Posing

Some friends who know me well accuse me of posing for a camera. I'm slightly alarmed to say that, while not yet 6 months old, Estelle seems to have a bit of a chip off the old block.
Today when I took out the camera she immediately stretched her arms and started smiling. Maybe she thinks my Nikon is another family member?

"I think, hmm, Charles Hamilton may get it!"

If you get that reference, you know where I'm going with these photos.....
Estelle, surrounded by little boys, vying for her affection - or at least her hand to kiss/fingers to chew on....


This was yesterday's "Galette de Roi" party - eating pastry cakes filled with Frangipan - a paste made with almonds. It's the "king cake" of the New Orleans mardi gras for those who know it. Cut it open, and whoever gets the bean, or little statuette, gets to wear the crown. The period of "galette de roi" lasts from Epiphany to Mardi Gras - in other words, lots of calories. But these babies (there were 8) were none the wiser whilst checking each other out. Estelle was much more interested in someone else's rattle.

Sho-Lo's & Tennesse Top Hat

These are Estelle's new favorite things - the magnets on my fridge of men with mullets. In this photo, she's talking to her friend, Squirrel Pelt.

Under the gums!

If you look closely, I'm sure you can see the teeth that simply must be lurking under the surface. Hence the constant drooling and off and on fussiness!

Dig In

Back in sunny Nice after 9 days without a speck of sunshine in the north. I spent my first Holidays with Thomas' family in the Loire and my first not in Vermont. There are too many differences to mention between how home and my adoptive country celebrate Christmas, but why bother with details, let's just cut to the chase -- look at the desserts.
Temptation Number One: The Buche de Noel
Had I been allowed to ram the whole thing down my throat, I probably would have, sinfully divine!

Temptation Number Two: No idea what it's called, but there was a LOT goin' on in there, and it was all good stuff.

The difference is that everything is in moderation, with reasonable helpings, and sprinkled with champagne, foie gras, etc. Hence no fear to get on the scale, unlike the previous 35 Christmases of my life......

Talbot's Girl

Here's Estelle in one of her 400 cute outfits that we got as gifts. Luckily we also got lots of bibs, because otherwise this outfit would look like one big spit-out of carrot purée.
The good news is that as of Tuesday, Estelle has a new cousin, Heather, who will inherit all of Estelle's wardrobe, whether my sister-in-law likes it or not! Heather joins brothers Wayne and Cole, who can't decide what is better: Christmas, or their new sister.

5 months

Another milestone: Estelle eats something other than milk and her toes i.e. homemade apple purée. She devoured it.
To celebrate, she partied with her friends LuLu and Maxence.

I Accept

Sometimes all it takes is a college roommate's boldface dare on your very own blog's commentary to get you to do things your husband never knew you were capable of. Touché!

No Plantar's Warts Here

Don't tell this girl she can't have her toes AND eat them too.
I think this counts as Milestone #2 but who knows. I'm impressed with the flexibility, frankly. I can do that too, but I'm not quite as graceful about it.

Milestone #1

It's official. She rolls over on her own, all by herself, and can prop herself up and look around. She was pretty interested in that other baby she discovered in the mirror.However the glee doesn't last too long, as after awhile she starts to drool or shreik or both - see this last photo for a visual of that kind of moment. Bit frightening look to tell the truth.

Electrolux? No.....Fire!

Last night at 8 pm, I came out of my kitchen where I'd been cooking up garlic and onions, thus had the range fan on and the kitchen door shut, oblivious to anything else going on in the apt, and this is what I saw. Thomas in his pyjamas with this man. Who is he, you may ask? Why, one of our local firemen, naturally.
Each year around this time, they go door to door, all over the country, selling calendars. Ours is complete with photos of the French Riviera on fire and various states of disarray. Note the wallet in Thomas' hand. By "donation", you get one of these lovely calendars. I wanted to invite the guy in and hear his life story. 8 pm, going door to door! Can you imagine?
Just one of the many things that make life interesting living over here. Plus, let's discuss that uniform. He was proud as a peacock to have his photo taken by an "American".

It's beginning to look a lot like....

Estelle's new boyfriend, Alessandro, half French, half Italian.
Born about a month before her; they got together at a holiday tea yesterday to check each other out.
Bellissimo! And below, Estelle's new favorite thing, a "Teething Bling", looks like my jewelry but is secretly a teething ring. A gift from my friend Shannon in where else, the land of opportunity and creativity, the good ole US of A.

Papa Content

I don't know who is happier - Thomas to see Estelle again, or me to have a computer and broadband.
Alive and well as of yesterday afternoon, back in Nice after what can only be called a whirlwind Queen's tour of Vermont. For those I never called, I apologize - but when you have 10 siblings, and your mom is one of 16 and your dad was one of 6, well, you get the picture.....

Dial-up

With Dial Up, all you get is one photo!
Estelle is on a whirlwind tour of visitors every day, after making it thru her first Thanksgiving.

Recent Photos

Here are some recent shots!

hallelujah, wireless!

Desperate times, desperate measures! I am sitting in my car, outside the Glover Town offices, connected to the wireless internet on my sister's laptop.
some recent photos:

Estelle and Estelle

Here is Baby Estelle and the Original Estelle, my aunt, who drove 4 hours in the driving rain to see her namesake. They fell in love with each other......

Vermont Vacation

Wayne and Cole playing with "Uncle Estelle", which is how Cole refers to her. He hasn't grasped the cousin concept yet!

Walking with my sister-in-law Darlene and my nephews Wayne and Cole and the baby in Darlene!

Estelle on Halloween!

Wayne holding Estelle

HAPPY HALLOWEEN, MR. MOOSE!

Some babies go trick or treating on Halloween. Mine goes down to the Moose weigh-in station to visit her uncle Cedric the wildlife biologist and gets her photo taken with a real "live" dead moose, all chopped up. sorry for you faint of heart out there. But it is Halloween, after all.

One for the Road

A few shots of daughter and Dad before we hit the skies without him tomorrow.
Here's hoping I make it across the Atlantic with a 3-month old without too much trouble.

Don't look for much action on this blog for awhile; needless to say, there's ain't no wi-fi in Glover!

p.s. they are watching soccer together. Thomas' team wasn't winning if it isn't obvious.