My Favorite Pics RIGHT now!

Knick Knacks

During Phuong's French lesson, Michael and I hung out. He kept crawling over the to TV stand and pulling himself up to a standing position using the shelves and then he would eat the tallest shelf. It's glass, a little bit dusty, but that must make it all the more tasty. Then he tried to attack some knick knacks we'd bought in Germany so I moved them to the nearby coffee table. So he got really good at moving over the other table from the TV stand and he would hold the TV stand with hand while reaching for the other table. All in the name of getting these knick knacks. Yes, I was spotting him.

If standing, he could get over to the table still standing, but then he would fall down. He tried to get back up, got both his hands on the table top, but then decided to chew on the table top so he couldn't lift his torso because there wasn't enough room. After moving the knick knacks a few more times, I took them to his room and put them on a shelf five feet high. He tried to climb up Rawhide, his bouncing horse, to get them, but he just wasn't tall enough.

I felt sad for him so I took him down to the bar on the street below us, and we had a beer.

You know it's summertime in France when
a) I wore wool pants, an undershirt, a long sleeve button up shirt, and a light merino wool sweater to work on July 2nd.
b) I get to the bus stop but they've decided to go on strike and there's no bus and it's raining. A colleague of mine complained that the bus had operated last summer, but there was no schedule posted yet for this summer.
c) The "L" bus is also on strike.
d) My coworker is only working half the month and the German guy I know, Golo, won't be in this month.
e) I work 3 days in all of August.

It made me sad today when an intern addressed me as "vous", the polite form of "you" reserved for your elders and people you don't know.

Happy 4th of July, everyone!!!!

We are having hamburgers, potato salad, ranch style beans (I found a can in our pantry from the US), and brownies for dinner!!!!

Love,P

The Reason I Have Not Blogged Recently:

The boy is JUST CRAZY. I have to watch him ALL the time!!!

This weekend, Shravi came to visit and it was SUPER fun. We SHOPPED SHOPPED SHOPPED until we dropped...or rather until I had to come home and feed Michael! It is sales season in Paris so we hit up some boutiques in the Marais area, popped over to rue de Rennes for some normal Parisian shopping, and hit Opera for some upscale, tourist shopping! It was awesome. Shravi reminded me that I still need fun/hip/stylish clothes and just because I am a mom, doesn't mean I have to dress like one! It was a reminder I definitely needed!

Sunday, Shravi went to Sacre Couer while Brian and I went to market and cooked dinner. It is zuchini season so we've been eating a lot of stuffed zuccini here in the Besancon house. I absolutely love cooking whatever is in season here! It is so different than in America b/ when something isn't in season, it's either 1) not available at all or 2.) ridiculously priced. So it forces me to cook whatever is in season. This is a really great challenge b/c it makes you cook outside your normal meals and experiment with different flavors/spices. And since i love to cook, it is really fun for me to go to the outoor market 2-3 a week and see what to buy! Wait a minute...maybe I just like to buy stuff....PERIOD.

Love,

P

There is absolutely NO TIME to post anymore! I am following Michael around making sure he doesn't hurt himself and even then, he STILL does! And then there's the 6-8 hours of French homework I have a week, which doesn't even include time to really study and let it sink in. That's just the HOMEWORK part! And don't even get me started on cooking dinner, cleaning, and keeping up with my other "yummy mummy" friends here!

Anyways, here are some highlights/lowlights to catchup in the last couple of weeks. Again, my deepest apologies for not keeping up with my end of my promise:

Highlights

• Michael said "Daddy" and "Dadda" for the first time.
• He started to army crawl...
• Then he started to really crawl.
• And now he is doing a bit of both. Whatever gets him where he wants to go the fastest
• He discovered how doors work and shut our kitchen door.
• When Shravi came and then went to the bathroom, she shut the door behind her. Michael crawled over there and yelled at her until she opened it back up.
• He started pulling up this past Sunday so now he's even crazier than before.

Lowlights

• Michael has NOT said "Mommy" or "Mama" yet. :o(
• Michael bites your shoulder/arm sometimes when you're holding him.
• Michael has fallen off the couch twice. Each time, either Brian or I were there and we still don't catch him in time. Yesterday, he fell head first onto the floor. EEK. The distance was less than his height, onto the rug, and there is no swollen fontanelle and he's normal (knock on wood) so we hope he's ok. ;o)
• Brian turned on the water for Michael to play with during his bath, but we have TERRIBLE temperature regulation on our water and Michael burned his hand a bit and cried.
• It's sales season in Paris and Mommy drags him all over the stores.

I think that's it! 9 month checkup in the coming weeks before heading off to Munich/Bonn. I doubt he's gained weight because he hasn't outgrown his clothes or his diapers...but he's eating well and developing so I'm not gonna stress out about it.

Love to all,
P

P.S. I updated our pictures in our album FINALLY. Only a month and a half late. AND I haven't done ANY scrapbooking! How am I gonna remember his childhoood??!?!