Funny Family

Every member of my family is funny - and when there's 11 kids, there's a lot of competition to outdo the other ones. But some people in the family, even those that have married in, are just funnier than others. Today I got an email from a family-member-who-will-remain-anonymous-but-there-is-only-one-who-has-enough-technology-savvy-to-create-these-images saying the following: "Please show these 2 photos to Estelle and see which one she recognizes as her mother:" I have been laughing about this all morning.

Other Favorite Pastimes

The last post neglected a few additional things that Estelle also enjoys doing:
namely, playing with a little bottle of water, cruising around in her walker, and having her photo taken:

A Day in the Life

Today included our Romanian cleaning girl coming to watch Estelle for an hour while I rode my bike like the wind along the sea to get my teeth cleaned (yeah!) at one of the good dentists in town, ironically in the bldg on Victor Hugo where I lived almost 4 years. When the other dentist in the office popped in to ask my guy a question, I was happy to be unrecognizable with my mouth wide open and several instruments prodding into it, since said dentist colleague is the same guy who backed into my bike 3 years ago and busted up my luggage rack. He paid for it - once i provided him with the bill to prove the cost. Needless to say, HE'S not my dentist!
Then, smile gleaming, I was Breaking Away-style back to our apt over on the Port. All is well, Romanian girl had it all under control, Estelle sleeping peacefully for her morning snooze. 30 mins later we were out the door to meet Madame Pontier, who is about to become Estelle's occasional "nounou" - woman who takes care of children in her home. She is a 8 minute walk away and I was put on to her by the pediatric nurses who saved my life and Estelle's back in what I now refer to as "The Dark Period" in July. Madame Pontier turned out to be lovely and her own middle-school aged childen were lovely as well. We like her and she likes us. She will be the lucky winner of Estelle for 3 hours three mornings per week. She cares for 2 other little kids too but they are quite a bit older than E.
Two private lessons of my own teaching English later, and our day was finished. In the middle of all this, Estelle had time to do some of her favorite things - chewing on a baguette, rolling around on the floor, and taking a bath in her new bathring. See Exhibits A-D below:

Who needs Teething Biscuits?

Real Vermonters don't milk goats, and real French babies cut their teeth on a baguette.

No Teeth, Can't Sit Up

Photos showing lack of sitting-up-ness and lack of teeth, fondness for yogurt: New favorite toy: the doll from the Island of Misfit Toys from Rudolph, courtesy of one of my many sisters in a fit of impulsive purchasing.

Maxence

Today we had 4 of Estelle's friends over to introduce everyone to "Saint Patrick's Day". One of her friends is Maxence. We love Maxence because she has the blue eyes that Estelle doesn't, because she has funny funny hair sometimes, and because she always smiles and lets Estelle steal her toys and give her kisses.
Maxence is 4 weeks younger than Estelle but she is bigger, go figure. Maxence and her Mom and Dad have to move back to Paris, and they leave on Friday. This makes both Estelle and me very very sad.

The List

I've been thinking a lot about shortening lately. 6 years ago, people used to say "What do you miss eating the most?" It was the question everybody asked me. I used to get on the plane twice a year and make my list on the napkin of all the things I had to remember to eat while I was home. Bagels and Ben & Jerry's were always at the top. Hot dogs, root beer, creullers (though recently I seem to have rectified that), mexican, crunchy peanut butter, Kraft Mac & Cheese. Then there were strange family things that no one else in the world eats, like salmon pea wiggle, my sisters' wierd holiday salads, and chipped beef and gravy. Essentially, the best American has to offer.
Now, the things I always try to cram into my suitcase are different. Bags of chocolate chips, cranberry sauce, canned pumpkin, crushed pineapple, holiday-themed M & M's, and Crisco.
Cooking and baking in France should be, by all rights, a piece of cake. This is the land of gastronomy after all. But when all your tried and true family recipes call for things you can never find, it leaves you wistful. Between changing everything from cups and ounces into grams and milliliters, and farenheit into celcius, sometimes, all you want to see is a can of Crisco to make things feel familiar.
I've posted inquiries about it on the local anglophone site. People say "just use margarine". It just doesn't cut it.

Fotos worth Forwarding

Sometimes, other people's kids are just as cute as mine:
My friend Karen has been trying to adopt a baby for a long time. Finally, it worked out! Here are her and her husband Mitch with their new son, Tyler! An incredible moment for them and something they have longed for, and worked very very hard for, with a lot of obstacles and challenges along the way. Welcome Tyler, and congratulations to the proud parents!




And below is a foto I meant to post up here but couldn't find it when I needed to - better late than never: here are my favorite 3 Vermont children (ages 5 and under!), from their very original Valentine's day message to their French cousin:

Seaside

The benefits of living by the Mediterranean: Friday afternoons on the beach in balmy weather.

Addictions

Some people are alcoholics, or can't kick the smoking habit. I've developed a new crutch: Bugnes.
Here is a photo of bugnes:
They may look innocent, but they're not. Today is Thursday and since Saturday I have entered 4 different bakeries on 4 different days to buy myself 100 grams of bugnes, and then I eat the whole bag, all by myself. It is sheer bliss. These donut-like delights are covered either in granulated sugar or confectionary sugar. Each bakery makes them differently. I'm slowly making my way thru the "quartier" trying them all. All my life I have been a SUCKER for donuts. I love donuts, and cruellers from a bakery in VT especially. These bugnes bear an alarming resemblance to a Koffee Kup Kruller. I think they are a lenten-time specialty. Thomas thinks they are around all year but I don't think so. I suppose for the sake of my health I should hope I'm right and not Thomas, who is shocked at my sudden inability to stop myself. But, what with breastfeeding's apparent effect on my ever-dropping scale display, I am cutting myself some slack for the first time in a long while and frankly am borderline fanatic. If you have one, you eat the whole bag. That's the way it goes.
Here are photos of Estelle after nursing and you can see the effect of the bugnes on my milk production - look at the glee!

Updates

The update on Estelle is no teeth, lots of drool, lots of trying to yank herself around on the arches of her play gym (see photo), lots of compliments on her OshKosh outfit, courtesy of my friend Jane.
The update on the Thong is: a few days ago I opened my mailbox and there were 7 clothespins, of 2 different styles and 4 different colors, all mine, apparently left for me by French Grammie as they too have apparently fallen onto her terrace. None of the other people in my apartment "column" seem to have the same clothespins as me, as must have been observed by French Grammie, via what I can only imagine must be her personal binoculars, or she is bionic French Grammie.
The unidentified thongs have been washed and are in a bag until I get the courage to deliver them to the teenager girl ("Les Ados") 2 floors below me. My own's whereabouts remains a mystery.

Carnival!

Estelle, getting ready to go to Carnival in her Ben & Jerry's shirt.
At Carnival, in the sun, with Estelle's buddy Maxence and her mom Melanie.