ce que vous avez comme biere pression?  Will come in very handy as we try to meet more for drinks on sunny evenings.

We have realized that even though we live in Paris we have not been living a Parisian lifestyle. Tuesday evening was only the 3rd time we have sat at a cafe and had a drink.  Have yet to have a cafe on a Sunday morning while reading the paper.  Unfortunately Tuesday evening as the sun was setting we noticed that the majority of the other patrons were leaving the outdoor seating. It does get quite cold in Paris this time of year after the sun sets.  It was my fault as I chose a table out of the way because we had Samuel with us but it was located at the cross section of two streets and a strong breeze was blowing up the street towards us.  Samuel was nice and comfy in his new thermal bundle me.

With respect to getting out more Samuel and I went to the Louvre on Wednesday.  Very, very crowded.  Though I did discover that the Palais Royal-Musee de Louvre metro station allows direct access to the musee without having to go outside.  Very convenient for wet, cold days when we need something to do but do not want to go outside.  Samuel saw the Venus de Milo for the first time.  The excursion also emphasized to me how out of shape I am as I had Samuel in the baby bjorn and I was exhausted after having stood or walked with him for just under 2 hours.  Our only respite came on the train trip home as we were able to find a seat.  Upon our return I crashed on the couch and Samuel and I watched his first Star Wars movie.

Something else we are trying to do more now that Samuel has changed his sleep schedule is that Samuel and I will walk Julia to the car in the morning, which is conveniently parked under the place du marche where our outdoor market is held on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday mornings.  We said goodbye to Julia and then we went to the butcher and the produce vendor and then walked home.

Life in Paris

Had a plumber visit on Monday morning to look into why our kitchen sink was out of hot water in the morning and not replenishing.  For 86 Euros he showed us an electrical panel where we must push up a switch every day if we want the hot water heater to heat during the day. Frustrating. We do wonder why our owner was not able to tell us this as they were living in the apartment before us.

At least now we can wash our dinner dishes in hot water.

-Dave

Champagne is good!

Julia and I just returned from a quick weekend trip to the Champagne region.  This was all made possible by a visit from Julia's brother James and sister in law Astrid. Thank you.

We left Saturday morning and drove to the region, about 2 hours away, where we tasted at 3 different locations.  My lovely wife has promised to blog the details of the trip.

Samuel has finally started taking solid foods.  He did not eat much while we were away over the weekend, however, the last 3 days he has taken carrot via a spoon with very little fuss.

Update from Denver

Greetings from the mile high city where it is a sunny and warm 72f.

The flights over were uneventful except that the bag with my clothes never made it to Cincinnati(connection) where I had to clear customs. The bag did finally arrive about 18 hours after I did. This trip was a good trial run for when I return in 3 weeks with Samuel. The connection in Cincinnati, 70 minutes, will be difficult with him as we will have to clear immigration and customs. Where we be near the end of the line as we will have to wait at the gate for his pushchair which will be gate checked, or(I just had this thought) I can check it and retrieve it at baggage claim. I will have to check into that possibility also. I am unsure of airline policy if I miss the connecting flight due to delays at immigrations or customs. Will have to research this before we leave.

Have had a good time in Denver, especially enjoying the food. So far we have been to Caldonia's for BBQ, had a deep dish Chicago style pizza, very good Mexican with margarita and I have been to my favorite sandwich shoppe for a BLT. It is not that I prefer American food but it is nice to have a change of pace every once in a while. There are certain type of food that just are not available in Paris. Tonight we are going to a steak house where I will have a huge cut of prime rib.

Have been skyping with Julia and Samuel every day. It is nice to see him on skype and see his reactions to me on the computer but I miss him(and Julia) terribly.

TTFN

-Dave

More Samuel photos

To give you an idea of what a day in the life of Samuel is like, you first have to think of the cats.  They are one of Samuel's favorite toys... if he ever manages to catch them.  In the meantime, he chases them around the apartment.

Molson (a.k.a. Miracle Cat, as he is still going strong, despite nearly dying from cancer 18 months ago) generally takes refuge on the bed.  This will work until Samuel can climb up there...  

Samuel goes swimming on Saturdays.  He is getting very fond of splashing water everywhere and has started to move his arms around in the water.  He really enjoys this.

He usually takes at least a couple of naps, even if only brief ones, during the day.  This is him after Saturday's swimming session - he was quite tired!

Dave is currently in Denver visiting his family.  Samuel misses him - when I showed him a picture of Dave he immediately had a big smile and put his hand right on Dave's face and started to make a sound like 'babababa' or 'dadadada'  (unfortunately not 'Papa' though!).  In this picture you can see Samuel sitting on his foam mat in the living room surrounded by a few of his toys - this is where he spends a lot of the day.

Every other day or so he gets a bath.  Great fun!

Particularly because he gets to splash away!  He loves bath time.  We tend to get a bit wet.

At the end of the day, it's time for bed.  Would you like a hug?

Today, we went to the Bois de Boulogne for a nice long walk.  We tried to feed the ducks, but by the time we reached the lake, Samuel had fallen asleep.

When we came back though it was time to skype Papa in Denver - yippee!  (or as Samuel would say 'Aggaaaaaaahh!'