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
Monday, November 05, 2007
Saturday, November 03, 2007
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!
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.
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.
Friday, November 02, 2007
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.
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.
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.
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
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!
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
Monday, October 29, 2007
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...
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...
Friday, October 26, 2007
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
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
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
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
Monday, October 22, 2007
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
"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
Friday, October 12, 2007
Thursday, October 11, 2007
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
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
Tuesday, October 09, 2007
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
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
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
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
Monday, October 08, 2007
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 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
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