Tadpoles 'R' Us

"Maman, I like sex"! ~ Nicolas, 4 y.o.

noreply@blogger.com (Cécile) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 07:35:00 +0000

Then I realised that he was telling me that he'd like six pieces of sushi on his plate.

Slaap, kindje slaap

noreply@blogger.com (Cécile) — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 00:02:00 +0000

Eloïse is walking around the house with her bunny wrapped in a blanket and singing a Dutch lullaby to her... <3

Yes! Sign language pays off!

noreply@blogger.com (Cécile) — Sun, 25 Dec 2011 01:42:00 +0000

Nico came to me saying "Je veux suã s'il-te-plaît" ("I want milk please" in mix French and Vietnamese) but because he was mumbling the word suã I didn't understand him. Till I looked at his hands - he was signing milk using NZ Sign Language!

Who needs Carpet Court when you have an Interior Decorator in the family?

noreply@blogger.com (Cécile) — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 00:12:00 +0000

Dog omelette

noreply@blogger.com (Cécile) — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 00:16:00 +0000

As prepared by Eloïse, 20 months. She is half-Vietnamese after all. Dogs are a delicacy in Asia.

After being reminded to put on his shoes before going outside:

noreply@blogger.com (Cécile) — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 05:54:00 +0000

Loki are you coming outside to play?
Don't forget to put your feet on, and your tail...

~ Nicolas, 4 years old

Happy 4th Birthday Nicolas!

noreply@blogger.com (Cécile) — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 12:52:00 +0000

Nicolas turned 4 last Saturday. Wow. This means that he’s going to morning kindy as soon as a place becomes vacant. And that he’s going to school next year!

He’s turned into a real little boy now, complete with an inquisitive (“Why is it tidy up time?”), argumentative (“But I’m still playing!”) and negotiation-prone (“In 5 minutes ok?”) mind. He’s also very sweet to Eloïse, sharing his food (though making sure he gets the nicer bit), helping her when he realises she’s struggling with some tasks, and wanting her to come with him to places. He’s started developing a taste for relationships and friendships, reinforced by the fact that his friends came to his birthday party and gave him presents.

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At the birthday party; making ice-cream and decapitating the Gummysaurus cake.

Nicolas has started to show an interest in reading; not so much in writing, his name ends up being a snaky scribble towards the end as he runs out focus. He’s started to recognise some words, though this might be due to repetition. He’s got an amazingly good memory and remembers where objects are hidden in games, or what certain words sound like. Or maybe his memory is normal and mine’s comparatively bad. He was given a great Lego set for his birthday and followed the instructions to assemble them by himself, with only minor guidance and adjustments from Maman. He’s become a little iPad addict, in particular to Where’s My Water?.

Nico keeping Eloïse occupied. He even grunts along with her to help her.

He’s has his first public speaking experience. On Tuesday he caught the train from Onehunga to Britomart, had some treats there, then back to Onehunga before heading to Kindy. There, he stood in front of all his friends and, showing them the map, explained what he was up to. Which is an achievement, considering how shy and quiet he can be. Maman is awfully proud of him.

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After Ong Ngoai showed them the Pacific Island way to display flowers.

Ong Ngoai and Ba Ngoai came to visit for Nico’s 4th birthday. The kids really enjoyed all the attention while Maman enjoyed relaxing. By the end of it, Nico’s Vietnamese intonation really improved and he is a lot more likely to respond in Vietnamese or Dutch instead of English as was his habit. As for Eloïse, she was quite happy to repeat words, pretty much nailing the intonation.

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Eating bi cuon, a join effort from Ong Ngoai and Ba Ngoai.
It pays to be ambidextrous, you can shove in twice the amount of food in one go.

Eloïse is turning into a little 21 month-old monkey (not in monkey years), climbing onto tables, windows and couches, and from then flying onto Papa’s beanbag. She’s fearless, and quite happy to go wherever her big brother goes, and do whatever he does.

She loves singing and dancing, and has been caught a few times singing the Alphabet song or Twinkle Twinkle Little Star to herself. She’ll wriggle to any song. Her speech is coming along pretty fast, some words and sentences (“Whoops, made a mess…”) faster than others. She’s also a very polite girl, saying “Merci” more often than not, and “Sorry”. Her latest favourite is “Je t’aime”.

The kids tempers are radically different. Ellie is a lot more impatient and demanding while Nico is quite easy-going and can wait if he’s given a timeline. Nico is a bit of a dreamer and will his time to perform a task while Ellie is a bit more focused. Nicolas is cautious and will observe first; Eloïse will jump in. However they are both active and love running and hopping around, enjoy puzzles and reading books, love animals, and kisses and cuddles and junk food.

Sugar overdose!

... and that little @!#*ing piggy got off lucky all the way home

noreply@blogger.com (Cécile) — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 03:57:00 +0000

On Saturday, we celebrated Finn's 4th birthday with a lunch at McDonald's Greenlane,

Nicolas and Eloise were very well behaved at the lunch table and of course the last ones to leave to go play. They were too busy stuffing their faces with fries that they hadn't noticed that the other kids had gone to the playground. The Lightning McQueen cake drew much attention from Nico, who thought it was very yummy. Eloise didn't care about the cake, she just wanted the fondant. That's my girl.

After ice-cream it was time to go to the playground again. And that's where the trouble started.
There was easily a kid to parent ratio of 3:1. Where did the parents go??? Out of the playground area (admittedly there were just 4 tables in there) and getting some peace and quiet, leaving their kids to squabble and shove each other.

I'm not one to judge (ok who am I kidding, I am), but there were scores of misbehaved kids there. I never was good at being all nice and friendly and fluffy with misbehaved children, so all of my glaring and frowing strength got some use on that day.

Intervention 1:
An 8 y.o. boy was throwing a Smurf toy into the air and onto the playground so it would randomly bounce all over the place, including close to other children's heads.
"Hey. Time to stop throwing toys before you hurt other kids."
He immediately stopped and started using the playground for its intended use. Or maybe he left.

Intervention 2:
Another boy was yelling at a 1 y.o. boy, telling him to go away and go home.
*stood there and glared*
He stopped and climbed back inside the playground.

Intervention 3:
There was a group of children, including Nico, were gathered around Eloise; she often gets attention from other children and I didn't hear her cry (I couldn't reach her as it was quite deep into the playground) but as I went to check up on her, a little girl informed me that she had been scratched by another child, but none of them knew who it was. Ellie wasn't crying at all, so after a cuddle to make sure she was ok, I set her down and kept a close eye on them.

Intervention 4:
"WAAAAAAHHHH!!!"
This time it sounded like Eloise and she sounded very upset. On top of the stairs, I found that her cheek was bleeding. The same little girl told me that Eloise got pinched, and that she (the girl) got slapped by the same boy. Cuddle, hand over to Papa, then I rushed towards the playground to grab the culprit (I was fairly sure by now that it was one those two 8 y.o. boys earlier) by the scruff of the neck and boot him out of the plaground. Only to be shown to the 1 y.o. boy who was being yelled at. *jaw drop* The youngest kid (and he smiled at me so sweetly too!) on the playground was the bully! That's when his dad decided it may have been a good time to wander over to us, pick up his son (did I look menacing?), make a half-ass apology and say that he'd been doing biting and pinching at daycare, and meekly said 'Naughty boy'. Then went back to finish his meal while his son got back to the playground. Only after a few stares from Bas did the father finally decide to check up on Eloise, see the blood, then issue another apology.

What could/should we have done? Nothing. It was a jungle gym out there in a kid eat kid world, and unless we issue them a full face helmet, this sort of thing is likely to happen again. But you can be sure that I won't be as nice next time Nicolas or Eloise get hurt by another child at a playground, parent or no parent. The first parent who gets to the bully is free to do what they want with him/her, and it might just be me.

Happy 1.5 years birthday Eloïse!

noreply@blogger.com (Cécile) — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 12:35:00 +0000

Wow time flies. When you have fun, and when you have kids. Which is the same thing, right?
Right?

Eloïse is now 18 months and Nicolas is 3.5 years.

The two spend most of their time bickering. Over toys, over food, over space on a chair, over cuddles, over books,… The whingeing, screaming and tugging sometimes drives me crazy. Other times I have the clarity of mind to take away the object of contention, or kick them outside so I don’t hear the screams. Must find a parenting course, or a book on toddler communication or earmuffs.

Silver lining: they like to go to sleep in each other’s company. Nico slept over at Oma’s one day to stay with Jonah and Olivia, and I could not get Eloïse to settle after she woke up in the middle of the night crying. Maybe a coincidence, but it was one of the rare times I couldn’t settle her.

Ellie has grown up quite a lot, she’s very independent and is quite happy to wander off without even checking whether I’m following. I need to take out the monkey backpack to make sure she doesn’t run off; what’s worse is that she loves being chased and falls into fits of giggles every time she gets started. She’s also very determined and driven. Not easy to distract her from her current obsession: dolls. She spends days picking up her ‘baby’, cuddling her, patting her back, wrapping her in a blanket, feeding her (she tells her to ‘Mange’). On Monday we went to a Wriggle & Rhyme session at the library and it was only a matter of minutes before she spotted Suzie’s ‘baby’ and shuffled her way towards it to pick it up and hog it the rest of the session.

A few weeks back we went to drop Naliah off at the vet to have her stay over the night for some urine samples. When the vet took her away, both children were concerned for her - Nico asked me when Naliah was going to be back with us, and Eloïse just trotted off after her. Fortunately she just needed some antibiotics and very expensive prescription food, which Ellie loves dispensing. Her first sentence yesterday morning was “Nayaaa? Apple?” which meant “I’m going to give Naliah some food” and there was nothing stopping her. Not even logic dictating that when a container is full, it is time to stop pouring.

Oma has ran away to Europe for 2 months so hopefully with Skype the kids won’t miss her too much. Nico does understand that she’s gone in a plane and that she won’t be back for a little while. Time to take out the calendar and the world map.

Nicolas is getting better and better with his toilet training. Juuuust a few more days and it’ll be a whole week with no accident. I sure hope I didn’t jinx it. Once we’ve got it nailed for a month, we’re moving on to dry nights. Eloïse is also better on the toilet, waving her arms HOORAY! after a pee. She gets a sticker for it. If only I could pin down her pooing time during the day, it’d save me from unceremoniously swooping her off the floor and rush her to the toilet whenever I hear the slightest grunt.

All in all, the kids get on ok… I need to think of strategies to deal with sibling rivalry, which is a bit difficult considering Nico’s limited communication skills and Ellie’s limited listening skills.

Also time to stop morning breastfeeds. Wish me luck.

Oh, and a few days ago I got a call from Waitemata Emergency. Apparently little fingers had dialled 111 several times. I thought I had stopped Eloïse on time and even unplugged the phone after repeated attempts, but I guess I was too slow.

Say what?

noreply@blogger.com (Cécile) — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 14:40:00 +0000

Well I haven’t blogged in what feels like ages. Micro-updates on my Facebook page. The kids have kept me busy, and today was one of those days when I wish I didn’t have any. But I won’t dwell on that because it’s now past midnight and I should just think of it as been and gone and not to be repeated.

Nicolas is now 3.5 years old and Eloïse is 16 months old.

They have both grown (not vertically though, boohoo) and acquired new skills at an impressively quick rate (at least for me, I don’t know anything about kids so have nothing to compare it against).

They both go to Bizzy Kidz Childcare (that’s Nico on the 1st two pictures on the website, standing looking at the hutch) and have adapted really well. The only hitch is that they’re fairly long days for Eloïse who doesn’t sleep much there. So by the time we come home and eat, she’s grouchier than usual. Nicolas also goes to Mangere Bridge Kindergarten (no post on the afternoon kids, I guess they don’t get up to too many interesting activities) which he enjoys. Ellie has to do some painting each time we go there to either pick up or drop off Nico. There’s another child standing in front of her chosen canvas? No problemo! She just slots right in and takes advantage of the fact that the other kid is too stunned to protest. We also take Loki to pick up Nico and leave him in the car. He’s hugely popular with the kids walking past.

Eloïse’s speaking is well underway. Cá, Bò, Fish, Naliah (that naughty cat would be back at the SPCA if the kids didn’t love her so much despite the scratches on their faces), Oscar, Bà Ngoại, Oma, Maman, Papa, No (actually it’s ‘no-no-no’ just for emphasis. She hasn’t learnt yes yet), Hi, Please, Cheese, Eyes, Nose, Bye Bye, Stop (as in, Mrs Bunny hops and hops and hops; Mrs Bunny hops and stops.), Baby, Dog, Chim. Wow I’ve just realised that she doesn’t speak any French, that I can think of. Must try to remedy it next week. She’s very chatty and will often come to us to have conversations. She loves singing and dancing and is having a ball at Mainly Music and Story Time and sometimes will try to sing along when I play the songs at home. Favourites are Fitness Rap, All of a Sudden, Mrs Bunny, The Little Green Frog and of course the Alphabet song. Points at their names’ letters on their bedroom door and randomly enunciates letters. Goes swimming with Oma and puts her heard underwater.

Nicolas’ preferred language is English. While he understands the other languages and is capable of asking the same thing in 4 languages (cycling them till he gets his chocolate!), he naturally falls back to English and has to be prompted to respond in the appropriate language. I did note that on several occasions, I asked him in French to say something to Papa, and he translated to Dutch. Every so often he’ll get too excited to use words and comes up with gibberish, but for the most part he’s understandable. One thing I never got, and guess I never will, is the nickname he has for Eloïse: Eloïse-tewitt… Eloïse the witch? twit? the wit? I hope it’s #3. He’s taken a strong liking to our iPads and knows his way around them. Tried to claim the house, my keys and my iPod. Chooses to play the Collins Learn Japanese CD tracks rather than the playlist I have for him and Eloïse. Currently learning the days of the week and doing pretty well. Next target: the countries of the world and their capitals.

They spend most of their time bickering over toys and food and anything not super-glued to the walls, but will every so often co-operate during bath times or when I ask them to bring something to the other. I was doubly impressed today that Eloïse gave something to Nico - one that she actually did give it to him, and two that she understood who I was referring to when I used Nico’s Vietnamese name.

I’m not serious about teaching Nico the countries and capitals by the way. But we did go through the planets in the solar system today. All he remembered was the sun.

When I grow up I want to be…

An artist. Or a graffiti vandal.

Médecin sans frontières.

An AA (Automobile Association that is, not Alcoholics Anonymous) vehicle inspector.

Some pretty cool pics on Bas’ Facebook.

Hi ho, hi ho…

noreply@blogger.com (Cécile) — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 13:28:00 +0000

It’s back to work I went. 2 days in the office and 1 day from home, it didn’t seem like a bad deal at all, just like I used to before Ellie came along. Except that I also used to have just one child who was relatively easy-going. Now I have 2 kids, one of which is pretty clingy (she’s worse than a boomerang attached to a bungy cord) and doesn’t like books, puzzles or DVDs or anything self-entertaining.

Then, barely 2 weeks after my return to work, Ong Ngoai decided that maybe it’d be a smart idea to have this 2cm tumour on his head finally checked out and removed. So in order to provide support for my parents, I showed up on Monday and told Irene I wouldn’t be back on Tuesday or the week after as I’d rather be in the tropics. Lucky I have an employer who’s flexible and has the means to allow me to work remotely. The trip was short, sweet and smooth(ish) with the exception of our journey there which included an extended stay at the airport while the plane’s brakes were being fixed. Oh, and I’m never again flying on my own with these two kids of mine.

Work itself - bliss! Although I have to drag my sorry freezing butt out of bed at 6:30am and have a rather ambitious document and training session to deliver to our most important client, my day at the office is so restful. I have yet to have my co-workers cling on to my legs, I haven’t had to wipe food off anyone’s face (Guy even shouted me lunch today!) and as much as I enjoy asking Nico about his day and pointing out animals to Ellie, discussions around combat simulation software and Closed-In Weapon Systems are proving far more interesting.

On the downside, none of the programmers are as cute as Nicolas and Eloïse… When I feel like a hug or a kiss no one in our 400-strong office seems like a suitable candidate… Listening to Stephen humming Hallelujah isn’t as endearing as Nico singing Little Peter Rabbit… None of the systems engineers’ faces light up with gummy smiles when they see me… and I can’t help but wonder how much I’m missing out when I sit at the computer instead of spending more time with the kids.

Guess you can’t have it all.

At the worst I can always send them to work instead of me. They did just fine in Vaughan’s office.

Eloïse is 14 months and is walking very steadily now and loves being chased around. She’s very confident when out and about and is quite happy to explore the world without me. Must remember to attach bells to her before going out. Her canines have just come through. I’m not looking forward to the molars, they’re the most painful ones. She’s not eating with a spoon yet. I’ve been too chicken to give her a spoon for fear of seeing food flung onto my books. Maybe we should have lunch outside with Loki on stand-by for cleaning duties.

Nicolas’ English has massively improved since daycare and kindy. In the last few days he’s stringing proper sentences and it’s become increasingly difficult to get him to speak French or Vietnamese. Dutch seems to be less of a difficult act since it’s being reinforced within Papa’s family so that’s at least a good thing. He’s almost 3.5 years old. Loves my iPad and my Leatherman and my phone and Papa’s camera.

That’s 4 more!

noreply@blogger.com (Cécile) — Sun, 06 Mar 2011 10:26:00 +0000

Today Eloïse is 13 months and 5 days. Nico is 3 years and 4 months.

Eloïse has toddled another few steps. Was towards Maman? Papa? Nico? Loki, or Naliah, or Aicha maybe? No, no, no and no. She headed straight to the TV, towards Leonard and Sheldon.

Earlier this afternoon I was lying in bed sick with a nasty bout of flu, and had convinced Nico to lie down next to me so he could rest up too. Conversation that ensued:

- *cough cough*
- A tes souhaits Maman
- Merci Nico. *cough cough*
- Do you want a drink of water Maman?
- Merci Nico. *cough cough*
- Are you ok Maman?

awww… Here’s to hoping both kids will be just as caring when they grow up and become teenagers. I know there will be a lot of bickering - we had a preview of it this afternoon, as the two were fighting over my iPod.

Bula Fiji!

noreply@blogger.com (Cécile) — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 12:12:00 +0000

Nicolas is 3 years and almost 3 months and Eloïse is almost 13 months old.

Ellie got to add another stamp to her passport, bringing to 3 the number of countries she has been in - New Zealand, New Caledonia and Fiji. Nico has got Australia. Papa had to go to Suva for a week for work, and rather than having me left behind, all stressed up and grumpy, Jolyon kindly offered to pay for part of the ticket.

So barely a month after unpacking our suitcases, there we went again. Along with two suitcases (one was 3/4 full of the kids’ gear), one Trunki, one laptop bag (complete with my iPad full of the kids’ apps), one buggy, one backpack and one shoulder bag. Can’t say we travelled light.

At the Holiday Inn - we were treated like celebrities, the kids never had so much attention and kisses from so many people. Nico learnt to say Bula and Vinaka, and Elisio the porter taught him to give a cool handshake. He got way more confident talking to strangers, informing them that we were going up or down on the lifts. There were two pools at the hotel - the small kiddie paddle pool was ideal and we went there every single day. Nico loved it and it became a point of contention. And leverage. Elle learnt to be more confident around water and even got dunked under a few times. But I don’t think I could live in Fiji. I had a hellish time trying to find suitable food for the kids.

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Friday - ELOISE WALKED! She did a very hesitant but definite step in the hotel room, then on Saturday Papa witnessed 3 more steps. I would rejoice, but the airplane trip back to Auckland gave me a preview of the wild child chases she’ll lead me to. She’s become so wilful, determined and stubborn.

She’s also sleeping downstairs tonight while Nico is at Oma’s. She’s being ousted out of the parental bedroom after refusing to settle down last night as soon as I stopped patting her back. Tomorrow night - Nico can sleep upstairs till Eloïse sleeps through the night for a whole week.

Joyeux anniversaire Eloïse!

noreply@blogger.com (Cécile) — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 12:21:00 +0000

On Saturday we celebrated Eloïse’s 1st birthday.

Lots of food, sugar, kids and paint… It was a messy, noisy and enjoyable day.

I had spent a few days previously trying to work out how to make and use fondant icing for the cake and I think I can be happy with my very first attempt.
Well I was, until Camilla remarked that my red snake looked more like a pink worm - or a pink turd.

Driver Leo and Driver Finn taking Thomas for a ride under Controller Eloïse’s supervision.

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At the last birthday party, we had a bouncy castle, which allowed the parents to lay back and relax while the kids were releasing their energy into a confined environment.
Unfortunately for some of the parents, the bouncy castle this year was nowhere near as attractive as a white walled-playhouse with tubes of paint and felt pens placed right next to it.

The results of the playhouse painting.
One was expected, the other was undesired.

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Cake time!
We got a moment’s peace and quiet while all the kids were dutifully chewing away.

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Loki also participated in the festivities - helping Neil eat his cake and generally getting in the mood.

Eloïse seemed to enjoy the crowd and the attention - and the food. She hasn’t quite got the hang of presents just yet, but I’m sure it’ll come by Christmas. She was confidently crawling around and babbling away. She’s very tactile, so I’ve discovered that touch and feel books are great to retain her attention during story time.

I know I said that I wouldn’t do it any more, but I can’t help… Here are some milestones for 12 m.o. babies:

Drinks from cup: Check. Also drinks from straw cups. And throws them onto the floor.
Imitate activities. Check. Though not as quietly observant as Nico and more hands on, she’s picking some things up pretty quick.
Plays ball. Check. With Nico. But also tries to eat the balloon.
Waves bye-bye. Check. Even says it, which is sure to melt the person’s heart when they first hear it.
Indicates wants. Ohhh yes. Not clearly, and certainly not very politely, but pretty loudly and immediately.
Scribbles. What??? I wasn’t even aware that I should be giving her something long and inky to potentially choke on, draw on her arms and faces with, or damage our poor carpet with. Any new thing that is given to Eloïse will end up slobbered, chewed and sucked on. I don’t think the pen/pencil will stand a chance to be put to proper use.
Puts block in cup. Check. Papa got her a neat little shape sorter through which she’s trying to work her way. Of course it’s that much harder when your big brother takes over.
Says 3 words. Hmmmm…. Mama and Papa make two words. Aaarrghhhhhh I am sure means ‘Please would you give me back my toy’ in a language. Just need to figure out which.
Walks. Nope. She’s just starting mastering the crawling. I still need to take her to the specialist to check whether she’s got Developmental Hip Dysplasia, which would explain why she’s favouring one leg over the other.
Stoop and recover. Yes, will make use of gravity to place her bum on the floor between her feet, from a standing position.
Stand alone. Yes. For all of 2 seconds. Then will use the above skill to gracefully stop standing. When she fails and ends up absorbing the fall with her forehead, I’ll be quickly picking her up from the floor while wondering whether I’ll have CYFS on my doorstep the following day.

Nico is 3 years and 3 months old.

Monkey faces

noreply@blogger.com (Cécile) — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 12:23:00 +0000

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Bonne annee 2011!

noreply@blogger.com (Cécile) — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 14:54:00 +0000

2010 be gone. It’s been a sucky year from start to finish, scattered with deaths on both sides of our families.

We went to Noumea with Oma Yoke and Oom Thijs and stayed at hotel Casa Del Sole (superb location, great service, a bit lacking in equipment but definitely worth it), then upon their departure we stayed with Ong Ngoai and Ba Ngoai (not the best location, great baby-sitting service, very fine cuisine).

Eloïse and I travelled first so we could attend a funeral, then Papa followed with Nico. It was the first Christmas that we spent separated as a family (well it was Eloïse’s first Christmas at all) and it felt a bit unsettling. No matter, both kids got showered with presents. I wonder how long till Eloïse learns the meaning of the word ‘cadeau’.

Can’t put it any more succinctly than Papa did: the power of a grandma armed with a toddler.
This was with Air Calin.

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A tropical fruit welcome: fresh coconut juice and massive grapefruits. And sweet mangoes. Mangoes for dessert everyday, and still no one got sick of them.

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At Ile aux Canards. Eloïse quickly learning the Caldoche customs and holding a can of Number One.

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Some of the many pictures taken on Anse Vata.
Bottom left, Nico thinking that his Frogs are more photogenic than his Oma and his sister.

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Eloïse at the Aquarium with her regiment of baby-sitters.

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Nico had a lot of fun and decided that it was necessary to go around the aquarium twice.

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Eloïse taking a peek from inside a dry tent, and Nico from Aremiti 4.
3 months of drought, and the day we hit Ile des Pins, it’s raining. All our gear got soaked - because who goes to a tropical island with an umbrella?

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A monkey staring at another at the Parc Forestier.
Wandering peacocks were plentiful and tame, and Eloïse loved seeing them up close.

To eat, or not to eat--that is the question:
Whether 'tis tastier to the taste buds to eat
The sand and shells of Anse Vata…

Taaroa and Nico having some old-fashioned fun in the sand.
Nico learnt to bail, in preparation for the launch of Papa’s canoe.

Cecile meeting Eloïse for the first time over lunch.

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At the Ouen Toro playground.
The facilities at this playground easily put most of the ones in Auckland to shame.
It was so hot that we stuck Eloïse’s feet and Nico’s head under the tap. Nico quickly got the idea and happily went back for more.

This trip went relatively well - minus Eloïse’s black eye, due to a head-first fall onto tiled floor. Both kids enjoyed all the different stimuli and the overload of attention from the grandparents on both sides. Things were made slightly more difficult due to Eloïse’s mobility and strong will (OK, she’s just plain stubborn), but it was very comforting to see Nico (and probably Eloïse too, later on) be able to practice his language skills with ease - English in general, French with my friends, Vietnamese with Ong Ngoai and Ba Ngoai, and Dutch with Oma and Oom Thijs.

And speaking of Eloïse - she’s crawling! And standing, and starting to cruise! She’s learnt to say and wave bye-bye, blow kisses and say Naliah, Thijs, Papa and Mama. Though I suspect that Papa and Mama are just syllables she’s randomly saying without associating them to anyone in particular… She also reacts strongly to songs she likes and tries to mimic the moves to a few songs - Mrs Bunny, la Danse des Canards, Be be bang bong, The Little Green Frog, Row row row your boat, etc. Still can’t get her to sit still enough to read books though.

Next trip - Taupo.

Today Nicolas is 3y.o. and Eloïse is 11 months, 2 weeks and 5 days old.

Nom nom nom…

noreply@blogger.com (Cécile) — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 11:29:00 +0000

… Fluffies, …

… toes, …

… and ice-cream.

Yeahhhh Eloïse is crawling!

noreply@blogger.com (Cécile) — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 04:41:00 +0000

Finally! It took 10 months and 4 days but we got there...

Things are a bit wobbly, but it’s a start.

She’s also able to pull herself up pretty well now.

So I put this really cool Fisher Price toy in front of her to encourage her to practice. It’s colourful, makes fun sounds, and it moves around.

You’d think she’d have a bit of a play with it, but noooo… She completely ignored it, and made a beeline straight to my laptop’s power cable. She’s got a fascination for cables, shoes and anything she can stuff in her mouth. I think the playpen will get a good run for its money.

Happy 3rd birthday Nico!

noreply@blogger.com (Cécile) — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 10:15:00 +0000

Eloïse is 9 months, 2 weeks and 2 weeks old.

Nicolas turned 3 years on 29/10, and the Saturday after we celebrated it with cake.

We went for an under the ocean theme, and even though Nemo wasn’t here, his absence was overshadowed by the bouncy castle and the piece de resistance: a magnificent treasure chest cake, courtesy of the talented Margot.

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Note the rivets and the necklaces,
which I painstakingly shaped with my bare hands (lightly dusted with cornstarch)

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The bouncy castle was a hit. With the kids for obvious reasons, and with the parents who got to relax for once. Lucky I fit the maximum height and weight criteria

Eloïse well looked after by Helen

Ngaia was the first one to stick in, under Nico’s slightly worried look

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The kids congregated around the cake like grains of Piha sand to a magnet

Cameron, securely held back by Matt.

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Leo - with 1st and 2nd servings

Ngaia was squirreling some beads while Emily and Valerie were hopefully looking on (and learning).

Mackenzie had managed to secure a prime place - the seat closest to the cake

Cadeau time!

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Thomas loaded, check.
Pedals functioning properly, check.
Seat strong enough to withstand a cake-weighted bum, check.

Love where it’s due

noreply@blogger.com (Cécile) — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 10:28:00 +0000

Nicolas turns 3 in 4 days and Eloïse is 8 months and 3 weeks.
With Eloïse’s teething (she’s grown 2 bottom incisors in the last month) and our colds and sniffles, I’ve had even less sleep than I normally get so I’ve been feeling a bit ~~grumpy~~ miserable lately. However today Eloïse has been back to her normal smiley self, the weather is sunny and we’ve had a long week-end. Time to reset my mood back to where it should be, and recognise that despite the fact that I’ve had more than my share of washing to fold and less than my share of rest, I still love:

Eloïse babbling away when examining a toy, a nappy, or yet another strand of my unceremoniously plucked hair.
Eloïse beaming her gummy smiles and excitedly flailing her arms about at me for no reason other than the fact that I’m her mummy.
Eloïse falling asleep peacefully in my arms, with or without drool on my top.
Hearing children’s songs and rhymes ~~mumbled~~ sang even when the iPod is switched off. Sometimes out of tune, sometimes with the wrong words, but always recognisable.

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Huggles, cuddles and snuggles
Looking at Eloïse’s cot in the morning and seeing her stuffed toy poking over the edge of the cot while she happily lays there, playing.
Nico bringing me flowers from the garden. Even though he sneaks out of the gate to pick them from Camilla’s garden.
Nico coming to me for an injury and happily resuming his play after I’ve kissed him better.
Nico coming to snuggle up in bed with us during the week-ends, after several trips to get his bear, and his lion, and his dog, and his sun, and his chicken, and whatever flavour of the month toy it is. This month, it’s the push-on Thomas the Tank Engine we got him for his Christmas almost 2 years ago.
Nico helping me out by loading/unloading groceries when we go shopping. Spontaneously and sometimes over-enthusiastically…
Papa reading books and making all the right noises.
Rough and tumble after dinner time - with Nico on Papa’s shoulders, Eloïse in Maman’s arms, and Loki’s butt at the end of a boot.
The kids playing together and giggles are heard throughout the house.
Tickles and giggles, anytime and anywhere. We’ve made a few heads turn during our trips to Pak ‘n’ Save.

Rat in mi kitchen

noreply@blogger.com (Cécile) — Sun, 24 Oct 2010 08:28:00 +0000

Nicolas turns 3 in 5 days’ time. Eloïse is 8 months and 3 weeks.

One morning I woke up and there were no whispers of ‘Maman je veux Cocoa Pops’. So after the usual morning routine we all sat down for breakfast (Eloïse has now graduated to having cereal with us and seems to be enjoying it) and I then noticed the bowl of fruit I had left on the dining table. I’m pretty sure that we when turned off the lights the previous night there were three entire pieces of fruit and a full bowl of grapes.

There's a rat in mi kitchen what am I gonna do?
There's a rat in mi kitchen what am I gonna go?
~ UB40

Birthday invite

noreply@blogger.com (Cécile) — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 01:26:00 +0000

Address removed in case there are any 3 y.o. party crashers.

Mine! Mine! Mine!

noreply@blogger.com (Cécile) — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 03:06:00 +0000

Another 2.5 weeks and Nico will be 3 years old. Eloïse is 8 months and 1 week old.

We went to Waiheke Island last week. It was going to be Tante Babiche and Oma, but a gastro bug meant that Oma had to stay away from us. While Bas later on caught the bug, the tadpoles and myself miraculously managed to escape unscathed. Probably due to him being quarantined in his own quarters.

We just wanted the trip to be an easy going, low key one, so we decided to stay on Matiatia Bay, unpack our sandwiches, pureed fruits and drink, and have a feast there.

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Much to the kids’ delight (and the seagulls’!), the seagulls finally came to our table so Nico could feed them. This took the trip to a whole new level and it could well have been their highlight of the day (the kids’, and the seagulls’).

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Ice-creams back in Auckland. Luckily for us, Eloïse fell asleep in the pram so we didn’t have to endure her burning glare for eating something yummy and not giving her any.

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The trip on the ferry was fun - Nicolas enjoyed looking at the boats and the sea (and other kids’ toys) and was very well behaved (a travelling parent’s best tools: iPod and food. You can even buy alphabet and number-shaped biscuits to call ‘educational’ and overcome the guilt of feeding them overly processed foods), and Eloïse distributed gummy smiles around like a politician with pamphlets before election week.

Ooo’s a clever girl den?

noreply@blogger.com (Cécile) — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 22:51:00 +0000

Today Eloïse is 8 months and 5 days old.

Since Monday I’ve been putting her on the toilet every so often, and just like Nico, she’s been taking the toilet very easily. What puzzles me this time round is that I actually didn’t get the chance to teach her to teach her the cues - pipi or caca beforehand, so I’m unsure as to what is prompting her to go when I place her on it. I’m thinking either watching her big brother (who is pretty used to having an audience by now), or just the sitting position, nappy off, might be enough.

What really helps this time round is the toilet seat that we got Nico. It certainly helps my back not having to hold her in an awkward position. When we have this down pat, hopefully at around 9 months, I’ll go for reusable nappies. What a shame I haven’t got MS Project installed on this laptop, it’s almost worth drawing up a project plan with milestones. No resources to help me out with this one though, unless Papa can help with the cueing via Skype. Which would be an entertaining sight from Brent’s desk.

Eloïse is now eating pretty much everything we eat (exceptions are honey, milk, nuts and anything unhealthy or that could cause choking). This means that I’ve seen the end of leaky nappies. This, combined with Nico learning to ask to go to the toilet before he pees (finally! 3 weeks short of 3 y.o.!) means that the wash load is dramatically decreasing. Life is good… Now to teach both of them to stop smearing food everywhere at meal times.

Art and music critics

noreply@blogger.com (Cécile) — Sun, 03 Oct 2010 11:27:00 +0000

Nicolas is 2 years and 11 months and Eloïse is 8 months old.

They have started to interact together quite nicely, Nico sometimes pulling faces and (more rarely) hugging Eloïse. Eloïse adores her big brother and is sure to break out in a fit of giggles when we chase him around the house.

In a typical sibling fashion, there is quite a bit of contention, especially when it comes to ownership. Last week I took out some paper and some felt pens and let Nico loose, under Eloïse’s supervision. What ensued was a bit of scuffling and argumentative monologue.

I normally have some kids’ songs playing during the day, and at meal times I switch to a selection of classical / easy-going music - so that Nico can focus on eating instead of waving his arms around and jumping on his chair to the tune of Mrs Bunny. Thursday evening there was some Tchaikovsky and I wondered, in my head, if it was from The Swan Lake or The Nutcracker. Then out of the blue Nico piped up and informed me that it was The Nutcracker. I felt somewhat ashamed of being out cultured by a 3 y.o…

Tadpoles 'R' Us

"Maman, I like sex"! ~ Nicolas, 4 y.o.

Slaap, kindje slaap

Yes! Sign language pays off!

Who needs Carpet Court when you have an Interior Decorator in the family?

Dog omelette

After being reminded to put on his shoes before going outside:

Happy 4th Birthday Nicolas!

... and *that* little @!#*ing piggy got off lucky all the way home

Happy 1.5 years birthday Eloïse!

Say what?

Hi ho, hi ho…

That’s 4 more!

Bula Fiji!

Joyeux anniversaire Eloïse!

Monkey faces

Bonne annee 2011!

Nom nom nom…

Yeahhhh Eloïse is crawling!

Happy 3rd birthday Nico!

Love where it’s due

Rat in mi kitchen

Birthday invite

Mine! Mine! Mine!

Ooo’s a clever girl den?

Art and music critics

... and that little @!#*ing piggy got off lucky all the way home