Barbarian Night

Michael had spaghetti tonight. Miam miam.

Squatter

Michael squats really well. I think he's going to grow up to be a catcher. Plus, he uses his left hand really well so maybe he'll be left-handed. Do you know how rare a left handed catcher is? They play for years. He'll make millions. Happy New Year. I made it.
Brian!

Nic Wooden Toys

While we were in Germany, Michael LOVED this toy called the "Multi Race" model Medi-S from the toy museum. Click on this link:
http://www.nictoys.com/htm/neu.htm

I am trying to find out how to buy them! We went to a toy store in Germany and they didn't have it. Still googling all over trying to find a retailer...America/Germany/France and I asked for a catalogue via the e-mail.

Just a random thought.
P

Guilt

So we had to get Michael to get used to sleeping in his crib again after sleeping with his parents for like 3 weeks (travelling/etc). It was a nightmare.

He cried for 45 minutes, threw up, then cried for another 10 more minutes. Slept for about 2 hours. Woke up, cried for an hour. And then just little cries here or there for another hour. Slept until 7:00 and then Brian slept with him on the couch until 8:30am.

*sigh*

And today...today is the day that Michael said "Mom" for real. He did it about 10-12 times today and at different points throughout the day. While he was walking towards me. While he was looking at me. While he was hugging me. It was so wonderful to hear his TRUE first word be "Mom."

And then the guilt set in. After such a horrible night, he rewards me with this. And this wonderful moment was so bittersweet.

The only thing that makes me feel better is that he HAS to sleep in his crib. No ifs ands or buts about it. We're just not a huge co-sleeping kind of family. It's just not us.

And tonight? He went down like a champ. Cried for about one minute and then went to sleep. He is such a good boy. We just don't deserve him! Why God gave us such a sweet and wonderful blessing...I'll never know!

Love,
P

Clue...

One clue that you have lived in Paris too long:

I went to the Pottery Barn website today and thought the prices were CHEAP.

For the same price as an entire Pottery barn living room, I could buy ONE couch. And maybe one accent pillow.

P

Nurnberg

If you like Christmas decorations, you HAVE to go to Nuremberg one day! It's like Christmas Handmade Hobby Lobby Mecca! Here I am at just ONE of the stalls of Christmas goods:

We ate EVERY meal (except for breakfast which was free at the hotel) at the Christmas market. Total food consumption for all 3 of us a day at the Christmas market included:

• 15-20 mini bratwursts
• 2-3 hamburgers
• 1 steak burger
• 1 curry wurst
• 2 cups of gluhwein
• LOTS of bread.
• 1 lebkochen (soft doughy gingerbread cookie)

It was the anti-diet HEAVEN. I think the whole month of December was the ANTI-diet.

Friday, December 21st
Arrived and checked into our hotel. Went immediately to the market, stopped at the first wurst-stand and bought a sandwich stuffed with 3 mini bratwursts. Delicious. Shopped a ton at the market and then shopped at the stores around Nurnberg.

Saturday, December 22nd
More shopping and eating. We took Michael to a Toy Museum in the morning! It was amazing! Nuremberg is known for its wooden toys so we checked it out. We skipped most of the museum and ended up on the Kid's activity floor. Michael LOVED it there! He played for an hour easily. He played with all of their wooden puzzles, this cool ramp thing that we tried to find to buy him for Christmas, and with the drawer full of pots and pans. He loves pots and pans and watching me cook. I wonder if we have a chef on our hands! Brian and I at one point pulled out a cool wooden memory game and played that with one another. It was hilarious seeing how much we DIDN'T remember and that just cracked us up to bits as you can imagine our stilly reactions. John would have WHOOOOped us for sure.

Afterwards, we went to a toy store to try to find the wooden toy Michael liked. No luck.

In the afternoon, we wandered up to the Imperial Castle and poked around. Not too impressive I must say compared to Versailles or Neuschwanstein, but we got a family picture for the scrapbook:

Sunday, December 23rd
After a tip from THE MOM, we found the children's double decker old AWESOME carrousel. It was amazing! It had 2 floors and the top and these little look out points. So cute. Upon finding the carrousel, we also found the KINDER christmas market! A market JUST for little kids!!! It was amazing! There were rides, food, and a little toy house FULL of playmobil stuff. It was packed and we couldn't go, but we rode the rides instead! Here's Brian and Michael on the carrousel:

Waiting to get on the Mini ferris wheel! We finished the afternoon there, eating stand food, and the free gingerbread cookies. Michael liked those! Then, we headed to the airport, super early. Super Phuongster style! Before we got on the U, I saw a sign at the bank that read -4 degrees Celsius. No wonder I spent most of the time like this:
Love,

P

P.S. My favorite picture so far of Michael and I!!!!!

Michael looked at me today and said "Mom." I think. Not sure. He did it twice. Said, "Mom" and waited for me to answer. But that's it. I am going to see if he does it again tomorrow at all because it just seems to good to be true.

Today, he climbed in his Dad's lap and said "Da Da". "Da" But not quite sure if that was babbling or not either.

*sigh* One day, he WILL talk!

Love,
P

Conversations

Brian's latest funny moment:

Me: Ok, when we move to Delaware or Pennsylvania, I would like a sprawling one story house that is pretty old but renovated beautifully with columns in the front and a house in the back for my parents to live.

Brian: So what you are saying to me is that you want me to buy Monticello.

Parents' Blitzkreig

Brian's parents came to Paris for a short but very fun visit! They found $440 RT tickets from DALLAS. Crazy, but true. Here is a recap of our days!

Saturday, December 1st
The Parents arrived 30 minutes early and we almost missed them walking in the terminal! After passing out at the apt and unpacking, we headed over to the playground in front of the Eiffel Tower (Champs des Mars) for Michael to play in his favorite playground. However, when we arrived, we found Michael asleep. So we enjoyed our sandwiches, watched other kids play, and then had some nice warm drinks at a nearby cafe. Afterwards, Michael finally woke up and played in the dark on this fun little train set thingy they have:

Sunday, December 2nd
It rained ALL DAY. We went to church where Brian understood the entire homily and I understand probably half of it. The priest was speaking VERY slowly. And since it rained all day, we stayed home, took naps, ate chicken pot pie (thanks AK for the recipe!) and played Pinochle (as we were apt to do every night they were here!)

Monday, December 3rd
This day started out perfectly for me!! The grandparents took Michael to his favorite park near our house, Saint Medard while I had a leisurely morning in at my own apartment. It was a HUGE treat for me. I got to curl my hair, put on makeup, get dressed, enjoy a cup of tea, wrap presents, and watch a movie...all by myself in the comfort of my own home with no one else around. You see, this is a treat b/c whenever the nanny comes, I usually leave the house. To run errands, or stay away otherwise Michael will want to be with me. So I NEVER get time alone in my own home. It was a HUGE deal for me.
Anyways, here is one of my favorite shots at the park while the grandparents played with him until he passed out!

That afternoon, Brian's mom and I went shopping and ran errands and found Michael asleep with Grandpa ALL AFTERNOON. There goes BEDTIME! For dinner, we met Brian over by Montparnasse and had Crepes! Mmmmm!!!

Tuesday, busy day December 4th
Michael and I went to our first storytime lapsit! There were tons of cookies/etc for treats so Michael was pretty happy! It was funny because the kids are just going crazy and only playing attention to the parts of the story that had funny noises. It was basically mayhem with food. At the end of the story time, there were about 3 kids in a row pushing around chairs into the corner.

Afterwards, we had lunch at a place called Biuollon's by Galeries Lafayette which had standard French food. It was pretty good and Michael took a nap! When he woke, we visited the window displays at Galeries Lafayette. This department store sets up these elaborate window displays for the kids and provides a ramp for them to see better. Here's Michael not quite getting it. Look AT the window Michael!
Then, we went to see Santa and had pictures taken! That takes us up to only 3:00pm...only the beginning of the day for Brian's mom! ;o) So then we went over to the Tuilleries and Michael went on his first Carrousel ride!
It was SO fun. I hadn't been on one in ages so I had a great time too...TOO good of a time! I totally let Grandpa take all the pics of Michael b/c he had a better angle and I was having too good of a time. Then...we walked over to the Orsay and afterwards went to the Champs Elysees to see the lights. Whew....finally done. ;o) Met Brian at home for dinner!

Wednesday, December 5th
Parents went home early in the morning. Life resembles normal again until December 10th when we headed to ROME!

Next, Nurnberg recap!

Love,
P

Has it Really Been a MONTH?

I. am. embarrased. It's really been a MONTH since we've posted? Well, a lot can change in a month and it has!

Michael makes more noises now and goes around practicing his intonations. Uhhh...ohhhh...ahhhh..uhhh...but not in a montonous sound. With his voice rising up and then down. I guess he's practicing to be Vietnamese.

No words yet though...*sigh*

He gestures:

• When he wants to be picked up, he holds his arms up and closes his fingers to tell you to come here.
• He puts all his fingers together to a point to indicate that he wants more of something.

I guess that's only 2.

He recognizes Vietnamese words! I can say Vo Thay (which means clap) and he starts to clap.

On MOnday, he figured out how to put the rings back ON his stackable ring thing and he'll put one on and clap for himself! Same with his little pull toy with the stackable things! I taught him how to do it before we left for Rome and he would cry in frustration b/c he couldn't do it. We came back and on Monday, he did it. First shot. I'm so proud. That's really all it takes. Wonder what I'll think when he graduates High School..."My boy is a GENIUS!!!"

Thursday before we left for Rome (so that would make it Dec.6), he started looking at and playing with his penis when he would get naked before getting in the bath tub.

Yesterday, he had his first cheese soft taco.

I think that's it for special observations of Michael. Can't believe I am SO behind!

Love,
P

Roma: Le Fin

Sunday, December 9th: My amazing husband gave me breakfast in bed!!!! Michael was a bit interested as well...but what a treat it was for me! I didn't HAVE to share! But I did...


Here are some of my fav pics in Rome. To be honest, it was too cold and I was sick and so my shots are a bit uninspired I feel. Ahhh...c'est la vie!

Michael Playing at the Roman Ruins on Palatine Hill

Brian and Michael at St. Peter's Square

Michael at the Colliseum

Family Picture at the Colliseum!

Friday, Michael and I went to a park near Termini train station and met Brian there after his conference. Michael played in a swing for his first time! Infant swings (and swings in general) are NOT very common in Paris at all. So it was a BIG treat! Afterwards, we had lunch at this CRAZY eatery that we hit RIGHT at the lunch hour rush. It was one of those where you can order pizzas/pastas to go and stand there and eat. I met something called Lasagna Genovese (which is like a lasagna with pesto and cheese) and I fell in love.

Afterwards, we went to the Borghese Gallery, which was beautiful and set in the Borghese Gardens. Go figure. The Borghese gallery has awesome sculptures of Bernini and had an exhibition of Canova going on which was pretty cool. But it's the STUFFIEST museum I have EVER been to and the most expensive. I was not too impressed with all their rules:

• You must make a reservation to go because they only allow 300 people in at a time to limit crowding
• No strollers
• You must go DOWNSTAIRS to check your stroller...and only after you have purchased their overpriced ticket of 13 euro. I think the Louvre is less...and it's like 60 times bigger and more famous.
• No diaper bag or anything like that allowed.
• You must be out of the museum within a 2 hour time frame.

I understand these rules are to protect their collection but COME ON. Ok...done ranting now.

Michael liked the rooms there! He wandered all around and tried to touch things...but of course he's not allowed. I was holding him and standing near a bust of a nude woman. He smiled at her really coyly, looked at her breasts, and then tried to touch them. Uh. Oh.

After that, we strolled through the Borghese Gardens and went shopping near the Spanish Steps! There were roasting chestnuts everywhere and now I can understand that song "Chestnuts roasting on an Open fire." And I know the smell now! I never understood why that song came to be but now I see...

On Saturday, we shopped...pretty much all day. And since we got a late start, that was fine! I was sick and it was the coldest day of our trip so I got a whole lotta nothing! But Brian made away like a bandit! We wandered over to Campo de Fiori, the Pantheon, and went home.

Sunday, we woke up and should have shopped b/c I felt better, it was warmer, and there were STORES OPEN AT 9:30! We didn't know...and so we missed the boat. I got a pair of boot socks. oo...la...la...

Then we went home. VOILA. Le Fin.

Next entry will be The Parent's Visit, and then our party last night at Pierre Dufours' (Air Liquide's 3rd in command or somewhere pretty high up there). As you can see, this blog is my virtual scrapbook so when I do my actual scrapbook, I have everything I need right here! So you must suffer through the rather uninteresting details.

Love,

P

Roma: Part Deux

I.Love.Italian.Food.From.Italy.

It is amazing! So different than Italian food in the states. No more Olive Garden or Carinos for me! The only place I can think of that comes close...is a place called Vespaio in Austin. And that's fusion of some sort! But if I have any readers from the ATX, head over to Vespaio for a fancy dinner one night. It's worth it!

Here, they treat us like Royalty because we have a BAMBINO! At the Vatican Museum, the would let us take shortcuts, directing us to other places. Show us the elevators, let us to the front of lines/etc. IN restaurants, the wait staff act like we've done them this ENORMOUS favor by bringing in the baby! And they let him run rampant in the restaurant and think it's darling. SO different than in France. IN Paris, they let you into the mayhem that is the Louvre and say.. GO. See if you can find the elevator!

Anyways, Michael and I spent the rest of yesterday afternoon shopping around in the neighborhood we're staying in. Michael took a humungous 2 hour nap (WHOOP!). For dinner, we went around the corner to a place called Target, which delicious and trendy. Wish Rick Steves' would have mentioned that since we showed up in blue jeans and Michael just had a food stained track suit over his pajamas. EEK.

During the meal, MIchael hurt himself. There was a set of 3 steps and he was climbing up them. I wasn't watching closely enough b/c I was tired (although it is no excuse). He kind of did this weird fall back thing and got a little bitty cut on his chin and a small bruise about the size of a dime. :o( . It only takes a second for the kid to hurt himself and it's always the second where I am not watching.

Today, Michael and I went to the Colliseum, Palatine Hill, AND Roman Forum! I am amazed I made it home because I carried MIchael in the Ergo the entire way. I thought my legs were going to give out from under me after it! Wish I could post pictures. I had to take my Canon Point and Shoot and watch MIchael/carry him at the same time so I didn't get the kind of shots I wanted. But hey, better some than NONE.

The ruins were absolutely amazing. Talk about history coming to life. The Rick Steves' tours were absoultely essential and super informative. I had a bit of trouble at Palatine Hill, but eventually found most things. I missed 2 things but by then was so tired of hiking around that I just gave up.

I can't put into words how neat it is to see these kind of things in real life...the scale/magnitude of it all. EVERYTHING. I'll just have to post pics when I get home.

Michael was super funny today. He was in copy cat mode:

He saw me holding up my camera to take a picture today so he then held up his wagon wheel and tried to take a picture with it.

While sitting on the bus, he saw me reach over to grab onto the pole next to the window. So he in turn decided to help me with the pole as well and held on as long as I did. Then he flirted with a girl in another seat.

When we got back to the room, he brought me my camera, gave it to me...and then gave me this huge cheesy grin. I tried to give it back, but he just pushed the camera back at me. That was when I realized, he wanted me to take pictures of him! So I have these 3 super funny pictures of MIchael grinning and posing for the Camera. HOW PRECIOUS. Gotta love it.

Michael is in a MUCH better mood today b/c he slept much better last night and got almost 11 hours of sleep.

Well, I wanted to go shopping this afternoon, but I just am too tired. So we're gonna hang around until Brian gets home and eat dinner together. Tomorrow, I may go do the Travestere walk in the morning untiL Brian gets back after lunch. Then we're all heading over to the Borghese gallery and dinner on Campo de Feori.

LOVE THIS ROME PLACE!
P

ROMA!

Hi everyone!

We haven't posted in a while because:
1.) Thanksgiving for 16 people took the wind out of me
2.)Brian's parents came and took the wind out of me, but in a good way :o)

But here we are in Rome! We just arrived on Monday and are navigating our way around. Monday had some funny moments:

Michael went through the metal detector by himself for the first time at the airport. They asked if he could walk. I said yes...and they put him on the ground and made him walk through! In his PJ's nonetheless!

Brian went to register for his conference. He came back and said his registration day was Tuesday, the 11th. Which Monday, the 10th...was DEFINITELY not. Very funny...very BRIAN.

Michael is of course having trouble sleeping. During one of his wake up episodes, I was trying to pat him back to sleep...but then Michael woke up Brian. And Brian starts saying "Michael gets EVERYTHING." So then I find myself patting Brian adn Michael saying "Shh...shhh...trying to get them back to sleep." Finally, they were back to bed and I had to read Rick Steves' Italy to get MYSELF back to sleep.

Tuesday, we went to the Vatican Museum and saw St. Peter's. They were putting up a Christmas tree in the square! We are going to go back and check it out later this week.

Today, so far, I went to the Pantheon. It was very neat...but a little anticlimatic.

MIchael just took a slam so I have to go change him now. Not sure what the afternoon holds. May go to the Colliseum and see me some Roman ruins. Or I may just go shopping! Here's my very laid back itinerary while Brian's at his conference:

Wed (today): Pantheon (check)
Thursday: Colliseum/Forum/Palatine Hills
Friday: Shop

More later!

Love to all,
P

Michael, The Squirrel

Michael sometimes does resemble a squirrel.

His hair is chestnut brown...and for a while he had kind of long bushy hair that hung over his collar (now, it has been trimmed).

He's got lots of big front teeth, perfect for gnawing nuts (that he's not allowed to have until he is 3).

He's got the chubby cheeks to store nuts in if needed.

He takes his food, hides it around the house, and then finds it a couple of days later and eats it.

He chirps/barks sometimes just like a squirrel once did to Brian at tu.

He gets around on all fours but can balance on his legs if needed.

I think that's it. Luckily, Michael is a human despite all these similarities to the animal kingdom.

Love,
P

First Haircut

With Thanksgiving finally over, we can now have time to play with Michael instead of say, cleaning house or grocery shopping/etc. Yesterday, Brian gave Michael his first hair cut. He snipped off Michael's rat tail that hangs over the collars of his shirts. Nice!

I brushed his hair for the first time today b/c it was wild and wooly.

Love,
P

Lusting...After...Home...

Well, it's the holidays...and Brian and I are a bit homesick, although we probably wouldn't admit it outloud.

Just a couple of days ago...we google.mapped Austin. You know, with the really cool map that you can hybrid Satellite and street and actually SEE your house/car on it. No nerd jokes...please.

Anyways, we popped over to my friend Renee's house and stared at her roof, wondering why we couldn't see her tree house. We ran over to the Arboretum and said hi to our old Barnes and Noble. Then we popped over to Scofield Ridge, our old apartment. Thought we could see The Dart in the parking lot since the map was old, but we aren't too sure of that.

We'll probably never end up in Austin again...but it was a great 4-5 years for us there. I really miss it there...so much so that just looking at a google map and pretending to drive in the old Blueberry was enough. For today.

Don't know if you guys are aware of us schlepping goods home from the US (our family does!). Here's an article that hit a bit close to home!
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-oe-druckerman14nov14,1,1090368.story?coll=la-news-a_section&ctrack=1&cset=true

Love,
P

Who needs a pool when you can have a STRIKE!

During Michael's nap today, the French decided to further punctuate their transportation/government workers strike by holding a demonstration.

The march started at Place D'Italie, which is about 10 minutes south on our street. They marched up our street and all the way to Les Invalides. All 350,000 to 700,000 of them. Yup...no typo with the zeros there!

The strike lasted from about 2:30pm to 5:30pm. Here are some aspects of their strike that DID not wake Michael up from his nap:

• Guys with percussion equipment: snare drums, timpanis on their chests...etc
• Girls shrieking at the top of their lungs
• People singing/chanting
• Leaders on their bullhorns
• Loud....VERY loud music
• Air horns

The noise lasted all 3 hours and it was SO LOUD. I can't imagine what it was like on the street. At one point, I looked out my window and couldn't see anything but smoke from the flares. Yup, they had red flares too.

But Michael slept through it ALL and didn't wake up until he was done with his 2 hour nap at 3:30. But as you know...the strike still was going on.

Here is a link to a newspaper website if you are interested:

http://www.lemonde.fr/web/article/0,1-0@2-823448,36-980685@51-979908,0.html

This is FRANCE! Gotta love workers striking b/c they can't retire at age 50!

Love,

P

SHOPPING I SAY!

Today, I spent the day shopping at La Defense (A MALL) with a friend of mine to celebrate weaning Michael. I left with an empty carryon suitcase and came back with it PACKED and with a tube of tablecloth that was bigger than me.

The French are SERIOUS about setting their table. They have really gorgeous paper table linens that you can get anywhere! I got some nice ones for Thanksgiving at a hypermarket called Auchan. Although they did not have turkey ones...

I found Brian a pair of boxers at the Gap with turkeys all over them. Can you believe there were 30 of them there??? What were the French thinking passin' these beauties up??? I bought them in deep red.

Today, Michael walked the entire length of the couch (about 10-12 feet) WITHOUT falling down or holding on to anything!!! WAY TO GO MICHAEL!

Love,
P

Filthy Bug

I was waiting for the metro yesterday and decided to sit down on one of their nasty chairs. There are usually four chairs and they are spread about 18 apart from each other. So a bit later, some dude comes and sits down in the chair to my right. So I look at him to make sure he's not too weird and I see this cockroach looking bug leave from under his chair and come towards me. I wasn't having any of that so I started blowing at that bug just to you know scare him a bit and send him away from me. It worked! The bug did a 180 and started back towards the other guy who was giving me a 'what the hell are you doing, idiot?' look. Luckily the bug veered behind the other guy's chair and I made it home safe and sound.

Ok...so it's been almost a month since we posted...but it's not for lack of effort. It's for lack of anything really interesting to talk about. Now, if you are an avid reader of Michael's blog, you will see we have spent much time documenting Michael's monumental moments (like his 1st steps!). So it is no surprise that the rest of the things in our life pale in comparison to our baby's transition to toddlerhood! Toot for that little guy!

Monday, it was my birthday. A whoppin' 29 years old. And to be honest...it was about as exciting as that middle sentence there...but it was really great none-the-less. Brian and I are really low maintenance birthday people. We don't expect much! Brian got me some things that I needed (ear muffs while I run, mortar and pestle (don't ask)). Brian came home EARLY!!! And we got Thai takeout and watched Grey's Anatomy together. It was really PERFECT. Relaxing and getting to spend the evening with my favorite person was exactly what I needed.

And Michael gave me a great birthday present...and is still giving both Brian and I are birthday presents! He was SUPER GOOD on my birthday, even when I forced him to go shopping with me since it was my birthday. He didn't cry at all and even ate a croissant and danced for me in Zara. It was precious. This week, he has been his normal awesome self, playing, terrorizing, and climbing in our laps for hugs. This was QUITE different than his week last week where he was clingy and wanted to be carried all day. It was a welcome change!

And then today! Our babysitter came (despite the metro strike, GO HER!) and Brian and I went on a 4 hr date (kind of like the 3 hour tour on Gillian's Island, except we came home). Brian and I took off walking towards the 5th arrondisement, which is very nice and near us! We popped over to Starbucks and grabbed a Vanilla Latte and Creme brulee latte to go and went exploring near Place Contrescarpe and rue Mouffetard while on the way to the Cluny museum.

The Cluny Museum is a museum of middle age history. Due to the strike, they were closing early at 4pm and admission was FREE. SCORE, TEAM BESANCON PARIS! Highlights:

• Stained glass that you could see UP CLOSE from Sainte Chappelle...which as you all know you can only really admire stained glass from pretty far below so to see it less than 1 foot from your face is pretty neat.
• A carved statue of Mary holding baby Jesus....common you say right? Throw in the fact that Mary's right boob was hanging out and baby Jesus was breastfeeding from it while caressing it. GO NURSING MOMS!
• A modern photographer took some VERY UP CLOSE pictures of the stained glass and it was amazing. A small mistake/blip was as big as a football and was the focal point of this one picture with the brush streaks of red coming down it from the glass. VERY different.
• Tapestries with Lady and unicorns. Apparently very famous and in this very dark and light controlled room as to properly preserve them
• I bought a book about all the magnificent cathedrals in France. It's neat b/c it describes all the vocabulary for cathedrals/architecture in French, has pictures of ones that we should visit and ones we have visited, and also has cool cathedral photography which serves as inspriration for me when I go visit too. Cathedral shots are all the same so some of the angles are very cool.

Afterwards...we just wandered around...by the Luxembourg Gardens, to a cool toy store called Le Ciel Est Tout le Monde (http://www.lecielestatoutlemonde.com/us/page1.html), down around Claude Bernard...then to RUE SAINT JACQUES (VOILA BILLY!), another toy store over there, and then to Glaciere, then home. Totally relaxing, totally fun, and totally what we needed.

With Brian's 30th birthday nearing and my 29th birthday over...it was refreshing to take that leisurely stroll. To reflect on our life. To embrace and appreciate the beauty of our life here in Paris. Being among all these old buildings, gorgeous parks, lovely scenary everday makes us take it for granted. It is just a blur in our existence as we run from work, to the poste, groceries. Sometimes...it is necessary to not have plans...to just wander where we feel like...and to recognize as we gained one more year in our lives that ALL we could ever want...is what we have right now. In this moment. Always. Nothing more and nothing less.

Friends and family...thanks for always checking in, for your birthday wishes, for your birthday blessings, for your prayers, and for YOU including us in your lives. It is what makes OUR lives so whole.

Love,

B&P&M

Michael has his first runny nose today. I think he caught it from our nanny who had a runny nose last week but she didn't run a fever so I figured it was ok. Guess not!

Michael got dizzy for the first time today. Brian was holding him and spinning around and around. Michael couldn't even stand up when Brian put him down.

Michael had his first dim sum breakfast on Sunday! He LIKED IT! I mean...who doesn't?? ;o)

Love,
P

Michael got his first pair of shoes this past Friday! They are blue. And 61 euro. OUCH.

We went to Square Rene Legall and Michael practiced being a toddler in his new shoes. I put him on this abstract horse thing that was on a huge spring and he liked bouncing back and forth in that. It was no Radio Flyer RawHide though. Then, we bounced a bit on this see saw, which wasn't really a see saw. Just two seats on springs connected by a wooden beam. So I just put Michael in the seat, sat in front of him and bounced him around. Then, I let him slide down the slide with a little help. He liked that. There was thing silver ball that spun so I sat him on that and went round and round with him until I almost fell over.

Then, Michael took over the playground. He tried to crawl up the slide and thought it was funny that he kept sliding down. I put him on the ground and he held onto the slide while walking around. He saw a girl playing with some sand next to the slide so he went over there, knelt down, and touched it too.

After which, a pigeon came into view and Michael attempted his best to chase after it. But as nature would have it, the pigeon escaped. He did this while just holding onto my finger!! He took his own steps and everything.

I carried him over to another section of the park and put him back on the ground. He was fascinated by the leaves on the floor so he would walk over to them while holding my finger, bend down, pick up a leaf, and give it to me! He chose 3 different leaves to share with me and then wanted to be carried because he was tired. So I thought it was a good idea to go to Franprix and buy orange juice.

Michael had a low fever yesterday (100.9). NOt sure why but he was ok today so I took him to the park. Weird.

Love,
P

More video

Now that I know how to edit the size and length of the videos, I am going back through some old ones we took. They kind of stink but I found this gem when Michael was first learning to crawl. This is from July 12, 2007.



Then there's this guy from October 30th, 2006, 13 days old. The background sound is classic with John Madden discussing what is and what is not a fumble. The baby is pretty boring except for those sneezes. He still sneezes in pairs!

Birthday Video

I've got this video editing down now! Almost.
Here is a clip of Michael at his birthday party eating his cake. He loves it. Not.
For background, he had been sitting naked in this chair without eating any cake for about 5 or 7 minutes. He was feeling really uncomfortable because everyone was staring at him, he was naked and he had a chocolate lump in front of him. Right before this clip, he dropped a chunk of cupcake into his chest between the restraints on his highchair.

The Injury

I'm in the bathroom and I hear Phuong going ballistic, yelling bring the bandaids. So I get the "Bob the Builder" bandaids and run in to find Michael with a red dot on his forehead. I put a bandaid on him anyway.

The other kid

Yesterday, Phuong had another mom over for French class. Her husband had to go on a business trip so I had to watch Michael and her son, Elyo, so they could actually concentrate on studying. Elyo is quite a bit larger than Michael, about 8 pounds and a bit of height too even though they're only 1 day apart in age. And he can walk really well.

Michael was funny, he looked very apprehensive when Elyo started playing with his toys. It was funny because Elyo took all the cool toys at first and Michael went and got out his books. Here's little Michael surrounded by 5 books and big Elyo "taking" his trucks and stuffed animals. I also played with Elyo a bit because he deserved some attention too. Michael didn't take well to this and would look at me like I was leaving him for another baby. He crawled over to me to read him his books and assert his rightful place as real son. That was great.

Since they were noisy and the kitchen is right next to the living room, I moved all the toys into Michael's room and brought out the cool electronic toys. Elyo started playing with the walker with the sounds, then Michael walked over there, pushed the toy out of Elyo's reach and positioned himself between the toy and Elyo. He never let Elyo take over that toy. Michael left a couple of times to play with other toys but if he heard Elyo playing with that other toy he would come and take it from him. Later, the boys were running and crawling around and Elyo was pining for his mom so I tricked them back into Michael's room with a bag full of toys. Elyo got there first but Michael came close behind and pulled himself up onto his crib. Then he kind of walk-lunged at Elyo and basically tackled him and took the toys. Good work boy.

Elyo was soon getting fussy, as it turns out he was running a fever due to his vaccination against measles, mumps and rubella. He had this pacifier in his mouth but he had been crying enough that his nose had started running. So he had all this snot dripping into his stupid pacifier attached to his shoulder. I'm sure he was eating most of it, and it was disgusting but what is one going to do? I didn't want to get his contagions and to contract lockjaw and nightvision. No thank you.

Later, Elyo and Michael were playing nicely in the living room. Elyo started crying, I tried to comfort him, but Elyo had had enough and he stood up to go and find his mom. He whirled around quickly and took off only to find Michael in his path. His giant rugby physique wasn't nimble enough to avoid Michael so he ran him over and fell on him. Michael starts bawling, Elyo intensifies his crying, and I'm hugging Michael and trying to simultaneously comfort Elyo and nothing is working. Fortunately his mom came out and calmed him down a bit but didn't do anything about those boogers streaming out of his nose.

I think we can wait a little while on having Bors or Astrid Pilar.

Today is the official day that Michael started to walk. He let go of us and took 5-8 steps all on his own. And he is also starting to walk to nearby things instead of dropping and crawling. We have video so we're going to try to post later today.

So today is the day. Today is the day my little baby turned into a little toddler.

Love,
P

Here is a video clip of Michael walking. He takes a good 5 or 6 steps.

Today is Halloween....and you really shouldn't put a costume on your son when he's ready for his nap:

We went trick or treating in the 15th at my friend Su's place! She organized a bunch of apts of other Message Mums and they gave out candy! Here's the crew that went! It was great fun. The kids stormed everywhere and just yelled out trick or treat and that crazy song about stinky feet/give me something good to eat. It was HILARIOUS. At one point, Simba was crying like he got his teeth kicked in, but actually, he just got his candy stolen by the ghost.

The costume still didn't go over well, but at least he's not crying!

Love,
P

12 month check up on 10/25. Michael was 9.1 kg, 10% on American growth curves so he's gaining according to his new curve. His height and head circumference are unknown as Dr. Cohen mumbled the information and entered it into his computer but not Michael's Carnet de Sante.

I'm so glad I have this blog b/c otherwise, I'd have no record of my baby's life. So here goes some splurps just for me to remember:

When Michael is eating grown up food, if it does not make it all the way in his mouth, he pushes it in with the back of his hand.

He brings books for us to read to him now. It is so precious and funny. He doesn't always stay for the end of the book, but he brings us multiple ones to read to him.

Right now, he LOVES this one page in his BabyBug magazine called Yellow. It has pictures of things that are yellow and a little rhyme. He doesn't care about any of the other pages, just this story. And he'll open the magazine to that page and then drag it around the house with him.

He's starting to walk, but not with much stability! He'll raise his hands high up in the hair, take 2-3 steps and just lunge forward.

Michael is also more apt to walk when we are NOT looking. If we're the end result, he'll just shuffle, lunge, or crawl. But I saw him take 2-3 real steps towards a door when he thought I was busy. Still have NOT been able to catch it on camera! !

I think those are the only funny things he's doing for now...

As you all know, Michael loves to dance. Here are some items he's been known to dance to:

• Kindermusik CD, specifically the 1st song and Pop up my baby
• Sirens
• Music from his Baby Einstein Duck
• Music from his walker/Chicco riding toy
• "Who Let the Dogs Out" rap song
• Any music playing while the credits are running at the end of a movie
• Techno music
• While eating in his high chair if you do the head bop move to him
• While riding in his stroller if you do the head bop move to him
• Music from his refrigerator magnet toys

Love,
P

Brian and I had a bonafide date night last Friday night! Suzanne stayed home with the sleeping Michael so Brian and I checked out:

We haven't had a date night since JULY! In French, "Knocked Up" translates to "En Cloque". When buying movie tickets, Brian had to write down "Knocked Up" because they didn't understand what he wanted tickets for.

The billboard here for the movie says "En Cloque" and it has sperm all over it. No pictures of any of the stars, just swimming sperm.

We were proud to call this a date night. It was a really funny movie and definitely what we needed for an evening out.

Thanks Suzanne! We owe you big time!

Love,
P

Michael took some more mini steps today! He let go of Brian for a little bit to get to the trash. Classy right?

And then he let go of my kitchen chair to get to his high chair! He took 1 step and lunged for it!

It seems like he will get there any day now! I have the camera ready!

Love,
P

Today, Michael was eating dinner in his high chair...and Brian said to him:

"High Five Michael!"

And Michael held up his right hand, ready to receive his first high five on command! I've been working on that with him for like 2 weeks! Next...gotta teach him how to GIVE a high five!

Brian repeated it 2-3 more times and Michael held up his hand each time, even in the bath! WHOOP!

Lately, Michael has been giggling at Brian's "French voice." You know the one, that's all cliche and that French "huh huh huh" really gets Michael going. One night at story time, he just laughed and laughed and laughed any time he heard that French "huh huh huh."

Also important to note that Michael dances to music. It started in America in August...about the time he received that musical duck from my mom. He'll stop and sway back and forth if he's crawling and sometimes, he'll hurry to pull up on something and will sway back and forth. He sometimes will bend his elbows and kind of bop up and down with the music. It is so funny.

Well, my sister taught him this really cool head bob kind of thing that I can't describe, but every time he sees her do it, he does the same! It's so cute. The other day, I took him to Zara and he must have heard some awesome beat because he started swaying his head left and right and then doing the head bob that my sister taught him. All this while he is in the stroller. It was hilarious.

I think he got my side of the family's rhythm and dance ability. HAHAH! ;o)

Love,
P

My sister came to visit and we had a blast! Here we are having "sister pictures," which we haven't done in like a decade:

My sister hit all the major sites and I accompanied her when I could. We planned to go to Avignon but there was a nice STRIKE for all trains/metro so we were stranded in Paris! It was so fun to hang out and she was such a big help for the birthday party AND for everyday life! Well, better exclude the night she turned on the shower and squirted the entire bathroom with water. ;o) Oh yes, I will blog about the birthday party in Michael's blog.

One night, we went to the Eiffel Tower. Here we are, stealing an idea from some college kids and hanging off of the steel bars:

This Sunday after my sister left, our family went to church, then to a gourmet fair that was going on at Rue Mouffetard. Rue Mouffetard is a market street near our house and right outside our church. Anyways, we bought tons of fois gras, sauterne wines, and local honey. Brian went a little nuts. I just went to all the fois gras stands asking for samples.

Afterwards, we headed out to the Luxembourg Gardens because I wanted to take some pictures with the fall foliage on the trees. Well, lo and behold, we get there and the beautiful tree lined lane that my sister and I took pictures in has shedded. In only 9 days! So we took what we could get!

We took Michael to the Medici fountain in the Luxembourg Gardens but he was more interested in the ducks. It was so cute. No ducks in this picture though...

Michael took a much needed nap so Brian and I went for a walk on Pont Neuf and Pont des Arts, the romantic walking bridge. Here is Brian looking handsome with the bridge in the background.

Then, we went home and ate. Nice and informative post huh? I'm not really in the mood to blog but realize that if I don't, I will have no journal or record of our life here and then when I scrapbook, I'll be in big trouble.

Love,

P

My sister's here! And that makes me happy!

I meant to write really quickly...

But on Tuesday, Michael shuffled a couple of steps all by himself. He was holding on to my finger while standing and barely holding on so I told Brian to hurry up and stand in front of him.

So Brian did
Michael let go of my finger
Took 1-2 steps
And fell into Brian's arms.
And hasn't done it since!

But he's gotten more brazen every day. Letting go of stuff and just falling onto other things and I can tell he doesn't hold on to me as hard anymore when he's going places!

I wonder when he'll start walking for real!
Love,
P

A friend of mine sent me this clip...check it out. It's pretty funny I think!
http://www.spikedhumor.com/articles/128659/Veritas_Ultrasound_HD.html

At night, Michael is so cute. He loves this new Spot's First Easter book where you look for eggs under flaps of paper. The first 2 times we read him the book, we had to show him where the flaps were. Then we didn't read it for 2 nights and we picked it up again last night. Well, our bright little boy went straight for the right flaps on all the pages! I was amazed!

I know I'm his mom and of course I am going to be proud...but I really feel as if Michael's a bright little boy. You only have to show him something once, MAYBE twice and he can mimic you and figure it out if he has the capacity. It is really neat.

And yes, I know he is quite funny looking sometimes and he has a receeding hair line at age 1, but there are times when he is quite the looker and absolutely precious!

Love,
P

Lately, Michael brings me his stuffed penguin animal and actually gives it to me because he likes the voice I make with it and the animation I do with it. I always use the penguin and make it "peck" michael in the chest area and he just thinks it's so funny. He grabs the penguin and hugs it and laughs. It is really adorable.

Michael's Favorite Toys

• Hallmark penguin
• Baby Einstein singing duck
• Fisher Price Blocks
• Singing teddy bear holding a ball
• plush baseball
• winnie the pooh ball
• squeaky rabbit
• pop car
• his books
• drinkable yogurt plastic bottles
• Gerber babyfood plastic containers
• business card wallet
• my wallets/wristlets
• anybody's purse with things in it that he can yank out
• washer
• cabinet next to the oven filled with pots and pans
• Elmo in the Clap Your Hands book. He's enthralled with Elmo's eyeballs
• Paris pratique
• Carte Orange plastic sleeve

Michael's Favorite Books

• My Personal Penguin
• The Very Hungry Caterpillar
• Goodnight Moon
• Spot's First Easter (HE LOVES THIS BOOK right now)
• Good Morning, Good Night - A Touch and Feel Bedtime book
• Playtime Peekaboo
• Brown Bear, Brown Bear
• Le Dinosaure
• Le Pingouin
• Where's That Monkey
• Pat the Bunny

Michael LOVES music. Any time I put one of his CDs on he gets excited and goes to the media cabinet and dances. He can tell the difference b/w his Cds and say, Dave Matthews! ;o)

Today, he started zerberting the couch and laughing.

Michael is really fun and I felt it was time for a much needed update. We were so worn out from America, then we came back, unpacked, then packed up again and headed to Venice, then Brian had 2 business trips sprinkled in there...we finally feel settled back in and I have time to blog again!

Love,

P

Today, some funny things happened.

Michael lifted up my shirt, pinched my belly fat, and started to laugh. I better start exercising since I'm not burning calories breastfeeding anymore.

With his new found talent of blowing raspberries:

I was at the papeterie near my house reading People magazine and carrying Michael in front of me in the baby Ergo (kind of like a baby bjorn). So his head is facing my chest. Well, I am wearing a v-neck shirt today so Michael buries his head in my chest and starts blowing very loud zerberts and laughing. I look up and see French people staring at me so I put my magazine down and run out of the store. A bit embarrased I am at my son who is giving me zerberts on my boobs.

Love,
P

Michael's latest thing is to give zerberts and raspberries! He loves to do it! And he's not satisfied with the weenie ones...he will keep moving his mouth around on your face/arm/chest/whatever until he finds a spots that produces those ones that sound like really good farts.

It is hilarious. I wonder where he found out about those??? BRIAN!!

He's starting to get more brazen standing! My new babysitter came around on Thursday and she just put him on the floor and there he was standing...for 2 seconds.

Today, we're shopping for birthday party supplies!

Love,
P

IS anyone still out there? Post in comments if you are. If not, I am going to send an e-mail saying we're back and that we're posting on the blogs again.
Love,
P

Blog Catchup!

**Warning: VERY long post. This is my journal for the trip for my scrapbook so you know you are getting many details.**

Our nuclear family went to Venice the weekend of September 21st and we had an amazing time. Brian ended up going ahead on Thursday because of "business" with some fellas named Luigi, Franco, Alberto, and Luca. I don't THINK they were the mob...

Anyways, I flew by myself with Michael on Friday and arrived in Venice that afternoon around 5:00pm. We took a very slow water taxi from the airport to Venice proper, and I got splashed in the face by a "fast boat." Maybe I shouldn't have had my head sticking out the window. After checking into our hotel (and walking past the alley it was down twice), we headed out to eat dinner. We feasted on grilled fish (with the head and tails still on), gnocchi in 4 cheeses, spaghetti in pesto sauce, and carpaccio. It was delightful! And the staff just LOVED Michael. In fact, all Italians loved Michael! He got his fair share of "AHH! Bambino!" and "BELLISIMO!" I just got a "Momma Mia" once and that made MY trip!

Well, the next day, we set out to sightsee after a very nice breakfast buffet. We finally made it out of the hotel at 11:00am...un-Rick Steve's style and headed out on his Rialto walk. We went by St. Mark's basilica, Doge's Palace, and Campanile and discovered huge lines! YIPPEE! So instead of stopping to see these sights, we continued on the enchanting walk towards Rialto bridge. There were dozens of delightful little stores selling opulent masks (for Carnival), and other touristy types of things. We finally made it to Rialto and took a picture after being pushy and getting our spot on the bridge. A set of nice Canadian tourists took the picture for us who we continued to see throughout the day. That's the Grand Canal behind us:

After an unsuccessful attempt to get a table canalside and JUST drink coffee, we wandered on to Frari church. Along the way, Brian and Michael got some gelato while waiting for me to finish shopping. It was not the first or last cone these two would have! Don't worry...Michael's didn't have gelato...he just got a cone. But it was still good to him all the same!

In the afternoon, we went back to the hotel to feed Michael and let him roam around a bit. Later at dinner, we would find out that THAT wasn't enough time to keep him from fussin' up a storm and INSIST on getting on the floor to play.

We DID however, introduce Michael to the GABILLION pigeons around. Surprisingly, it didn't smell like bird funk at all! Texas A&M REALLY needs to find out how those Venetians keep that square from being stinky because they could really use the tip for the sidewalk next to the Chemistry building. Anyways, here's Michael in a picture I name, "HELLO...BIRD."

Anyways, in the afternoon, we went to St. Mark's Basilica because the line had died down. Brian checked our huge baby backpack and my diaper bag (MISTAKE...as you'll later find out) and we made it into the basilica after only waiting 15 minutes or so. At which point, Brian got this AWFUL nosebleed. And we had no tissues or wipes ANYWHERE because all of our stuff was checked. I tried unsuccessfully to find ANYONE with a tissue but alas, not one person would help. Even this woman with her HUGE purse didn't have one and she didn't even check. We had to use the Rick Steve's book. And finally when it wouldn't stop, I headed over to the baggage check (which was a bit of a ways from the actual church) to get wipes, burpcloth, and tissues. Eventually, the nosebleed DID go away. And we proceeded into the Basilica. The mosaics were quite impressive as was the view from the top! Here is Michael practicing standing on top of St. Mark's Basilica:

And we got a family picture up top too!

After this, we visited the Campanile, which is a huge bell tower before dinner though and didn't time it very well because the bells went off. DOH! Brian tried his best to shield Michael's ears and ran away from the bell we were standing under. Michael just stopped eating his wagon wheel for a minute but didn't seem very scared! TROOPER! As you can tell, we made it through A TON of things...so it's no surprise that Michael went beserk at dinner.

The next day, we did not make the same mistakes! We spaced our day out quite well and went back to the hotel often for Michael to play around, eat, and relax. We started the day a bit earlier today at 9:00am and went to Doge's palace, which was amazing. There was an ENORMOUS line, but it was for pre-paid tickets and tour groups! SURPRISING! And our line was super short and we went straight in.

Doge's Palace was VERY cool. For those who don't know what it is, here is a definition:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doge%27s_Palace

It is important for it's role in housing the Doge as well as it's perfect example of Venetian architecture. Anyways, it was pretty neat and Rick Steve's tour was awesome, of course. There was a room full of battle gear and torture devices too! What a NICE surprise!

Then, we headed off to Accademia art museum, which was a HUGE flop, but the Accademia bridge over the Grand Canal was pretty neat. We rode the river taxi up and down the Grand Canal to admire the architecture and buildings. From Rick Steve's, I learned that many of the buildings are actually rotting and aren't inhabited. So sad considering how beautiful they are.

We ended our pretty leisurely day and had a delicious dinner by a canal. We sat next to another bunch of Canadians and a table full of nice older people from North Carolina. They said they were all missing their grandchildren so we let them hold Michael for fun. And we sure didn't mind the 5 minutes we got to eat without having to keep Michael out of everything! Since they were from the South, right next to us, and we probably could have taken them down if they tried to take Michael, we felt it was little risk. ;o)

We then took a stroll over to St. Mark's square at night and it was really magical. We didn't sit at a cafe to enjoy the dueling orchestras, but we did just stand there and bask it in it. Venice is really such a magical place and so romantic. We plan to go back just the two of us so we can take a gondola ride!

After this, we grabbed a gelato and walked along the riverfront to our hotel. It was unbelievable to me. I remember studying Doge's Palace in art history and seeing it as this flat picture in a book. And here I am, a decade later...walking right next to it. In the moonlight. With my husband and son. Life just can't get any better than that.

Love,

P

After nearly a week of Ferberizing, Michael went down in his bed and seemed like he knew he was going to bed...that it was ok...and he did in less than 2 minutes. Now, the 1st couple of nights were a bit tough, but after that...it wasn't that bad. 5-10 minutes of fussing max. But Michael just seemed upset about it.

Today, we did our standard bedtime routine. Feed, bath, lotions, pajamas, reading fun stories, and prayer book. We spent a little extra time hugging him and each gave him two hugs since he was clinging a little bit more than usual. And Brian put him down...he cried a little but he looked like he knew what was going on and he just went to bed. Like a big boy.

We finally figured out his naps. After a week of trying different things, we just let him nap on the couch or stroller and he's fine with that. We tried the crib for 3 days for his naps and Michael spent 2 of those without a single nap and one day, he only slept for 30 minutes. So I just said this isn't working and we're gonna do something different. He needs his naps.

Ok. Sorry we haven't posted in a while! We will try to be more diligent.

Love,
P

People are going banana nuts right now b/c France just won in the rugby quarter finals. It's 11:10pm and they're honking down the infamous avenues des Gobelins (aka our street) and yelling like hooligans. Hope they don't wake the boy!

Last Saturday, I walked by the Eiffel tower and noticed a ball hanging in the middle of it. I said to my friend, "What the heck is going on over there in the Eiffel Tower? Did it grow an ovary?"

To which she said, "Rugby World Cup is here Phuong."

DOH.

Love,
P

Today, we had the most awesome day in Paris. The weather was GORGEOUS...highs in the upper 60s, sunshine, little to no humidity...absolutely awesome! It's fall weather (in OCTOBER...*gasp*) and fall is my absolute favorite time of year. So our nuclear family took advantage of it and went to Invalides to sit on the lawn!

Michael had his first croissant. He's had little tiny bites before from mine, but today, we gave him his own. Stop worrying, he still only got about 2 bites before his dad and I took it from him and ate the rest. It IS easy to steal from little kids! ;o)


After getting some very good constructive criticism, I decided to take this opportunity and beautiful day to work on directional lighting in my shots. Here's what I came up with:

And this is my FAVORITE shot of the day:
Just gotta love the depth of field and my SON!!! ;o)
Brian and I layed on our blanket staring at jet streams in the sky. Michael played around us with his toys. It was truly a happy day for all of us! Lately, Michael zerberts me all the time. Somewhere along the way, he associates zerberts with an expression of love. Wonder where he got THAT idea? BRIAN!!

Hope your weekends are grand!

Love,
P

Yesterday, I did my first photoshoot for my friend Mary's son at SQUARE RENE LEGALL! Only the best square in ALL of PARIS! Maybe not...but Brian certainly thinks so! Got some cute shots of George only of course but I got a couple of cute shots of him and Michael too. Voila:



Geo was just so cute. REALLY photogenic! Well, we went to Venice and I've been meaning to post those pics and recap! Will SOON! If you can't wait, pics are up in our smugmug album. Link is in the right menu.

Lots of love,
B&P&M

Look what Michael did today at lunch.

Yes, that's POOP.

Want to Lose Some Weight?

For the price of the cheapest airplane ticket you can find, hurry yourselves over to Paris for the ultimate in weight loss success. The Parisian Diet Plan. We guarantee that in 2 full weeks, you will find yourselves 1 dress/pant size smaller*

DAILY Drills and Exercises Include:

• Running half a mile to the grocery store and then carrying 20 lbs of groceries back while pushing a 20 lb baby in a stroller (that incidentally has another 10 lbs of groceries in the bottom basket).
• Wearing a 20lb baby in an Ergo baby carrier up 6-10 flights of metro stairs, then down 6-10 flights of metro stairs, then walking half a mile home.
• Running to catch your bus
• Running down the metro steps to catch your metro
• Carry 9 liters of water in each hand while walking half a mile back home.
• Another variation, carry 9 liters of water on your shoulder while pushing your 20 lb baby in his stroller back home
• Carrying 20 lbs of groceries and your baby while putting away your stroller in the "stroller garage" which is incidentally across the courtyard and 4 flights down from your actual apartment

All this can be done with breaks for water and fruit tartes. However, it has been proven that if you eat French cheeses, this will negate all the work you will do for your fitness routine.

Don't believe us? Check out these testimonials of some of our clients:

"I went back to the U.S. for 3 weeks and went up an entire pant size. When I returned to Paris and followed their fitness regiment, I was back to my pre-wedding pant size in less than 3 weeks! Thanks Parisian Diet Plan!"

"I could eat whatever I want (omitting stinky French cheeses) and STILL lost weight! Now, I just make sure I have a fruit tarte already in my mouth while I'm carrying my 18 liters of water everyday!"

Hope this inspires some of you to visit! Funny thing about the exercise regimen? I do some of those things at least once a week! ;o)

Love to all,
P

*Rules and Restrictions apply. Success depends actually more on your genetic metabolic rate. There is a possibility that you may not lose weight at all while here. So in other words, we don't really guarantee success. But stay an entire month or more and you WILL see results!

Found this gem while going through pictures today. He is my husband and I ADORE him:




Now...let's see if he reads the blog...and sees the pictures. Hope everyone is having a good weekend! I realized I need to re-cap August because Brian's family came to visit so I will do that...some day! ;o)

Have a restful weekend,
Phuong