Having a toddler is a bit like living with Jekyll and Hyde. One minute she's cute as a button and sweetly rocking her doll, the next she's throwing the doll across the room and screaming like a banshee.
Le bebe is making leaps and bounds in increasing her vocabulary and her struggle to speak. She starts before she even gets up in the morning "mama, papa, bebe" murmers from her crib and doesn't stop until she is passed out at night, chattering "pool, kick, mama" until she is fast asleep.
She is also taking more notice of particular details, especially when it comes to Mama and Papa. "Mama buckle!" she delightedly points to the buckle on my coat. "Papa pool!" she points to his swim trunks.
Tonight, as we played on the bed, waiting for Papa to come home to do the final Goodnight Ritual, Bebe exhibited one of those precious moments of sweetness, pushing back my hair to softly rub my cheek. Oh so adorable! However then, her eyebrow furrowed, she pointed to my chin, scrunched up her face and said "away!" The command she uses for things that displease her, the remains of her dinner, her dirty diaper. Pointing to a newly formed zit on my face, she shivered in disgust, "away Mama!" Geez, I thought I had a few years before the inevitable criticism of Mama began. Aren't I supposed to get a few years of adoration first?
A little while later, I was standing in the kitchen, preparing dinner. We were still waiting for Papa. Bebe was contentedly munching on a cracker, dressed in diaper and PJ shirt (that's as far as we had gotten in the night time dressing procedure) and exploring Papa's wine cabinet asking "Papa? Bella?" "Those are for Papa," I would repeatedly reply.
Bebe sidled up to my leg, wrapping me in her version of a bear hug. What sweetness! Then she promptly pulled down my pyjama pants, announced "Eat Mama!" and took a playful bite out of my butt! I was torn between shock, laughter and the zinging pain of being bitten on the butt. I have no idea where she got that one from.
Monday 19 May 2008
Wednesday 14 May 2008
Gelato
Stopped at a cafe on route home from taking bella to music school. The dilemma is always whether to hop on the bus home, in which case she will fall asleep and I wont profit from her naptime. Or walk to the 7th, about 15 minutes away where there is a Starbucks (as explained earlier, one of the only places I can take her during lunch in the poussette) and then play in the Champs de Mars - which is incredible - a beautifully designed park just below the Eiffel Tower. Then we have to shlep home on the crowded bus.
It is suddenly summer in Paris - so warm that we leave all of the windows open during the night. So warm that closing the shutters doesnt allow enough of a breeze, so Isabelle has been waking early due to the light. When we left for Italy 2 weeks ago, we were wearing rain boots and coats. Now it's tank top and sandals weather.
Rome was a bust. We' d' been hoping to fall in love with it as we want to live in Italy fulltime, just not at our house in the country. We need some city life. I was greatly disappointed. Of course Im awed by the history, the ruins, the stories. But life there made me really miss Paris. If only we could combine the amenities of Paris with Italian culture.
What a relief to be among a friendly, child-welcoming culture. Everyone bella encounters falls over themselves at how cute she is. And once she opens her mouth and engages, shes got people wrapped around her wrist. Here in France (at least in Paris), her overtures of "hellos! Au revoir!!" Are met with blank stares and scowls. In Italy it's just part of the culture to embrace babies.
The difference in cultures is night and day. In Italy, we walk into a gelateria and, unless it is a tourist area, Bella's cone is almost always free - and about twice as much gelato as she can handle. Meanwhile, yesterday, we stopped by the Italian gelateria near us in Paris. They charged three times as much as in Italy for a tiny scoop. When I asked if we can get a tiny portion - half of a small size- for the baby, the woman replied "of course! Thats 3 euros please". " N0 i mean half of a small size - for the baby". "Yes! Just tell the scooper you only want a tiny bit. 3 euros"
So you want me to pay full price for a half portion? I sat Bella down with her gelato and spoon and waited for Clay. When Bella saw his cone, she all but climbed over my head to get to it. Apparently it was the cone she was after. So I went back in and asked for a cone. "Oh n0. Desolee. We cant do that". Do what?! Give me a cone for the full size gelato I just paid for? The scooper went inside to discuss the matter with her colleague. Apparently giving cones with a cup is a grave matter. What"s the problem? I was just in here 2 minutes ago!
They finally came up with a solution and emerged producing a jar full of tiny "taste size" cones. When I presented the cone to Bella she took one look at the tiny cone, handed it to Clay and reached for his cone. she looked at me as if to say "I may be small but Im not stupid. Think I cant tell you are trying to pass off a pint size cone on me?"
It is suddenly summer in Paris - so warm that we leave all of the windows open during the night. So warm that closing the shutters doesnt allow enough of a breeze, so Isabelle has been waking early due to the light. When we left for Italy 2 weeks ago, we were wearing rain boots and coats. Now it's tank top and sandals weather.
Rome was a bust. We' d' been hoping to fall in love with it as we want to live in Italy fulltime, just not at our house in the country. We need some city life. I was greatly disappointed. Of course Im awed by the history, the ruins, the stories. But life there made me really miss Paris. If only we could combine the amenities of Paris with Italian culture.
What a relief to be among a friendly, child-welcoming culture. Everyone bella encounters falls over themselves at how cute she is. And once she opens her mouth and engages, shes got people wrapped around her wrist. Here in France (at least in Paris), her overtures of "hellos! Au revoir!!" Are met with blank stares and scowls. In Italy it's just part of the culture to embrace babies.
The difference in cultures is night and day. In Italy, we walk into a gelateria and, unless it is a tourist area, Bella's cone is almost always free - and about twice as much gelato as she can handle. Meanwhile, yesterday, we stopped by the Italian gelateria near us in Paris. They charged three times as much as in Italy for a tiny scoop. When I asked if we can get a tiny portion - half of a small size- for the baby, the woman replied "of course! Thats 3 euros please". " N0 i mean half of a small size - for the baby". "Yes! Just tell the scooper you only want a tiny bit. 3 euros"
So you want me to pay full price for a half portion? I sat Bella down with her gelato and spoon and waited for Clay. When Bella saw his cone, she all but climbed over my head to get to it. Apparently it was the cone she was after. So I went back in and asked for a cone. "Oh n0. Desolee. We cant do that". Do what?! Give me a cone for the full size gelato I just paid for? The scooper went inside to discuss the matter with her colleague. Apparently giving cones with a cup is a grave matter. What"s the problem? I was just in here 2 minutes ago!
They finally came up with a solution and emerged producing a jar full of tiny "taste size" cones. When I presented the cone to Bella she took one look at the tiny cone, handed it to Clay and reached for his cone. she looked at me as if to say "I may be small but Im not stupid. Think I cant tell you are trying to pass off a pint size cone on me?"
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