A little more than a month old..

Thankfully, Jack seems to be coming out of his 'NO, no, no' phase and into a moment when being beside Emma seems to interest him more. Now, he'll press her belly button, touch her hair, bring her toys...and that's a relief as it was sad for us to see him so sad. What does Emma say about it all: urrrr. Yep, she's started squeaking (she's hiccuping and urrring as I type) and she remains a very calm and gentle baby. The only time she really cries is meal times. Her meal times? No, our meal times, as she seems to have a special sensor that tells her the instant that we sit down to eat! That means we either eat with the 'symphony of Emma in Major' in the background or in rotation (Ben goes first and then me). For the rest of the time, though, she is really quiet and'funny' (Jack just said to me 'Emma is funny'). She's definitely good to have around...

..especially in Jack moments.

Jack moments? Yes, like earlier today when he called through to me proudly 'I painted the wall.'

And, yep, indeed, he had 'painted' the wall.. with a small blue pencil.. leaving a scribble of blue lines where once there was only white.

A good dose of severe words and a few minutes later, both he and I were painting.. at the kitchen table with paper and real paints. In his 'franglais/ Frenglish' he told me that it wasn't good to paint on the walls.

I agreed.. while thinking 'but it is good to hang out with Ben, Jack and now Emma'

I hope you're having fun hanging out.. where ever you are in the world :-)

love n hugs,

Robynxxx

Almost One Month Old!

Here's Emma checking out the world, safe in her Papa's arms !

Just to make you smile...

In the midst of all this summer heat (the temperature regularly rises above 35° at the moment), we've passed the 3 week mark and all is well. Emma is a funny wee thing that pulls at our heart strings and makes us smile all the time. Jack's doing much better but still does have meltdowns from time to time ('No, no, no, je n'aime pas' - 'No, no, no, I don't like it' he'll cry, stromping his little feet and beating his fists). Thankfully, Ben's around fulltime now and so the boys can go for bike rides, walks in the forest, and work on their project: building new shelves in Emma's room. Jack also now only has two weeks until he starts school...and I reckon that's one projct that'll keep us all busy for a good time to come!

Hoping you're all well and that all your projects are going well,

hugs,

Robynx

15 days

Okay, so we have a normal baby afterall. One that doesn't systematically 'do' her nights but instead sometimes sleeps for 5 hours and sometimes sleeps for an hour and a half. I thought I'd given birth to a miracle baby. It's not the case but I'll love her all the same!

The really good news is she's doing just grand and when she opens her eyes and looks around she's the funniest of wee things :-)

And so the days keep ticking by... and the shock of being a 'two kid' mum is beginning to hit (How will I ever manage to go shopping again? Not glamourous shopping but basic shopping. With TWO kids. Will I ever be able to shower on a regular basis again? As soon as Jack gets up, Emma starts to open her eyes and so I'm busy until lunchtime? I look and smell terrible but, as Ben's at work at the moment and Emma and Jack clearly don't care...well, you know, there are better things I can do with my time!).

I reckon it'll take some getting used to! At least, Jack's on fine form - he's just told me the washing machine has finished because it's just finished making a noise). I guess that's my cue to get on with other things.

But, I hope wherever you are that this wee message finds you safe and well (and cleaner than me!).

Hugs,

Robynxxxx

Suddenly nine days have gone by already...

Hello again,

Good news: we're surviving!

Reason: (at least for me), Emma sleeps, wait for it, between midnight and at least 7am each night. I don't know why and I don't know how long such generous sleeping habits will last, but I don't need to know the reason to be happy about things. Just hope for me that it continues for at least a little bit longer.

Here's Emma with her brother Jack. He's been doing pretty well since her arrival - helping to change nappies, bringing her toys, cuddling her - but, all the same, the green-eyed monster has bitten deep and we've already seen our fair share of tantrums and tears. All we can do is explain that, at least, Emma doesn't want to play with his toy cars because the lad has become a car fanatic - not only citing ALL the Peugeot, Citroen, Audi, and Voltzwagen cars he sees on the road but also playing non stop with his own collection of matchbox cars (Ben found a good deal whereby we got 30 second hand matchbox cars for a really small amount of money. Jack loves them and is constantly, and I mean constantly parking them, cleaning them, and organising massive car crashes).

And then, here's Emma - the star of the show.. and all quite happy about life and what it contains so far for her (food, sleep, and clean nappies).

Hoping you're all well,

Robynxxx

Emma Cnockaert

Just the shortest of little messages to announce the biggest and the bestest of news:

Emma Cnockaert was born, gently and beautifully, on Tuesday 28 July 2009 at 9.37am.

We brought her home last night and now our family of four is complete.

More later, once things calm down... if they ever calm down again!

much much love,

Robynxxx

The Waiting Game

Hello there,

I just wanted to let you know that we are still playing the waiting game as our baby girl continues to tumble and dance in my tummy but doesn't seem ready yet to make an appearance... she's not officially due until August 1st but I'm so impatient about getting to meet her that it already feels like she's overdue!!!

Thankfully, her big brother Jack is there to keep Ben and I amused as we count the hours and days. Here he is, first having just drunk some homemade yoghurt and then playing with an abricot.

Are we sure we want another one as crazy as him?

YES!!!

love n hugs,

Robynxxx

And the boy?

Jack? He's doing as grand as ever!

Here he is wearing his Papa's new hat.

Ben's new hat?

Yes, he lost his old one a couple of weeks ago on the way to the train station. Jack and I went for a walk to try and find it but without success. So, when I got Ben his new hat yesterday, Jack looked at me and asked if Papa was going to lose his hat again. I was too busy laughing to reply!

Getting Ready to Go...

Well, the baby's pink clothes are drying in the bathroom and my bag for the hospital is sitting in the hall waiting for me, and so now I guess it's only a question of time.

A question of how much time? Officially she's due on August 1st 2009 but, as nobody was able to reach her by telephone to tell her, I'm not sure she'll know to come on the exact date.

And so, really, anytime in the next two to three weeks would be good!

I went to visit the hospital yesterday and I have my last meeting with my doctor this Tuesday and so things are wrapping themselves up... but very calmly because everything is going so well. Sure, I'm sleepy but for the rest everything is trundling along as planned and when I feel her turning and shifting and stretching inside of me she feels ever so healthy and ready to join in this game called life!

And, heck with such a pretty bag and such pink pink clothes, who can blame her?

Let's move it, move it!

I was busy dreaming this morning when I heard Jack calling to me through the dream. I ignored him for a while and then awoke to hear him say 'Maman, I wake up. You come?' Stumbling through to his room (okay, so it was already 8h30 but stumbling was all I could manage), imagine my surprise when, coming through the door, I walked straight into his bed. 'J-a-c-k, how did you do that?' 'j'avance' (I move forward). How? 'mur' (with the wall). I don't really think he used the wall, I think he put his feet on the floor and pushed until he could push no more! Oddly, he hadn't realised he could now use the big bed to get out.. but as soon as I suggested it he was out of his bed in a moment.

Hmm, I think he'll soon be out of his 'little bed' and into his 'big bed,' don't you?

ps/obviously, the littler bed is meant to be in the top right hand corner of the room/photo.. not in the middle, darn it!

Ode to Benoit

I just wanted to give a shout out to my Benoit, for he has been and continues to be a wonderful companion throughout this odd journey called life. More specifically, I just wanted to let you know how excellent he's been about not only pushing through all the apartment's renovations but also redecorating the living room and bedroom. In the last few months, he's been painting walls and puting up shelves, and spending time thinking about how he can best improve our living space. And now our wee girl is only 7 weeks away from arriving (she's turning about in my tummy as I write), we're really about ready to welcome her into her home. Once Ben's finished the next stage of redecorating - which involves repainting our bedroom and installing a walk-in closet - I'll post pictures to remind you of just how dramatically we've transformed our apartment. For the moment, though, let this picture of Ben and Jack also herald their relationship.. for, goodness, that's one worth celebrating too.

Cooking up Trouble!

With only one month left with his Nanny (as he'll stop when I start my maternity leave) and with the word 'l'école' entering his vocabulary (he'll start preschool in September and follow a bilingual French-German education..), our wee boy's world is very soon about to change...

And, not least, because his sister is now due to make an appearance in about 2 and a half month's time. For the moment, she's just a vague idea for him but pretty soon we'll begin organising her new bedroom.. and talking about how Jack will become a BIG brother. For my part, I can't wait to see how he will be with her and to see them together because I really feel now is a good time for him (and Ben and myself) to grow into the next chapter of our lives together :-)

Hoping you are all well and enjoying the changes in your own lives,

love n hugs,

Robyn

words, words, words...

A while ago I read René Barjavel's 'Le nuit de temps' (or 'The Ice People') and really enjoyed it. However, while in Scotland at Christmas I tried to buy a copy and was unsuccessful. None of the bookshops I tried stocked Barjavel, even though he is recognised as one of the greatest science fiction writers of recent times. Returning to France, a colleague suggested one reason why Barjavel wasn't in print in the UK: He had plagairised the idea for 'Le nuit de temps' from the Australian author Erle Cox who wrote 'The Golden Dome' (or the 'Le Sphère d'or). I'm now in the midst of reading Cox's book and it's really interesting to see how Barjavel really does seem to have adapted Cox's ideas to fit his own book...

And why am I telling you about all this? Well, cos both books are good to read and second because the central subject of both books is a woman who is awakened after thousands of years of 'sleep' in an underground dome. The men who wake their sleeping princess in both books are charged with the task of teaching her modern English (or French) and are surprised by the speed at which she learns and applies her new language.

And so I arrive at the reason I'm telling you all this.. for it is one thing to read in books about how fictional creatures learn and apply language seemingly overnight and quite another to see how Jack's use of language has flourished over the last few weeks. It really is miraculous, having now spent 2.5years with him, to hear him begin to express himself as a little boy. Of course, Jack's learning process is as slow and as decadent as any other little boy or girl's processs but, because I'm experiencing it for the first time, it seems just incredible (and, darn it, not least because I've now spent the last 6 years struggling to pick up and apply French in a coherant manner!).

Here are some examples of new Jack talk:

Yesterday morning he called from his bed 'Maman, tu-es là?'
'Oui, Jack'
'Je veux sortir'
'Je veux changer couche: peepee dans couche'
'je veux manger'
'Maman, tu viens?'
(Maman, are you there? I want to get out; I want to change the nappy: there's peepee in the nappy; I want to eat; Maman, are you coming?').

He know says 'je t'aime' (I love you)... particularly when he's just got something he wanted ;-)

Recently, his Papy JC explained the he was 'français' and that I wasn't. Even though Jack hadn't appeared to be listening, he later looked at JC and asked 'Français?' and then checked with each of us. When I said I was 'Scottish' he seemed puzzled but accepting that the others were French but I wasn't.

Similarly, his Mamy Annette told him something was 'rouge.' When he said, 'No, red' she (obviously as she's French) repeated 'rouge'...to which he replied 'c'est le même' ('it's the same'). So, it may be that our wee lad is beginning to grasp what this whole dual language thing is about!!

Last week, Ben and I took Jack out for a bike ride along the cycle path in the evening sunshine. The walk was really pleasant and ended with us standing by the river by the bakery. 'Tata Lily là-bas,' (the nanany, over there). Jack said pointing in the direction of TL's house. 'Jack école là-bas' he than said pointing generally in the direction of his future school. 'And where's Jack's home?' I asked. Turning around, he pointed at the apartment: là-bas. This game has now developed to include all sorts of places, including the swimming pool and his cousins' house.

Oddly, yesterday, while I was changing him on his table, he looked at the zigzags in the curtains and said 'M, N, M, N'. I couldn't say he was wrong as, indeed, the shapes resembled Ms and Ns. Then, this morning, we glued his name J-A-C-K to his bedroom door. He now gets a silly delight from repeating J, K, A C...and, to tell you the truth, we get a silly delight listening to him.

And so I hope, wherever you are and whatever words and letters are filling your head, that you are well and that your reality often feels as strange and as marvelous as fiction.

Easter Egg Hunt

While we were in the Alps, Jack enjoyed the fun of a real Easter Egg hunt with his two cousins, Antoine and Charlotte. As well as scoring loads of chocolate, he received a hand-made elephant pillow from his Aunt Juliette. I tell you, he's a lucky lad!

In other good news, My tummy keeps getting bigger as I approach the 6 month mark of the pregnancy. My last doctor's visit was funny:

'How are you,' he asked.

'Fine, thank you,' I replied.

He checked and I was fine.

'See you next month,' he said.

'Yes,' I said, and we both agreed with smiles that this pregnancy seems to be going well, thank you very much!

Ouf!

love n hugs,

Robyn

The Alps

Hello,

This is just a quick message to say that we spent a wonderful Easter weekend in the Alps with my sister-in-law Juliette and her family. We only had four days but what a breath of fresh air as we were able to pass most of our time outdoors, basking in the sunshine and enjoying the beautiful scenery.

How much does your shopping cost?

Recently, I decided to compare the prices of 5 simple products in 2 of my local supermarkets... and the results are quite dramatic.

Butter - 250g
Shop A = 1.99
Shop B = 0.99
Difference = 1.00

Olive Oil - 1 litre
Shop A = 6.75
Shop B = 5.99
Difference = 0.76

Milk - 1 litre
Shop A = 0.75
Shop B = 0.60
Difference after 10 litres = 1.50

Muesli - 750g
Shop A = 3.69
Shop B = 1.69
Difference = 2.00

Rice - 1kg
Shop A = 1.25
Shop B = 3.10
Difference = 1.85

So, the difference in price for just these 5 items is 7.11 euros.
That's an average of 1.42 per item.

So, here's the question: do you have the time to also find out the cost of these 5 items in your supermarket? You can transfer the prices to euros here. Then, copy my shopping list into the 'Comments' section and add your 'Supermarket America' or 'Supermarket Scotland.'

If you do have the time, it would be interesting to see the results..

Hoping you're all well,
Robyn
ps/Just in case you're wondering - no, there's no dramatic difference in the quality of the products. Each product is the supermarket's 'own brand.' Afterwards, if you would like to do a real comparison (eg: brand to brand/kellogg's cornflakes to kellogg's cornflakes) just let me know :-)

Some Funny Stories...

This week, Jack and I left the comfort of Spring and drove from the plains of Alsace up into the wintry hills of the Vosges to visit with a friend. Everything was going well until I started to make my way up her driveway, where there was so much snow that I almost lost control of the car. As the car skidded a little from left to right, I entered a zone where I was more focussed on keeping control of the car than what I was actually saying. Indeed, it was only once I'd calmed down and reentered the normal world that I realised Jack was in the backseat muttering to himself 'oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, oh shit!' Then, when he realised I was listening to him, he said in a high-pitched and rather nervous voice, 'Maman, oh shit, a lot (of snow), car boom? oh shit' ... Needless to say, I calmed down after that, and was soon in the warmth of my friend's house, eating a delightful dinner with her family and catching up!

Last week, as I tucking Jack into bed and wishing him goodnight, he was busy giving Teddy an imaginary bath - turning on the taps, making the noise of the water, rubbing his hands with soap, cleaning Teddy's 'zizi, bum, neck, head..' and, well, you get the picture. He was 'towel' drying his hair as I closed the door....

A couple of days ago, Jack came into the bedroom as I was getting dressed and saw that I was putting on a new blue T-shirt. After looking at me for a moment, he said 'Celà, pas bonne' (That one's not any good) Then he walked over to the cupboard, opened the door, and pulled out a new T-shirt. 'Change.'

Don't you think these are signs that our wee boy's growing up... and that possibly he might just be in need of a little sister to keep in him company?

love n hugs,

Robynxxx

La Vie en Rose

We had another scan last night and..........the gyneo thinks that we're going to have a girl!

Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees.

Of course, I'm most happy that 'she' looks healthy and that her evolution is normal...but, I have to admit it, I am overjoyed at the idea of having a girl to complement the Jack!

I've posted a picture of the scan... it's not the best as 'she' had her back to us, but we still saw her wriggle her feet and rub her head :-)

Now I'm approaching the start of the 5th month, we have 4 months left to prepare ourselves to the idea of having a little girl in the family!

I'm looking forward to it!

love n hugs to you all,

Robynxxxx

Thannenkirch

Last weekend, as well as sledging at the Donon, I went for a good walk in the woods around Thannenkirch (thann = pine tree / kirch = church) with a friend. We only walked for 2.5hours but the our main objective was to get to this charming shelter for lunch, not to reach the top of the Taennchel. Such a walk, we decided, would be done later.. when I was in a lighter condition. The walk we did was just grand, as it took us from the valley, with its whispers and smells of Spring, up into the cold shadows of Winter where we could find the tracks of deer and wild boar stamped in the snow.

Between seasons

As the snowdrops and the crocuses push their humble way out of the cold earth down here on the plains of Alsace, great amounts of crushing snow cover the upper hills of the Vosges. And so it was last Sunday that we left the sunshine of early spring and retreated back into the winter of the hills. And, it was fun. We dressed Jack up in his finest winter gear, rented a sledge, and got down to some serious skidding action. Jack was fair game for, after a few hesitant first attempts, he got going by himself... both sledging alone and bringing the sledge back up the hill to start again. Of course, the day wasn't all about Jack.. and Ben and I also had some sledge time and we made sure that once the day was done we retreated to somewhere cosy for warm food and good chat. Driving back down out of the snow and into the sunshine felt odd though.. as we really felt ourselves on the cusp of a new season and another new chapter in our lives.