Openings and Closings

Jack's all into discovering how things open and close at the moment.

Doors, cupboards, books - it's all the same to him. Here he is emptying one of the drawers in our bedroom. Needless to say, I was in the midst of puting things into the cupboard as he was busy taking things out!

The other big thing is that at the weekend, and for the first time, he started taking small steps to reach things. What do I mean? Well, yesterday he was standing by holding onto the table when he started crying because he wanted a toy that was at the other side of the table. As I played the mean mother and wouldn't give him the toy, he edged his way around the table to get to it. Okay, so he only took three or four wee unsteady steps but we celebrated for him. Another example? He was standing holding onto a chair and he turned, reached out, and took two little steps to reach my knees. Cool, huh? Looks like we'll soon be able to send him out in the morning to get out bread and croissants!

Back from our holidays

We're back home in Mutzig now after more than three weeks away. It's good to be home, though it was great to be away and to spend so much time with the Cnockaerts. Annette's still in Monaco hospital but her heart operation went well and she's hoping to move to a re-education centre by the end of this week. In many ways it was ideal that we were with her when it happened because Ben was able to go to the hospital and see her most days. Jack also really benefitted from being in new surroundings and being able to meet so many new people. In fact, returning home yesterday we saw some real changes in him. Now, not only is he sporting 1 bottom front tooth but he's also even more agile and determined in his explorations. It's great to see - but, hey, you have to keep up ;-)

Visions of home

Traveling as we have done in the last few months, I've realised how much the landscape dictates 'who I am' at that moment. So, I've collected pictures from each of the places I have the honour of calling home. You'll immediately see the similarities that bind all four: the open land and the wide skies, the potential to walk, and the need to be outdoors!


Here's the view from the veranda in Cagnes sur mer in the south of France. The planes are carrying firefights to a local forest fire. The photo was taken just two days ago:

This is a photo of Les Omergues, taken just last week from the hill above the village in Provence, France:

This photo was taken last December from the vineyards that lie above Mutzig in Alsace, France:

Then, here's a photo which was taken in May overlooking New Deer, the village where my parents live and where I grew up in the Northeast of Scotland:

And then there are all the parts of the world which are important to me - but there just isn't space for me to record them all here!

Nine months!

A good friend once told me that the nine month anniversary is an oddly important one because it's the point when they've spent as much time on the outside as on the inside (so to speak). I didn't really get it when she told me, but now I do because at this point Jack's becoming more and more independant of me. When he's sad or needs a cuddle or food, he crawls to me but otherwise 'he's off exploring the world.'

And he has had much to explore because after spending a great ten days in Provence we're now in Cagnes. We've come down to the coast to be with Mami Annette, who will have heart surgery this coming Monday. Jack's done well at adapting once more to a new environment and spends most of his time crawling from room to room and standing up against tables and chairs. He's even grown his first bit of a tooth, but not without some suffering (for him and for us!). The good news is that we've another week left here before we leave which should give us the time to introduce him to the sea and some old friends from the region...