My Belle Girl

Baby girl has grown up too quickly over the past month or so. She’s gone from a baby, literally to a strong, independent, stubborn toddler. She holds her ground very firmly. She knows what she wants and will not stop until she gets it. Fortunately, she’s easily distracted and so doesn’t normally go into big long tantrums… unlike someone we know. She’s EXTREMELY cheeky, really really cheeky. Sometimes it gets you so flabbergasted, but most times, you just can’t help but laugh out loud. She would say no, just for the sake for saying no, and laughs at you. She actually doesn’t care either way. She likes to go nah nah nah at you, and has occasionally stuck her tongue out!! She can roll her eyes, oh and get this, if you are scolding her or ‘lecturing’ her, she pretends that she’s asleep! I kid you not. She will put her head down, close her eyes and pretends to SNORE!!! Ai. But she laughs. She loves to laugh and loves to make people laugh. She’ll do anything to make you laugh. You can hear from the video below, she has a most delicious and infectious laugh. She is very affectionate, loves to give and receive kisses. Most of all, wants US to kiss. For example, when she is in my arms and Daddy comes over to give her a kiss, she’d insist that Daddy gives me a kiss too! And she’d insist that it was on my lips (sometimes Daddy likes to kiss me on my forehead…. And if so, she’d tap her little finger on my lips and look at Daddy sternly. Simply hilarious!) She, however, is not a cuddly person. So sad. Bibou loves to cuddle but Seraphine is too impatient for it. She’d wiggle out of your arms if you try and cuddle with her too long. The only time I get to hold and cuddle her is when she’s asleep or when she’s ill. Poor baby.

She does so like to ‘copy’ me, for example, when I leave for work in the morning, I have my handbag, my laptop bag, my lunch bag and sometimes another bag or two. So baby girl’s favorite thing now is, stuffing things into bags… she LOVES bags and slinging them across her shoulders, putting on shoes and waving to us, saying ‘byebye’. Simply delicious. Ah yes, she loves shoes now. She can put her shoes on herself, most of the time, even getting them on the right foot. Of course, currently they girls are wearing sandals, but still, she needs to slip the shoes on, slip through the buckle and Velcro them down. However, she loves to wear other people’s shoes too….especially mine.

She does stand up for herself, and is a bit aggressive….no doubt all learnt from Bibou. She HATES it when Bibou whines and whinges… and so often goes up to her and smack her when she does it. I think she hates it ‘coz we hate it! LOL. Of course that just gets Bibou all winded up even more. Sigh. They both do get into snatching and smacking fits unfortunately! Arrgh. But like I previously mentioned, Bibou is still protective over her and loves her little sister. She would go up to her to cuddle or for a kiss.

Seraphine is a chatty one. She picks up words and phrases quickly now. Watch the video for more Seraphine fun!

Oh before I forget... the girls got their ears pierced too! Bibou really wanted it so we went to the store. She was really really brave. Didn't cry at all! She was a little startled when it went it but not a peep from her. Seraphine did cry, but only for a very short time.

Well, that's it for now. I hope to be able to upload more pix and videos and news of the kids soon!

Videos

The Pink Princess Room

Ta-da! Finally, the girls' have got their rooms. It sure took a long while coming but the girls are all moved in like they’ve been living there forever. Daddy and I painted the room pink (Bibou picked out the color herself!) while I picked out their decorations. Daddy laid down the floor. The girls just couldn’t wait to move into their room and had no problem settling in. So are some photos of their room. Note though, that the pictures were taken prior to Seraphine moving into her ‘big girl’s bed. YES, she’s moved from a crib to the normal bed..in fact, she’s got Bibou’s old bed and Bibou has a brand new pink bed!! Ain’t they lucky??

The slopping roof made it difficult to have a wardrobe in the room, without loosing much space. So Daddy just installed a rod and we have an instant wardrobe. The girls are estactic that everything is pink and princess. I found princess rugs too!

The princess blanket from kongkong made a perfect throw over the chair and the princess tent was just the perfect accessory for the playroom!!

And I tell you, the girls just LOVE running into the corners, and hiding there.

Video

Don't you just love the way she asks for me to 'come'..with her hands?

Spalshing good time with boyfriends

What is summer without spending time with Dan??!! Gasp, inconceivable idea of course. And so, we met up with Dan and his family one hot weekend. As they’d never been to the Gailly Farm before, we decided to go there! What an adventure. Bibou remembered the place very well, as she’d been there various times already. She couldn’t wait to show Dan all the different animals. The first stop was the pigs and donkeys and fowls (ducks, geese, roosters, even peacocks). Seraphine was wide-eyed, finally seeing these animals ‘up close and real’ as she only remembers them in books. I told her that these were ducks, and first she looked at me, uncertain… about to go ‘quack quack’ with her hands under the armpit to do the flapping wings thing, when a duck obligingly started quacking. That got her all wound up!! She started laughing and quacking at the same time. She got on the old tractors and pretended to be the driver.
But the real fun began when we went onto the field where loads of little baby and mama goats were waiting to be fed. The kids all rushed into the pen while I rushed off to collect long fresh grass for the kids to feed the kids (hahaha). Bibou was a pro at it having done it a couple of times and so she showed the others what to do. Seraphine at first kept a clear distance and was trying to hide behind me. However, once she realized that I was being ‘attacked’… I had a huge bunch of freshly pulled grass, by the mama goats, who could jump up to chest level to grab the food, she hid away too. I managed to persuade her that they weren’t really all that dangerous. I showed her how to feed the goats instead of just throwing the grass at them when they came too near!! Finally when the goats were eating out of her hand, she was so happy. She totally enjoyed herself. Then we went off into the ‘forest’ when the Dads took the older kids for a walk. Us Mommies just got gouter ready. Soon we left the farm, to get to the other side of the farm, the harvesting side, where the Bitans gathered some fruits and vegetables. All too soon, we had to say goodbye to them, but no worries, ‘coz they were back again the next day.
As it was a really hot weekend, the kids wanted to cool down in the pool. First, we had a lovely lunch at a Japanese restaurant not too far away. The kids love the food, and so do we. Fresh fish and seaweed too. We next went to Ikea to get a few things. By the time we got home…the Bitans had arrived!! The kids ran to the pool and couldn’t wait to jump in. Little Seraphine however, was exhausted and had fallen asleep in the car. So Daddy took the whole seat out of the car and into the garden..where she continued sleeping (through the squeals and screams of the older kids). The Bitans were amazed at how she could sleep through. But after a while, she woke up and then was all ready to get into the pool with the kids as she saw how much fun the rest was having. At first, she stood around the edge while being splashed, but it was a quick few minutes before she splashed back and jumping around the pool.

The slide is such a hot item…the kids just love it! Ditto the big yellow seal. Bibou just loves climbing on it and hanging on but ultimately tipping over into the pool. The most fun part is climbing on the seal with someone else and tipping over into the pool. She did this with Dan AND with Aidan who came over another weekend. In fact, we often tease Bibou as she’s been seen in the same pool, same pose, on the seal, but with different boys! Ah what a heartbreaker. indeed, we've had numerous number of BBQs in the back yard with friends and MESSAGE colleagues and all the kids just love the pool. Unfortunately, the water isn't quite warm, in fact, it can be really cold, though on a very yucky hot and humid day, esp in the hot and humid train, Daddy says that it is very refreshing to jump into the cold pool. No thank you for me! Well, as long as the kids like it. Seraphine seems to have no qualms about being in the cold. She just jumps into the pool like that, no probs at all. Bibou HATES the cold, though she will get into the pool... but it has to be on her 'terms, at her own time. And hates to be splashed. Of course, Seraphine, knowing that it was something that Bibou doesn't like..... LOVES to splash her. Sigh.

Videos

Father's Day Picnic

It was Father’s Day next. The girls were all excited about giving Daddy his Father’s Day present (he got some candy, proper English biscuits and lots of books!!)After all the excitement has died down, we got ready and headed off to the Jardin d’acclimintation for the annual MESSAGE Father’s Day picnic. The girls are always really excited about going there, esp with the prospects on getting on the ride! We were met there by lots of MESSAGE friends, and Bibou was real happy to see them. All the kids were delighted as there were gifts of water pistols and bottles of bubbles. Unfortunately, Seraphine has decided that she loves them too, and kept asking for them. However, being the stubborn independent girl she is, she refused to let anyone hold the wand and bottle for her, insisting that she holds them both. She wants to do it herself. Of course, she’s unable to, and also keeps tipping the bottle of soap all over herself. Still she won’t let anyone help her. Daddy gave us some musical relief, playing some children song. We had a nice picnic at lunch time. After that, we decided to head on to the playground area with the Gadrets and the Straights. The kids love it and couldn’t wait to get on the structure. As it was a hot day, the water structures were a big hit! I held Seraphine up to the fine water mist which sprayed out mist intermittently. At first, she was startled by it, but very very quickly grew to love it. She learnt to anticipate the next spurt and squealed with delight. Daddy and I were most astonished and how strong she’s become. She can climb quickly and able to negotiate / push her way through the bigger kids. We found Bibou at the water jet area. As we didn’t bring the kid’s swim wear, they just stripped down to their undies and ran through the water jets. Seraphine loves water…. She loves to drink it, touch it, just put it in her mouth. So we were not surprised when she decided that she was going to try and capture the water jets (that were shooting from the edge) with her mouth. First she decided that she didn’t want to get too wet, so she was going to stand on the ‘dry’ side, and then she tried sticking her tongue out towards the jet..didn’t work. So she sat down…didn’t work. She tried all kinds of method. My absolute favorite is the one of her finally lying almost on the ground with her bum up in the air. Bibou in the meantime finally decided to take the plunge and ran through the cold jets, squealing. And Seraphine finally decided that it was fun too, so followed suit… though she was quite caught with surprise and how cold the water was. Needless to say, the girls all fall promptly to sleep once we got in the car.

MESSAGE BBQ

The next day, we had the very fortunate occasion to be invited to a friend, fellow MESSAGE member and colleague (she’s MESSAGE’s president) place for a BBQ. Actually, it was their country house, about an hour’s drive from where we were. It wasn’t terribly hot, but we were lucky with the weather as it wasn’t raining… not until all the food had been cooked and eaten anyway. It was a nice drive, the girls fall asleep on the way (thank god for drugs – the girls get so car sick these days…). We did stop to get some delicious cherries and flowers for our hostess. The country side air always smells so different. So fresh, flowerly and such a ‘good for you’ feeling. It was a little bit ‘frais’ though … ie cold, but the girls solved that problem… by running all over the garden, exploring the wonderful toys and adventures that could be found in their new playarea. We were the first family to arrive, but all the other execom members and their family followed soon after. Bibou was especially thrilled to see Louise and stuck on to her for most of the afternoon. The two girls play so well together. Running and chasing each other and being targeted by the older boys. Daddy as usual, broke out his guitar, and everyone had a musical time, esp K. as she loves singing along with Daddy. Bibou was a wonderful accompanist, as always. I do hope she will continue to enjoy music and dancing when she grows up. She does like it a lot right now, always singing, not necessarily ‘conventional’ songs like the ones she has been taught, either at school or at home, but she also loves to make songs up as she accompanies Daddy (well, maybe it’s the other way round eh, Daddy makes up a song as she sings up a storm). Seraphine is always off dancing on her own.

Something I noticed that day that sealed my conviction that having a second child was my best decision ever made. We were sat at the ‘adults’ table chatting and drinking / snacking when we heard a little commotion. As far as we can tell, Seraphine had probably done a boo-boo like pushing the younger Giselle (whose second name, btw was also Seraphine) when she couldn’t get her way. Immediately, Giselle’s brother and another boy (who was ‘tight’ with the brother) confronted Seraphine. You can tell from the photo that the boys were aggressive towards her (not physically though despite the ‘gun’) and they were ‘scolding’ her. She had a most bewildered look on her face, not quite sure how to react. However, Bibou did. She immediately, stood over Seraphine, and was very protectively. She had her arms up and was staring intensely at the boys, making sure that they didn’t do anything to her. And then she just yelled at the kids (I couldn’t hear what she said), and the boys then moved away. She then scooped Seraphine up into her arms and hugged her and soothed her, making sure she was alright. She did me most proud. I was actually moved to tears. And this is not a one-off thing, I saw it again recently at a park in Paris. Seraphine was on a structure and I think had been accidentally (or purposefully, I don’t know) hit by a rowdy boy. Bibou immediately took her into her arms, protecting her, putting her behind her own back and then proceeded to scold the boy. It is what I’ve always hoped for, that the girls will be protective of each other regardless of the situation. Protect first and ask questions later.

What a wonderful day. And Bibou was in 7th heaven as she was allowed to pick flowers and wear them too!