Au soleil d'Emilie

Dear Santa, I can explain... ;-)

2011-12-04T22:10:00.000+00:00

Papa Noel, je peux tout t'expliquer! ;-)

2011-12-04T22:00:00.001+00:00

Bath time!

2011-11-21T14:49:00.000+00:00

I haven't got time to write today, but I thought I would post a photo I took yesterday. Enjoying a splash... in the bath that is, her weekly swimming lesson was a screaming disaster...

Millie is 14 and a half months :-)

2011-11-10T22:08:00.000+00:00

It has been a while since I have posted. Being back at work makes it a lot harder!

I thought I would do a quick Millie update - More for me to look back on than for the world wide web, but if anyone is interested, here it goes ;-)

You are growing too fast my darling sweetie. You are about 72cm tall and as of yesterday, 9.53kg :-) You have been walking for ages but only 2 weeks ago (Saturday 28 October) you got the confidence to walk without heading for somewhere safe to hold on. You are now walking everywhere - There is no stopping you!

You are learning really fast too! I am amazed at how much you understand, you even know words I don't think I have taught you. You can point out to your head, eyes, ears, nose, teeth, mouth and feet, whether you are asked in English or French. You seem to understand everything your daddy and I tell you.

You have also just understood that the baby signing class we go to is not just for mummy to learn and that you can use them too. It's very handy after all: you can drop things again and again and ask mummy where they've gone - Endless fun :-) You also sign "more" after I have finished singing (Believe it or not, that's a new thing for me - I never used to get "encores" when I sing!).

Food is your favourite thing ever - At the moment, your favourite food are apples, bananas, raisins and daddy's lasagnes.

Other things I will want to remember when you are all grown up:

- You have 12 teeth, another one may be on the way, but I get bitten when I try to investigate...
- You can say Dadda, Mamma, Mummy, Tatie, Cat, Ta for thank you, Tiens (French for here you are), Miaow, tete (head in french)
- You love to play Peek A Boo and chase mummy and daddy
- Your favourite songs are "I went to see a farm one day" and "Eglantine"
- You wave bye bye at the end of your favourite TV programmes (Baby Jake, Timmy Time, Third & Bird, Octonauts and Chuggington)
- You blow kisses and can give proper kisses
- You make the cutest of noises when you discover something unexpected - so cute!
- You are happy all the time and smile to pretty much everybody!

No photo tonight - I need to upload some from the camera!

Baby Aoife 2

2011-10-18T22:02:00.000+01:00

More photos of little Aoife - sigh - so gorgeous she would make me broody... :-)

Baby Aoife

2011-10-18T21:51:00.000+01:00

This little cutie pie came to visit me a couple of weeks ago to get her picture taken. Mummy thought she would never sleep, but in fact that gave me a chance to get really nice awake shots, which show off this gorgeous little one's eyes and eye lashes, before she curled up and went to sleep. Aoife was 6 weeks old when these photos were taken but she was already very alert and full of smiles! She is so beautiful, I am not sure I can choose amongst all the photos, so be prepared to be inundated :)

More to follow... ;)

For L and R... ;)

2011-10-04T13:29:00.000+01:00

I remember reading this when Millie was little... I thought you may like it - It is so true! I always think about this poem when the house is a mess!

Babies don't keep

Mother, O' Mother, come shake out your cloth,

Empty the dustpan, poison the moth.

Hang out the washing, make up the bed,

Sew on a button and butter the bread.

Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?

She's up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.

Oh, I've grown as shiftless as Little Boy Blue,

Lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo.

Dishes are waiting and bills are past due,

Pat-a-cake, darling, and peek - peekaboo.

The shopping's not done and there's nothing for stew,

And out in the yard there's a hullabaloo.

But I'm playing Kanga and this is my Roo.

Look! Aren't his eyes the most wonderful hue?

Lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo.

The cleaning and scrubbing can wait till tomorrow,

But children grow up, as I've learned to my sorrow.

So quiet down cobwebs; Dust go to sleep!

I'm rocking my baby and babies don't keep.

~ Ruth Hulbert Hamilton

Mon second 1er anniversaire

2011-08-18T22:40:00.000+01:00

De retour en Angleterre, j'ai feté mon anniversaire avec tous mes petits amis (sauf Lara, qui était malade :-( Pauvre Lara!) et Nanny, Grandad, Uncle Andy et Aunty Kelly. Juste avant ma fete, j'ai surpris Maman en me lachant du canapé et en traversant le salon. Comme quoi mon entrainement avec Papy et Mamie a été tres utile!!!

Le theme de ma fete d'anniversaire etait "5 little ducks", ma chanson preférrée :-)

Faris

Tutku

Robert

Bougie!

On mange quand?

Brownie Cake Pops! Le beau, le moche, et celui qui n'a pas d'ailes!

More photos tomorrow, as we went on a trike hike after my party!

Autres photos de France

2011-08-18T22:13:00.000+01:00


Je m'entraine a marcher avec Papy et Dada

Merci Papy pour le pot de Nutella plus gros que moi!


Mamie prépare de jolies roses pour mon gateau d'anniversaire


Ma cousine Élyna


Mon cousin Noam

:-)


La plage? Quelle plage? Je n'ai pas vu la mer moi!!!

Mon premier 1er anniversaire

2011-08-18T21:34:00.000+01:00


Gateau Catherine, mon préféré!


Le champagne, juste pour la photo!


Qu'est ce que cela peut bien etre???


Papy, il va ici le boulon...

D'ici, je peux mieux surveiller ce que Papy fait...


Et voila! Mon cadeau!!!


Au parc de la Garenne, pour essayer mon vélo, nous avons fait une belle ballade!

J'ai été bien gatée, ma tatie m'a aussi offert une jolie robe toute rose et des cubes en plastique trop marrants!

One!!!

2011-08-15T22:21:00.000+01:00

Millie has turned one today! I haven't had much time to post as we have been away, and I am going back to work tomorrow, but here are a few photos, some taken in France where Millie had her first 1st birthday party and the others in England of her second 1st birthday party :-) Will be back with more tomorrow hopefully...

On the move, on my brand new shiny trike Mamie and Papy got me for my birthday! This was a long walk, so I went to sleep in my pram and Papy had to carry my trike over his shoulder! Merci pour mon cadeau Mamie et Papy, je l'adore!

Cake(s)!!!

Happy birthday my sweetheart, my crumpet, my little flea, ma crevette, mon amour, mon ange, ma princesse, je t'aime!!!

Ernie Cat

2011-06-25T14:37:00.000+01:00

Well, it has been pointed out to me that I mention my lazy eye cat in my blog profile, but that the poor thing has not had a mention yet. To be perfectly honest, this is a reflection of the turn life has taken. Ernie was (and still is!) my little baby but he has had to find a bit of independence, now Millie has -litterally- taken over our lives. He is no longer the first one to be fed and although he is not happy with this state of affairs, having a baby in the house comes with plenty of perks: Millie shares with him the load of my insatiable appetite for cuddles, hugs and kisses; Me and Jon do get up a good deal earlier which means early breakfast; But perhaps more importantly to Ernie, babies tend to like sharing their food. Here is an example I manage to get photographic evidence of, although Millie was not in the sharing mood... Ernie didn't mind too much, she makes enough crumbs to keep him happy. Although it still puzzles me that a very fussy old cat has suddenly developped a taste for rice cakes...

Can you see now why he is my lazy eye cat?

Happy Dada's day

2011-06-25T14:15:00.000+01:00

Millie had everything ready to make sure Daddy had the best 1st father's day :-)

Happy Dada's Day!!!

Visite a Londres... pour aller a la ferme!!!

2011-06-20T23:11:00.000+01:00

We came all the way from Somerset to London and... went to the farm!

Watch the toes getting nibbled!

Merci Helen pour le portrait de famille, j'adore cette photo!

Guessing game

2011-06-10T19:55:00.000+01:00

J's mum, Helen and I got knitting, whilst waiting for the hedgehog... Helen started this item, and it was very difficult to imagine what it would look like when finished... I laughed so much that my tummy ached.

So... Can you guess what this is? Apologies for the blurry photos, I was laughing too much to keep steady enough :-)

Tricky three needle work (we had no stitch holder...)

The 10 O' Clock Hedgehog

2011-06-10T17:47:00.000+01:00

On our way to London to see a ballet, we stopped at J's parents in Berkshire. Their back garden is a haven for various species including a cute wood pecker, a family of blue tits and the biggest wood pigeons I have ever seen. There is even a family of peacocks and peahens who have set home on their street!

J's parents have mentioned several times over the past few years that they had a "6 O' clock" and a "10 O' Clock" hedgehog. The little animals (or is it the same one coming back?) cut across their patio at the very same time every evening, but we had never seen them before. Until this time!

J's mum put some leftover cat food on the patio and we sat by the patio door and we got our knitting out and waited... And, bang on time, he turned up! I grabbed my camera, spring watch style, and...

Isn't he cute?!

Last one...

2011-06-02T10:01:00.000+01:00

Papi, Mamie, Elyna, Emilie and Noam :-)

A little present for Noam...

2011-06-02T10:00:00.000+01:00

I decided to knit a blanket for Noam, but it became a bit of a joke in the family as the one I made for Millie took me 21 weeks to knit, and I only started Noam's with 5 weeks left until his due date! Admittedly, I had to finish it during our holiday, but I got there and I am very proud of it! I hope he enjoys it!

Visite en France (4)

2011-06-02T09:54:00.000+01:00

Quelques photos supplementaires de Noam, prises le dernier jour:

Visite en France (3)

2011-06-02T09:48:00.001+01:00

I cannot mention our trip to France without mentioning Eglantine.

Eglantine is a toy Millie got for Christmas, but which is so popular (with Millie and other friends and family babies!) that the whole family - and especially Mamie - hums its tune all the time. So much that when Easter came, the girls at Mamie's work had renamed their chocolate cows Eglantine. Mamie thought Millie had to have one, despite being only 8 months old and not allowed chocolate (well, she had a taste :-) J was well chuffed, the rest of the cow (which was filled with praline) was his!!!

If you ever visit Angers, I would recommend a visit to Chocolats Benoit. Really yummy chocolate and a lovely tea room with the best macaroons ever!

Visite en France (2)

2011-06-02T09:31:00.000+01:00

I am very much behind with my posting, and I have so much lined up I want to post about!

As my mum didn't have any holidays booked for the week we went, we met up for lunch with her when we were in town. It was a really sunny day, so we went to the Creperie St Aubin again and sat on the terrace. A great opportunity for a few pictures... :-)


Having fun with Papi and her sunglasses

Don't be silly Maman, I can't drink cider!

Visite en France

2011-05-10T15:57:00.001+01:00

Nous voici de retour de France, ou nous sommes alles voir Papi et Mamie mais aussi le petit Noam (et le reste de la famille bien sur!). Il avait 10 jours lorsque nous l'avons vu pour la premiere fois et qu'est ce qu'il etait petit! J'ai du mal a imaginer que Millie faisait cette taille la il y a 8 mois!

Je n'ai pas pu m'empecher de prendre quelques photos. Noam etait adorable et s'est montré tres cooperatif - Il n'a fait pipi qu'une fois :-) Il n'a jamais voulu prendre les poses que je voulais, mais au final les poses naturelles etaient tres jolies.

Je n'ai que quelques photos pour l'instant, j'en rajouterai lorsque J aura edité les autres :-)

Une de Millie pour finir quand meme... :-)

Millie at the Royal Wedding

2011-04-29T15:40:00.000+01:00

Silly photos, but nice memories :-)

At Bukingham Palace

On the balcony with the Royal couple


Checking the view from the sky with the RAF

Waving goodbye to Will & Kate

Here comes the... tat

2011-04-28T23:05:00.000+01:00

So that's it. You have waited patiently by the mailbox and even checked with the postman, but you now have to face the very disappointing truth: You - just like Michelle and Barak - are not invited.

Once the initial disappointment has passed, you will soon realise that it will be much more comfortable to watch the Royal Wedding on the TV and then celebrate your extra day off down the pub with your friends. Besides, all you need to be part of Will and Kate's do is readily available. Below are a few "must haves".

From tatty to silly to plain ridiculous, take your pick!

Ever wondered what the royals smell like? Me neither, but in case you are curious, this one is for you:

Like many, I am very curious of what KM will be wearing. With this sticker book, you can play at dressing them up for their big day.

Even the French are cashing up on the royal nuptials:

Want to keep up with the Joneses? Well, upstage them at your wedding day BBQ with this impressive fridge. The commercial director for the company selling it reckons that it is a very popular choice. So careful. The Joneses may have one too.

"Ze frigo royal"

Want a souvenir that 'combines the strength of a Prince with the yielding sensitivity of a Princess-to-Be'? There you go. The manufacturers have assured that these are not approved by or supplied to PW or KM. As if we had any doubt it might be the case...

Les joyaux de la couronne... "Allongez vous et pensez a l'Angleterre"

The royal couple has also been meerkat'ed. Why you may ask. Well, the couple met in St Andrews, where the local zoo have named their dominant meerkat couple William and Kate. That's why. Simples.

If knitting is not your forte, impress your neighbours with this planter:

But if all of this is a bit too much for you and fills you with nausea and you are just sick of this wedding business, fear not. You too have your piece of memorabilia:

There are however a few pieces which made me laugh, and some I might even be tempted to buy (at a discounted rate after the wedding) for Millie's treasure box:

If the monarchy is not your thing, at least be thankful for the bank holiday!

Something to wear if you are planning to be standing on the Mall tomorrow morning. This Tesco little number should no doubt upstage whatever the bride is planning to wear...

Can also be re-used for any wedding you have been invited to this summer...

And if I really had to get a souvenir, it would have to be these... funny and not too tacky :-)

All jokes aside, I'll be watching tomorrow and put Millie in her best dress for the occasion :-)

Noam

2011-04-25T09:39:00.000+01:00

Millie est fiere de vous présenter un nouveau membre de notre famille: Son cousin Noam est né le 21 Avril a 11 heures du matin et pese 2,77kg pour 50cm. Félicitations aux heureux parents, vous pouvez etre fiers, il est trop adorable! Voici une photo que son Papa et sa Maman nous ont envoyé, en attendant que nous leur rendions visite la semaine prochaine:

Millie is proud to introduce the new addition to the family: Her cousin Noam was born on Thursday 21 April at 11.00am, weighing a tiny 6 lb 1 for 50cm. Well done to the happy new parents, he is such a cutie pie! Here is a photo the proud parents have sent us, until we meet him in person next week:

Isn't he just gorgeous? Can't wait to meet him!

N'est il pas magnifique? Vivement Samedi!