Lucie's Balloon Party

The weekend after her birthday, Lucie invited six of her friends over to help her celebrate turning four. I surprised her by filling our living room with around forty helium balloon and loads of normal balloons that bounced around on the floor. In the US, helium balloons are really common but here in France they're almost non-existent, which makes them very, very special.

 

Filling the balloons... 

Lucie was thrilled by her surprise!  The kids spent the first 45min of the party squealing and giggling over all the balloons.

We gave away a lot of the balloons to her friends as they left to go home. But we still had enough that Lucie could run up and down the hallway in her tutu and crown for the rest of the evening.

Even Malo enjoyed the balloons!

 

It being a French birthday party and because I didn't have the time to make another chocolate cake, we had a strawberry tart. Lucie LOVES strawberries.

We sang to the birthday girl...

 

Lucie, Fanny, and Julie eating cake...

Of course, Lucie's favorite boy friend came to the party. Does he look a little less than enthusiastic to be there? In the beginning he was because the other two boys Lucie had invited couldn't come at the last minute. Lucie was obliviously thrilled to have him at her party.

 

Happy Birthday Lucie! I hope you have as much fun in your fourth year as you had at your party!!

Lucie Turns Four

Lucie's birthday fell on a school day this year. Her and I had made chocolate cookies together over the weekend and she took them to school that day for her birthday treat. She opened presents in the morning and Skyped and spoke on the phone with her grandparents in the afternoon. After dinner, we sang to her and she had a homemade chocolate birthday cake with strawberry candies on the top. 

 Malo asked, "Can I have some cake?"

 

"Don't worry, I can reach it myself!"

 

"Yum! This is delicious!!"

 No just kidding. We did not let Malo eat any cake. Not yet, but the photos are pretty funny.

Indian Summer

It was unseasonally warm in Paris for the last two weeks (25-30C). What does a family to do on a hot September Saturday? Go eat ice cream of course!

And it was dance in the streets good too.

 

Malo was asleep in his stroller.

But then... Hey! Where's my ice cream?

 

Sorry little guy. It's still applesauce for you.

  

Don't worry. It was belly laugh good.

While we were at Abbesses, we found a clown that was making balloon animals for the kids.

Here's Lucie's snail! How very French (the clown is Spanish-speaking, but he adapted).

Lucie made us go into her favorite gallery to see their new show. We were glad we did too. There was this interesting piece that turned the gallery into cartoons. Here's Greg and Malo looking at it. It was difficult to take a photo, since it followed your movements with only a slight delay...

 Lucie loves art. She's a particularly big fan of performance art!

 After ice cream, clowns and art, we headed to the park. The guys took a break on the benches.

 While Lucie had a swing with her friend, Lou.

Some funny differences

Lots of people ask us if we see differences between Malo and Lucie. It's funny from the beginning the two of them have had very different personalities. I don't think it's a boy versus girl thing as much as they are just two different kids. Here are a few of them...

Malo can't stand a dirty diaper whereas Lucie never complained about them.

Malo is very sensitive to temperature. When he was a newborn he wouldn't sleep in his bed unless the sheets where warm. Now his food has to be not to hot and to cold or he doesn't want it (he's getting more flexible). Lucie for the longest time ate everything straight from the fridge cold or at room temperature.

Lucie loved sitting early and only once she could sit up on her own did she start crawling. Malo has no interest in sitting. All he's interested in is crawling.

Lucie would get tired of toys quickly and then would cry for a new one. When Malo is tired of a toy he crawls around looking for new ones.  

Lucie had to be rocked and rocked and rocked to get her to fall asleep. When Malo is tired we lay him in his bed and he falls asleep (sometimes...). At the same time, Lucie slept through the night at 2 and a half months and Malo still doesn't really do that (or really doesn't do that, as the case might be).

 

Some things they have in common is they are both really healthy kids, they both love to eat and eat and eat, they are easy and fun to travel with, they're great about taking baths, music helps both of them fall asleep, and they both love their mommy and daddy very much (which is really the most important). 

A day at the beach

More photos from the August... One afternoon Eric, the dad of Lucie's friend Charles, took the big kids and the dads for a motor boat ride and afternoon snack on a different beach than the one we usually go to.

 

Charles' mom packed snacks for everyone. Here is Lucie discovering the amazingness of crepes with nutella. 

 Climbing...

 More climbing...

 Malo and I stayed home.

 Don't worry Malo! Next year when you're bigger and have your own life jacket you can go too.

Later in the day Greg and Lucie joined us on the beach. Howdy Partners!

More Eating

Malo continues to eat well.

 It helps if you open your mouth to show him what to do. Just kidding.

 After a filling meal, the best thing is to take a nap and let your sister finish the green beans.

It's always a good time to put on your bathing suit and cover your head in barrettes.

 

Are you making fun of me?

Solids

Malo turned six months on September 1, which meant that it was time for him to start eating solid food. We started feeding Malo carrots in Lucie's old highchair.

 Ok, now what am I supposed to do.

 What? You really want me to eat this?

 Maybe I could just smear it all over everything.

 So, we changed chairs and things started going better. Now he's a pro!

Back to School

The beginning of September meant back to school for Lucie. She is now in the "moyenne" (or middle) section and very, very proud of it. The highlight of her first day was that while the little kids nap, she gets to run around outside with her friends.

George went with her, but at the end of the first day, her and her teacher agreed that he would stay home from then on.  It's a big deal. No more school for George!

 

Her new teacher's name is Veronique and according to Lucie she's very nice.

 

Ok, time to take her coat and get to work. Those bulletin boards aren't going to stay bare for long!

Malo waves, bye Lucie! Have a fun first day of school!!