Here we are, in Paris!

In front of Notre Dame...

And in front of-- well, you know...

And today, at Versailles (that's the palace wayyyy off at the horizon)

As you can see, we've been massively lucky with the weather.  Today we spent 7 hours at Versailles and walked briskly practically the entire time.  We took over 150 pictures to use in our teaching, because the day and the light was so spectacular!  We saw all the far-flung elements we'd never seen before, like the queen's hamlet and the Trianons, and then we walked way out along the canal.  My feet are tired-- oh, so tired.  But it was awesome.  We finished the day there in the Grand Appartments of the king, the Hall of Mirrors and so on.  It doesn't disappoint!  Then we came back to Paris and had a great meal at a neighborhood place.  My main course included an entire box of melted cheese, 4 or 5 roasted potatoes and a huge chunk of ham.  Yikes!  We really need to get back to our chard and brown rice diet!

And so we will, for we return tomorrow.  It's been a wonderful trip, and more successful than I could have hoped.  Everything went so well and I was able to get into and use three different libraries.  My experience of TIME has been radically different here, without the children, and I do plan to post on that soon.  But for now, we'll say à bientôt to Paris, and get busy getting back home to our family.  I can't wait to see them!

The Story of the Grappler

I was cleaning up my desktop and found this little story that I had meant to blog a few weeks ago.  It's from early September, when we were in West Virginia.  I warn you: it's rather a tear-jerker.

Henry fell in love with a pair of tongs at the cabin.  He named them The Grappler.  The Grappler was a crane, a multipurpose grabber of things, but the Grappler also was treated with loving care.  He was put down for a nap (on the hook of the screen door), and taken around and shown things.  The Grappler played Go Fish with us, and was extra-handy when Henry dropped a card.  The Grappler was taken in the car, and at the playground, Henry went back and got The Grappler out just to show him a good time.  The Grappler perched on the bar while Henry spun him around on the merry-go-round.  The Grappler was, however, at one point hurled into the grass, and then we couldn’t find him when it was time to leave the playground.  So the Grappler was Left Behind.

Later that evening, we sat down to play Go Fish.  “The Grappler really enjoyed this game,” Henry said ruefully.  I tried to get him to remember where he had put the Grappler at the playground.  Maybe we could go back and find him.  Did he hide him somewhere?  “No, he hided himself.  I was hiding, and then Grappler saw a mouse, and the mouse told him, ‘Here’s where you can hide that Henry can’t find you,’ and then he hid there and we couldn’t see him, and he didn’t know we left.  Now he knows we left, and he’s crying.”  

Montmartre

It was a nice, sunny day and the library was closed, so I went to Montmartre this afternoon and visited some shrines of modern art. 

Here (with the blue doors) Vincent and Theo van Gogh lived for six years.

This was the site of the Moulin de la Galette, subject of Renoir's famous painting of an outdoor dance.

This is the Lapin Agile, hangout of Guillaume Apollinaire, among others.

And this is a tiny vineyard, right in the middle of Montmartre!  They make wine every year and auction it off for charity.

I also saw, but didn't photograph, the site where Picasso painted the Demoiselles d'Avignon (you know, the most important painting of the 20th century?!?).  

Beautiful Agatha

Here's the lovely and talented Agatha, sitting on Gus's potty in Austin (thanks, Mom, for the picture!).  It will have to tide me over for many, many more days till I get to see her again!

The Last Time I Saw Paris

No new photos yet, so how about a few from the library?  Here's Henry in Paris in summer 2007, age 21 months.

Eating soup in our Marais kitchen.

In the park.

Looking at Notre Dame.

Loaded up with baggage and ready to come home.

Tomorrow, some pictures of Paris 2009!

Daredevil Pirate Girl

Henry and Agatha, tips for users

I'm off to Paris tomorrow for 16 days.  Wow!  Or should I say, mon dieu!  My French, she's not so good, but I've got to knuckle down and give it a go in the archives anyway.  I did request an orientation session from a librarian at the Bibliotheque Nationale de France and she emailed today, asking (in French) if it was all right for my session to be conducted in French.  Since I feel like a schmuck for not speaking better French, it's France, and I'll be researching things written in French, I felt like the only response was the one I gave: "Oui, Madame."  So wish me luck!  (I will nod a lot and write lots of things down.)
   My children were so darling and sweet and funny all day today!  It will make parting even harder.  At bedtime I was trying to read to Aggie and Henry in her room, and she was incredibly antsy and squirmy.  I told her we could put her pj's on and then read, but she squirmed away, so I let her go with only one arm in the pj's.  After a few minutes, I guess she decided she was ready to read because she carefully draped the pj's over her head and crawled over to join us.  Henry just about died laughing.  It was pretty funny! 
  So Michael and Gran, I know you know everything there is to know about caring for Henry and Agatha, but I can't resist giving a few more helpful tips, insider knowledge, before I go.  I decided to put it in the blog because, well, it does say something about where we are at this moment (although it's probably superboring also):
* Agatha loves to read a little bit in her room before bed.  She likes to take all her clothes off and scramble all around, greeting all her possessions, and then read.  Her favorite book right now is Five Little Monkeys Sitting in a Tree.  I put several of the best baby storybooks in her yellow toy box.
* Henry still sometimes pees in the bed.  We have two waterproof pads that we put on top of the sheet (extras in the bathroom closet).  If he wets, just change his clothes, pull off the pad, and go back to bed.  In the morning, you can put the fresh pad on and launder the other one.  
* Aggie likes to eat: pre-chewed red pepper, Ryvita crackers, dried figs; animal crackers; oatmeal blobs (cooled, congealed oatmeal made in the microwave); canned beans; and pretty much whatever you're having for dinner.  
* Henry's bedtime ritual is: movie time (no milk), pee, pjs, in-bed toothbrushing, lights out.  Aggie's bedtime ritual is: naked scramble and maybe read (see above), nurse, then lay her down on her side in the crib, facing the wall, with the pacifier, and put her pink fleece blanket alongside her to snuggle.  She likes to be warm, so these cool nights I've been putting two blankets on her (in addition to the fleece).  I've also been putting that square, small pink swirly-soft blanket down under her head, so the sheet isn't too chilly on her little cheek.
* You guys will have to figure out what to do without nursing.  Maybe warm milk in the sippy cup, some snuggling, then the pacifier.  Mornings will be the hardest, I think, because she's used to nursing and dozing for about 30 minutes when she wakes up.  I would go downstairs right away to start the day, or maybe even outside, to get her over that part.
* In his lunch, Henry usually takes some combination of: fruit, dried fruit, nuts, animal crackers.  If we have bread, he likes a molasses sandwich.  He likes to take his blue straw cup with water in his backpack. 
* Dressing Agatha is sometimes my main creative outlet for the day!  She has so many cute clothes.  Top drawer is shirts, middle is pants and sweaters, bottom is dresses/outfits.  Her tights and shoes are in one pull-out bin, and pjs are in the other.  Have fun!
* Henry dresses himself now, completely.  I declared defeat yesterday, and decided to let him wear whatever he wants to school (except pjs or something like that).  He knows where his jackets, mittens, and hats are, and beyond reminding him that he might want a coat or sweatshirt, I've decided to just let him wear shorts in 50 degree weather if he wants to.  
* Agatha often poops a little while after she wakes up, so I usually don't change her right away, hoping to save us all an extra diaper change.
* Agatha loves birds, the sky, and the outdoors.  When in doubt, put her in the Bjorn and take a walk.
* I bought a few treats (new clay, workbook, pencils) for Henry when you need a boost.  They are on the top shelf of our bedroom closet.  
* Agatha likes to unpack anything, and to get inside anything she can (i.e., a great time for her is to take everything out of the art drawer and then climb inside it).
* Henry will play for a long, long time in his room with his legos and pirates, but he does like you to check in with him now and then and praise his "set up" (a term he got from Michael's still life painting!).
* Please email me every day and tell me how it's going!  


  

Beautiful day

We went apple-picking again today (and I again forgot my camera) and came home with two big pumpkins as well.  Henry carved his this afternoon-- well, I wielded the knife, but he cleaned it all out and made the design.  We also walked downtown and went out for breakfast, and made apple dumplings for dinner.  It was a great day and I would like here to publicly repent for calling Henry a contrary pain-in-the-#*% a couple of posts back.  (Although he sometimes is.)  


Agatha is on the cusp of both walking and talking.  Last fall, when she was only two or three months old, Michael swore that when he took her outside to look at the big "crow conventions" gathered in the trees she would say, "caw caw."  Well, now she definitely DOES say "caw" when she sees a bird, loudly, carefully and deliberately.  She loves birds and often gets a big smile on her face when she spots one-- just a look of quiet satisfaction.  She also says "ball" for anything ball-shaped-- like our apple dumplings tonight, or a pumpkin on someone's porch.  I first thought she said "ball" in early September when we were in West Virginia, but now it is pretty clear and consistent.  She also is working on "hot" and "hat."  She learned how to blow kisses from Gus, and it is the cutest.  I was reading her a book yesterday where there is a line, "Their mama hugged them" and she blew me a kiss!  Comprehension!  


Henry was clowning tonight at dinner, giving us a funny face for when you eat something too hot, and we were all laughing, Aggie included.  It was just a sweet moment in the family ecosystem.  

Beanie Baby

Agatha is starting to enjoy hats too, now and then.  Which is lucky, what with winter coming and her darling coordinated French hand-me-down wardrobe!

Braggin' on Gus

Gus likes to wear hats-- that's what I meant about accessorizing.  But he is so different from my kids in other ways, too, that it was fascinating spending time with him.  He's super verbal and bookish-- he loves to sit for long periods and look at books, color, or be read to. I think Eric & Rebekah have a little intellectual on their hands!  Neither of my children are that patient or still.  He also is not big on doing things himself, which was a revelation to me.  One morning I heard him say to Rebekah, "Hair, mouth," which meant, "I have a hair in my mouth; would you please remove it for me?"  My children would probably just stick their hand in and throw a small fit till they got it out.  The presence of mind it took to calmly announce the problem and then wait for mommy to solve it-- I was amazed!  He says single words extremely clearly, one at a time, like: "Baby Aggie, book.  Gave."  He always uses the correct verb tense.  He also likes to "order" his food that way: "Nini [his word for banana], bowl, cut."  Unlike Agatha, who will toss a mandarin orange to the floor in anger if you try to break it apart for her to eat (you must peel it and hand it to her WHOLE), Gus waits calmly while his food is prepared to his liking.  Large chunks of banana are pointed at and requested to be "cut" again.  

Mom told me yesterday that she heard him count to ten on the playground yesterday-- at age 21 months!  He also knows many of his colors.  He and Eric have a bedtime ritual where they say good-night to the characters on the covers of his science fiction books on display in the hallway.  He says, "Good night, robot.  Good night, man.  Good night, orange man." 

He is also charmingly theatrical.  He does a "strongman" face, with his little jaw tense, like he's flexing, that makes me flashback immediately to Eric as a little boy, clowning around. He does funny walks and dances, and when we go outside to take a walk he pumps his arms exaggeratedly.  A doll! 

Renaissance Faire

Tiny teen

Henry is absolutely the most contrary boy in the world.  If I so much as suggest something, he'll automatically take the other side.  Yesterday in the car, he was trying to wipe his nose on a plastic bag.  I handed him a kleenex, and he tossed it on the floor.  This morning, he forgot he had his backpack on and tried to put his sweatshirt on over the top.  When I reminded him to take the backpack off first, he asserted that he wanted to wear it that way.    I guess it's his job to be declaring independence every day, but for pete's sake!  It wears me out.  And it makes me a bit sad, because he rejects everything I try to do for him (the cookie cutters I brought him from Texas, and the winter coat I bought yesterday, after carefully asking for his color preferences and so on).  He doesn't want me to be upset, but on the other hand he doesn't want to do what I clearly want him to do, either, on principle. Maybe I need to consult some books on parenting teenagers?

Traveling Mama

Agatha and I got back Sunday evening from a trip to Austin, where we ate good TexMex and marveled at the darling Gustaf.  So smart!  So happy!  So good at accessorizing!  I also sort-of attended a conference while we were there.  I will post pictures when Mom emails me some!  My camera was left behind with Daddy and Henry.  They had many adventures while we were gone, including attending Pirate Weekend at the Renaissance Faire (again, pictures to follow when I get some) and riding the city bus to the toy store to buy Legos.  Bus!  Pirates!  Legos!  Sword-swallowing!  Henry really didn't miss us at all. 


Now I'm preparing to go to Paris for two full weeks.  No kids.  Michael will stay home with them for ten days, then fly to join me for the last six days while Mom keeps body and soul together here.  I'm fantastically excited, and a little nervous.  I'm pretty sure the kids will do fine.  Their caregivers will be challenged, but will be all right.  I'll have a great time, but miss them terribly! 


So, this October is probably the least mommying month for me in four years, since Henry was born.  Maybe Daddy will have to be the guest blogger.  I feel a heady mixture of excitement and guilt. 

Wedgie

I can't remember when he first said it, but I think it was about six months ago: "Mom, I have a wedgie!"  This is obviously something he learned at school.  But he thinks it means, "Mom, I just ate a big bowl of something and I'm going to have to poop pretty soon."