sortie dans la neige/ snow in the park

lundi 21 decembre, on est tous restes a la maison Monday Dec. 21 we all stayed home

50 cms sous la neige/ snowed in

week-end of December 19-20, 2009

Natalie is turning two

where did the time go??? You are such a joy to be around Natalie. You copy everything your sister do. You insist on being called big baby/"grand bebe" and refused to be called big girl/"grande fille". You love to play and take away toys from your sister. You enjoy painting, coloring, mixing things, jumping, singing, but most of all you love to cuddle. You are a great eater and like to sit at the table with us. You use the potty and we can't wait to throw away the remaining diapers.

painting/ washing hands

De la couleur partout...

Natalie s'habille toute seule/ I'll put my dress on my own

Natalie a voulu mettre la robe qu'elle a recue de mami toute seule.
Natalie and Rachel got wonderful clothes from my mom this week-end. Natalie put her new shoes on first and then she put her dress on.

Saint Nicholas a la delegation/ Santa is coming to town

Vendredi 5 decembre St. Nicholas a fait une apparition a la delegation de l'Union europeenne a Washington DC. .

Last Friday Santa came to town at 23rd and M Streets.

juste avant d'aller au lit/before bedtime

Natalie adore etre a bras et faire des gatees.
La semaine derniere elle a pleure chaque fois qu'on l'a mettait au lit. Maintenant, on fait donc des grosses gatees pendant 15 minutes avant d'aller au lit et ca marche. On chante, on lit et Rachel cite les personnes qu'elle aime bien: papa, maman, Natalie, mami Nicole, meme Frieda, madame Isabelle, Lidi, Jacke, CJ sans oublier Heidi. Quant a Natalie, elle met ses petits bras autour de mon cou et me donne plein de bisous, des petits des gros sur les joues, le nez, le front et le menton. Apres ca elle reclame "Jacques la la la", ok c'est la chanson de Frere Jacques qu'on chante et puis c'est "guili" et je les chatouille dans le dos et puis on se dit au revoir:

moi: bonne soiree mes cheries, dormez bien. Papa et maman vous aiment beaucoup
R.: bonne nuit maman, leila tov. LEILA TOV papa (qui regarde les infos)
N.: la tov maman papa.

Natalie needs a lot of cuddling before her bed time. So that's what I do every night for 15 min before we say good bye. Natalie lies down on my chest and Rachel puts her head on my shoulder and we read books and talk and sing. Natalie covers me with kisses (small ones on each cheek, big one on the nose, small one on the forehead and big one on my chin).
I love that time with them, just the 3 of us.

Natalie always notices my necklace and earrings and when I take my earrings out she does ask if they hurt me.

1ere neige de l'annee / 1st snow of the year

Il a neige ce matin. La pluie s'est doucement transformee en gros flocons vers 10h et il a neige jusque 3h de l'apres-midi. Les filles etaient super contentes de pouvoir jouer dans la neige et de faire leur 1er bonhomme de neige ce 5 decembre.
--
Girls had such a great time playing in the snow with Heidi this morning Dec. 5.

check-ups for the girls --semaine medicale

Lundi Rachel a eu son 2er rendez-vous chez le dentiste. Elle a une petite tache sur un des molaires et on a pris RV pour le debut de l'annee. La session s'est bien passee, elle a regarde Cendrillon assise sur mes genoux dans le siege pendant que le dentiste examinait ses dents. Elle a recu une brosse a dent avec Cendrillion et est prete pour la prochaine visite.

Sa visite chez le medecin aujourd'hui pour ses vaccins ne s'est pas passee de la meme maniere. Des son entree dans le cabinet, elle a commence a pleurer et la session avec le docteur ne fut pas des plus faciles, elle a pleure toute le temps que le docteur l'examinait. Dr Batt fut tres gntille. Elle a hurle quand elle a recu ses 3 piqures, pauvre cherie.
Natalie elle n'a pas bronche et a a peine pleure lorsqu'elle a recu ses 4 piques et a ete piquee au doigt pour recolter quelques gouttes de sang.

Rachelle qui s'etait cachee en-dessous de la table lorsque l'on examinait Natalie faisait des chatouilles aux pieds du docteur. L'annee passee, elle avait fait des bisous a la main de Dr. Cogeshall.

---
Rachel had her first dental appt on Monday and today both of them had their shots. Natalie was fine but Rachel wasn't a happy camper. She hit underneath the bench and I had to drag her out, she cried the whole time the Dr. osculted her. When she got her 3 shots, she screamed. I could certainly not have done it without Yossi.
Natalie enjoyed Dr. Batt looking into her eyes, her ears and listening to her lungs and heart. She barely cried when she got her 4 shots and got pricked on her finger. Now she does cry but it is only when the bandage falls off.

avoir 4 ans

Ma petite cherie, tu viens de commencer ta 4e annee.

Tu adores chanter et tu as elargi ton repertoire avec des chansons en hebreux que tu chantes a tue-tete.
Tu t'occupes bien de ta petite soeur. Tu lui verses le lait dans son gobelet, tu l'aides a descendre de sa chaise (sous ma supervision), tu lui racontes des histoires quand elle est assise sur le potty et tu lui rappelles de dire "oui" a maman, "le yes c'est pour papa".

Tu ranges tes chaussures dans le panier pres de l'entree, tes vetements sales dans la corbeille et tes jouets avant d'aller dormir. Quand je dis qu'il est l'heure d'aller dormir, maintenant tu te caches en-dessous du lit. Tu sais te deshabiller ainsi que t'habiller quand tu le veux.
Tu pedales sur ton nouveau velo autour du pate de maisons avec grande ardeur et un tour n'est jamais suffisant.

Tu t'amuses beaucoup avec Heidi, notre chienne une berger allemand de 7 ans et toi et Natalie aiment lui donner a manger.

Autres choses que tu aimes faire: dessiner, mettre en couleurs, coller, couper, dancer, faire des pirouettes, danser devant le miroir, avoir du vernis aux ongles et faire semblant de mettre du maquilage.

Tu es tres caline et nous racontes que tu nous aimes beaucoup en ouvrant bien tes petits bras.

Bon anniversaire ma cherie

Voila a peu pres les choses que mami aurait pu constater si elle avait pu etre avec nous ces 10 dernieres jours.

---

4-year old birthday girl

Oui nous avons la fete d'anniversaire plusieurs fois cette annee, une fois pendant le week-end et une autre fois en famille (sans maman malheureusement) le jour de son anniversaire le 30 novembre 2009. ne t'en fais pas maman, on ferra un gros gateau lors de ta prochaine visite et Rachel soufflera les bougies.
Un compte rendu de cette annee suivra dans un prochain blog.

We did celebrate Rachel's birthday twice in 2 days, once this week-end with my girlfriend and family (we were pregnant at the same time) and once again on Monday November 30th, the day of her birthday.
A summary of the year will follow

Natalie et ses melanges

Au moins elle demande.
At least she asked.

4 ans

aujourd'hui nous avons une petite fete pour les 4 ans de Rachel,
Rachel will be 4 on Monday and we are having some friends over to celebrate it. Details to follow

photos des puces

Et voici ma robe a l'endroit

Thanksgiving

Nous fetons Thanksgiving de nouveau a la maison mais cette annee je cuisine.
Maman, nous ferons de la tarte au potiron lorsque tu viendras, ne t'en fais pas, ce n'est que partie remise.

We are hosting and cooking this year.

le dessin/ drawing and painting

Quoi je ne peux plus mettre de la couleur sur mes bras, ce n'est pas juste!
Why can't I put some more paint on my arms?

Rachel s'en est mise non seulement sur la main, le bras mais aussi sur le visage.

Rachel was so proud of her drawing on her hand, her arm --she even got some on her face.














c'est mignon de les voir jouer ensemble

so cute to see them playing together

Sainte Odile

Sainte Odile, priez pous nous!

O Dieu, la vraie lumière qui, par un miracle de votre toute-puissance, avez rendu la vue à la bienheureuse vierge Odile qui était née aveugle, faites, nous vous en supplions, que d'après son exemple et par son intercession, détournant nos yeux de la vanité du monde, nous méritions de vous contempler face à face dans la gloire céleste pendant tous les siècles des siècles. Ainsi soit-il.

Maman, je pense beaucoup a toi et ajoute mes prieres aux tiennes.
Je t'aime beaucoup.
LOLO


Mes cheries,
Last Friday your "mami Nicole" (my mom) had thrombosis and a blood clot in her right retinal artery. She spent a full week at the hospital where they checked every part of her body. She was hoping to still be able to make her solo trip to celebrate your 4th birthday Rachel but the orders of the doctor were strict: no flying.
Today was supposed to be her arrival day and we are all hart broken but we are thankful that she is resting at home. It will take some time and a lot of prayers for the vision in her right eye to come back. Rest assured mes cheries that mami Nicole will do everything she can to come and visit us soon.
maman

cooking with the girls/ patisserie

We made some scones on Saturday. They spilt some sugar on the floor and Natalie was covered with sugar, a nice rub for her legs. I had to bath her afterwards.

Nous avons fait de la patisserie ce week-end. Le sucre renverse sur le sol (j'avais nettoye avant heureusement) ne fut pas perdu pour tout le monde. Natalie s'est fait un bon massage de jambes.

bientot 4 ans

ma petite cherie, dans moins de 10 jours tu auras 4 ans. Ces quatre dernieres annees ont ete merveilleuses, merci ma cherie
In 9 days days, you will be four years old. These last 4 years and 9 months with you have been wonderful, thank you Rachel.

maman est de retour a la maison

Apres une semaine a l'hopital et de nombreux examens, maman est de retour a la maison.
Mom is now back at home and will need to rest. We hope she will be able to fly and visit us next year.

bonsoir

It takes at least 10 kisses, 10 tickles, 10 blown kisses before I can finally say good night. A few days ago, after doing all that and was about to leave the room Rachel called me and I was about to reprimand her when she said
- Leila tov maman
and Natalie echoed her - Leila tov maman
- Leila tov mes cheries
yes Yossi has taught the girls a few words and songs in hebrew and they love that.

ROBE --dress code

- Rachel que vas-tu mettre demain, un pantalon ou une robe
- une ROBE, les princesses ne portent pas de pantalon maman. Blanche Neige et Cendrillon portent une robe

- Rachel are you doing to wear pans or a dress tomorrow ?
- a DRESS, princesses do not wear pans maman. Cendrillon and Snow White wear a dress
yes of course, that makes sense

bisous pour mami/ kisses for grandma

hier soir Rachel et Natalie ont prepare une feuille remplie de bisous pour leur mami. elles etaient fieres de mettre du rouge a levre et elles ont mis la feuille par terre et se sont mises a 4 pattes pour couvrir la feuille de bisous bien rouges.

yesterday Rachel and Natalie had make-up on! I coloured their lips with a very red lipstick and they had fun placing their little lips on a sheet of paper we will send to my mom. Rachel wrote grandma and sign it.
pictures to come

vernis a ongles/ nail polish

Rachel adore avoir ses onglis vernis. Je lui en ai mis le we passe sur ses orteilles mais n'ai pas voulu lui en mettre sur ses ongles des mains, j'aurais du.... Ca n'a bien sur pas traine pour qu'elle essaye toute seule. Le vernis est dans une armoire ou jusqu'a maintenant elle n'avait pas acces, vu la securite sur la porte.
Samedi apres-midi papa avait la garde et pendant qq minutes ou il avait le dos tourne, Rachel s'est mise du vernis toute seule. Le transparent pour tes ongles des mains fut un bon choix ma cherie, mais tu as eu moins de succes avec le rouge sur tes orteilles. Les ongles, les orteilles en ont eu ainsi qu'un essui de cusine (bon choix, ca aurait pu etre pire) et un peu sur le piano (ca papa ne l'a pas encore vu).

Rachel enjoys having her nails painted. So far I have always said yes to her toenails and should have said yes to her hands too. She did try on Saturday (under papa's watch) and put some polish on her hands, thank you for choosing the clear color ma cherie. On your toes the 2nd coat you applied landed no only on your nails but on and in between your toes and on the piano (papa hasn't seen it yet..).
- Rachel, what did you do????
- pardon maman

oh well I have learned my lesson.
On Sunday I put some lipstick on her lips and asked her to kiss the paper to get the mark on it to send to grandma. She was delighted!

grandma will certainly not come

maman, mamy
C'est dur de penser que tu ne seras pas avec nous pendant ces 10 jours pour feter Thanksgiving et les 4 ans de Rachel. Mais ce n'est que partie remise. Le principal est que tu sois en de bonnes mains a l'hopital. Nous pensons tres fort a toi et t'envoyons pleinde gros bisous
Lolo, Yossi , Rachel, Natalie et Heidi

mom,
we are so sorry you are not well enough to travel at the end of the month but we do know that you are in the hands of good doctors . We love you so much.
LOLO

les filles au piano

Yossi a promis a Rachel de lui aprendre a jouer du piano quand elle a 4 ans.
Yossi promised to teach Rachel to play piano when she is 4 years old - good luck to him!

table manners/ petit dejeuner a la maison

Natalie a un nouveau truc, les melanges: lait et eau; soupe et pates, ... (photos a venir)

nouveau chapeau/ potty training

I recently joined a health club across the street from my work place and I love it. I have been going 3-4 times a week for yoga classes either in the morning or during my lunch time. They have a nice pool and a wonderful steam bath. I thought I was very calm and had regained my energy.

I surprised myself yesterday when I lost my calmness and got upset at bedtime. Natalie was crying because she wanted to do pipi again, thing she had just done 2 min ago without counting the 5 times I took her diaper off in the past hour because she wanted/had already done p. or c. I guess it is the price to pay for going through potty training (yes I know next time she will wear pull-ups). She does use the potty before going to bed but always needs to go again when she is in her bed (most of the time it is for real but lately it is more for fun or because she has alreay done it).

health check-ups --all clear

Last week the results of the mammography and colposcopy came back fine, we were so relieved as you can imagine. The funny thing is that when they asked me the date of my last menstruations I could barely remember.
Les resultats de la mammo et de la colposcopy sont bons, ouf... .

Dear monthly visitor,
There used to be a time when you were my best friends and your visits comforted me. All that changed a few years ago and the day you did not show up almost 4 years and 9months ago was one of the best days in my life. For 18 long months I wrote down every single date of your visits and dreaded your next one. It took you 7 months to come back after the birth of my 2 girls and there again I did not miss you.
Now I am always surprised when you show up, it seems that months have gotten shorter and I am barely paying attention to you. Thank you for not bringing your friend "pain" with you anymore.

lazy Sunday / dimanche passe

Rachel joined me on a few errands last Sunday afernoon. While we were waiting for our pictures to be printed, we treated ourseves to an ice cream.
The week-end before the fire wood was delivered. I have a picture of Rachel sitting on the pile of wood, photo we took when she was 1 year old . I have to find it and I will post the two side by side.

mom, you are the luckiest mom/ maman la plus heureuse

Rachel: mom you are the luckiest mom ever
mom: pourquoi ma cherie?
R: because I love that that much.
She opened her little arms as wide as she could. She used to say that I was a lucky mom but now I am the luckiest mom ever

Rachel: maman, tu es la maman la plus heureuse
Moi: pourquoi ma cherie
R: parceque je t'aime beaucoup
Moi: moi aussi je t'aime beaucoup ma puce

Rachel etait deguisee en princesse et Natalie n'a pas garde son costume tres longtemps, juste le temps de la photo.
Rachel went trick or trick with me and Natalie did not keep her costume on for too long, just the time of the picture. She stayed home with papa .

2nd night out/MNOs/ sortie avec les mamans

I met with the group of moms last Friday night and it was so nice to spend time together, see out-of-town Fiona and Vickie (so nice you could make it!), share great laughs, sip delicious wine (thank you Marya), eat yummy home-made pizza and taste home-made desert. The desert was on the house, thanks to Laurie.
We share and learn a lot about each other at these once-a-month dinners.
I enjoy these special moments with you ladies and I so glad I met all of you in 2005.

Vendredi passe nous sommes alles dans un chouette resto italien ou les pizzas sont encore cuites au feu de bois. Ces soirees loin ds enfants, entre mamans, sont speciales. On rit beaucoup, on parle de soin, de nos familles, de nos parents... ce sont des moments bien precieux.

portraits of the whole family/ dessins

ok c'est un debut mais on peut reconnaitre papa, maman, Rachel quand elle sera "+ grande"
pourquoi quand tu seras plus grande
parce que j'ai des boucles d'oreille maman

and here are drawings of the whole family. I will let you guess who is who. Need help? papa is wearing the glasses and Rachel has earrings.
"it's me when I will be older"
"why"
"because I have earrings"

night out

On Thursday night, I went to the opening of the EU film showcase at the AFI theatre and Yossi stayed home with the girls. It was nice to have a night out.
"Mammoth" the Swedish movie was hard. Young parents with a 7-year old daughter litteraly raised by her nanny while her surgeon mom works at night and her computer business dad travels the world. It was heart braking to see these 2 young adults so wrapped up in their own work. It tackles issues like children abuse by their own parents, Western men abusing boys in Thailand, death of children... and of course everybody was crying in the theater or maybe it was just me.

After that movie, there was a reception hosted by our Acting Ambassador and I told him that that movie makes you wish you could spend more time with your kids and maybe stay home. He is a sweet family man and he replied that he was happy that we have "civilized" working hours allowing us to spend time with our family.
I wish I could spend more time with my children, 3 hours in the evening seems so little but these are quality hours! Thank God for week-ends and holdidays and all these snuggling time we have.
I am glad to have snuggling kids" who love to cuddle and give me kisses and tell me how much they love me.
Rachel: maman I love you that much
and she opens her arms as wide as she can and I do the same but open my arms even wider.
I am so glad to be a mom and can't but a moment imagine that I could have missed that joy. Thank you to Yossi for making that wish come true.

new game

We have a new game at home, a game they they play with papa.
Natalie loves to climb on her little chair and throws herself on the sofa to Yossi's horror. So he now plays that game with them.
- Natalie, open your arms, spread them like wings and go
- Ok papa
- My turn nown
- OK rachel, wait till Natalie is done and then it will be your turn
and the game goes on for a while, while mom can sit down and enjoy the scene.
Natalie tried to do the same with me and I prefer to leave the game for papa who is very good at it.

Natalie et Rachel jouent a l'avion et se lancent dans les bras de leur papa, j'ai pris qq photos et un clip mais je ne retrouve plus le cable pour les mettre sur le pc et vous les envoyer.

why did those incidents affect me

1) A few weeks ago (in fact during the summer), I visited a friend and we all went to the pool. She has 2 kids too: a 5-year old boy and a 3 1/2-year old girl. As you all know Rachel acts "shy" at the beginning of an encounter and of course she did it again that time and did not want to speak French and insists on speaking English. My friend who is French speaking has succeeded to have her 2nd child speak French all the time and made the following comment which hurt me "leave me Rachel for a week and she will speak French".
She could certainly take her for a week if she really wants to ...
I did not remind her that her daughter went to a Spanish daycare and could not practice that language at home since they do not speak it, that she speaks French with her husband (I don't), that her 2 French speaking girlfriends are always around and serve almost as surrogate mothers, that her 5-year old used to speak English with his sister less than 2 years ago. Yossi said I was too sensitive and maybe I am but I felt that I was being criticized in my role of mother. I made peace with those feelings and feel that it is more important for Rachel to express herself freely in the language she feels most comfortable with. Yes she does mix French words with her English and yes I do keep asking her the meaning of English words/sentences and yes I keep speaking French to them, and yes I did switch from English to French when I speak now to the dog, and yes the girls understand everything I say in French and yes even the dog does understand the basic commands in French.
It feels good to have written it, thank you for giving me that opportunity.

2) Secondly last week-end we went to Emily's birthday party. I meant to arrive there early to give Rachel some time to get out of her initial shyness. But of course I had misplaced the directions, had to download them from the web at the last moment, left later than wanted, got lost and you can imagine my state of mind when we arrived... and Rachel simply refused to participate in the activities with the majority of the little boys/girls she didn't know. I almost turned around and went home, I warned and threatened Rachel that if she did not participate in the activities we would go home. She took my bluff and said: ok, let's go home. My friend Kathleen asked me to stay and we did. Every 2 minutes, one of the many "leaders" would come to Rachel and asked her to join them, which did not work at all. Rachel simply played on her own trying every piece of equipment. I simply felt bad and I could not carry a conversation with my friend Kathleen since I wanted to make sure that Rachel would not break anything, what a great time I had too. Rachel did enjoy her time and was happy afterwards to sit at the table eating pizza and birthday cake and be in front of her friend Emily but Emily was too busy with her friends from the gym and from school to notice her. (That reminds me that Rachel did the same to Emily when she came to play with her and that we all went to the park and Rachel played with our neighbor's daughter who was there and I had to make sure that Emily was not left behind. Emily did ask "isn't Rachel my friend anymore?)

Why did that affect me? Maybe because we did decide not to register Rachel in school this year and knowing that perhaps school would have been good for her.
When I told the story to the lady at the daycare (she loves the lady at the daycare), she simply said: oh yes Rachel has her character and knows what she wants and if she does not feel like doing something, she simply will not do it (mind you she does clean up when I ask her and for me it is good enough).

Ok it is maybe a very good trait of character THAT SHE KNOWS WHAT SHE WANTS and that's what I will believe for now.


School will come soon enough in her life. She will start pre-K next year, behind a few months short of her 5 birthday.

mort de quoi?

I always have loved Disney fairy tales and so does Rachel. But now as a mom I found them sometimes scary for little girls (dead princesses, scary witches, hunter sent to kill snow white in the woods, ...).

These last 2 evenings have been wonderful. A colleague gave me books in French and we have spent a lot of time reading them sitting the 3 of us on the sofa in the living room before their bed time.
When I took them to their bedroom (8pm) Natalie sat on Rachel's bed insisting that I read her another book (more at her level) and Rachel took advantage of these extra minutes to play with her Dora car and her little dog behind the wheels.
- Maman, my dog drives on his own because he does not have his parents, they are dead
- Dead??? dead of what
- Dead of hunger
- ...
I will have to talk to her to find out what she understands about death.


- Maman, mon petit chien (en plastique de 5 cms qu'elle a ramene de la creche) conduit la voiture tout seul car il n'a plus ses parents.
- Pourquoi il n'a plus ses parents
- parce qu'ils sont morts?
- Morts? ... Morts de quoi (oui je sais j'aurais pu dire "comment" mais c'est l'expression qui m'est venue tout de suite)
- hum... morts de faim

Mon dieu, tous ces comptes de fee de blanche neige, de cendrillon ... parfois je me demande si ils ont bien ecrits pour des enfants.

draft mode - be careful

You think I forgot. In fact I thought I was ahead of the game and had already created two posts at the end of October and saved them as "draft" thinking I would use them for the first days of November. When I posted them I forgot to look at the dates and they were saved as Oct. 28 and oct. 29. Oh well
But I did change that and now eveyrhing is in order. There is a post for each day since Nov. 1.

le mois de novembre

ca y est, on est reparti pour un mois de messages quotidiens, c'est le mois de novembre et avec toutes les mamans nous "bloggons" tous les jours et vous apportons les nouvelles de Kensington.

Here we go again. For the 2nd year we will blog everyday (at least I will try) in November. Enjoy

being a mom at 40

First I would like to say that I am very thankful to have you Milk moms in my life, this has been a tremendous wonderful 4-year experience.

Recently I contacted a former classmate from Belgium my mom had run into last year. It was nice to hear form her but I was socked to hear that she already has a son of 25! For an instant it made me feel old but I shook that feeling off right away. Mind you in the evening looking at the children, I told Yossi that we could have been not their parents but their grandparents. He said "yes we could have had them for a few hours during the week and maybe 1 day during the week-end..."

Being a mom at 20 must be nice but being a mom at 40 is wonderful. It made me discover how much my mom went through with 3 kids and love her even more.

Of course there are days when we are tired but Yossi and I are enjoying every little moment spent with them.

C'etait tres sympa d'avoir des nouvelles d'une ancienne copine de classe. Elle a un fils qui a deja 25 ans! Avoir un bebe a 20 ans et etre encore aux etudes, ca a du etre dur.

C'est vrai que Yossi et moi avons commence un peu sur le tard mais nous savourons chaque precieux moment passe avec nos deux petits bouts. Il faut admettre qu'il y a des jours ou nous sommes un peu fatigues mais leur sourirs, eclats de rires, bisous nous le font vite oublier.

Maman, je comprends mieux chaque jour par quoi tu es passee avec nous trois et t'aime d'autant plus.

middle of the night

Last week Rachel woke up in the middle of the night and came to our bedroom wanting to sleep with us. She had a similar passage a few months ago.
I offered to accompany her to her bedroom and put the covers on her and she was fine with it. The good thing is that Natalie slept through it. The last few days have been better and we were able to have a good night sleep.


La semaine derniere Rachel s'est reveillee au milieu de la nuit et est venue dans notre chambre
'maman, je voudrais dormir avec vous"
"je vais te remetre au lit et mettre ta couverture"
"ok maman"
Les dernieres nuits furent plus paisibles.

juste avant de dormir

Le soir elles aiment jouer un peu dans leur chambre. Natalie adore etre dans le lit avec sa soeur et je l'y mets pendant qq minutes.

Before going to bed, they play for a while in their bedroom and Natalie takes advantage to get 5 min in Rachel's bed.

Last Sunday

Dimanche passe nous avons fete les anniversaires des enfants du groupe (10-14h. C'etait super. Les filles se sont bien amusees quoi que plutot assez timides. Elles sont decore des t-shirts et Natalie a voulu faire la sieste avec le sien.

On a achete des potirons pour decorer pour halloween.

Natalie -1ere blague

Natalie nous dit toujours que c'est elle le "bebe" et Rachel est la "grande fille".
Hier soir on jouait dans la chambre ou elle a toujours 1 ou 2 poupees qu'elle appelle bebe et a qui elle donne le biberon (miniature en plastique) .
- "Il est ou le bebe ma cherie?".
- "La!" en pointant son petit doigt sur moi, Maman bebe" et elle s'est mise a rire de bon coeur.
Silly but special moments I don't want to forget

big sister's love

C'est vrai que dans qq mois, elles auront 4 et 2 ans et Mamy Nicole sera la pour feter ca avec nous. C'est le plus beau cadeau d'anniversaire qu'elle puisse nous faire.

Rachel adore jouer avec Natalie et plus particulierement la prendre a bras et sur ses genoux et lui chanter des chansons. Souvent Rachel joue le role de la maman et Natalie et moi sommes ses deux filles, c'est amusant. Hier soir je leur ai lu plein d'histoires en francais et on a joue plus d'une heure dans la chambre en attendant le retour de papa qui etait a la synagogue pour Yom Kippur (nouvelle annee juive).

Ce matin pendant que je m'appretais dans la salle de bains, Natalie voulait etre avec moi et Rachel l'a prise sur ses genoux, s'est assise par terre devant la porte de la salle de bains et lui a caresse les cheveux et le ventre.
Rachel: regarde maman, elle ne pleure plus, elle m'aime bien Natalie.
Moi: Oui, elle t'aime beaucoup, ma cherie

I keep saying that Rachel and Natalie are 3 1/2 and 1/2 but in 3 months they will turn 4 and 2! We are now in the "big sister's love" period. Rachel loves to carry Natalie and have her sit on her laps. Last night Natalie had a hard time to fall asleep and I went back to their bedroom to sing her a song but as soon as I started Rachel stopped me and said "I will do it". She did indeed sing Natalie's favorite song "fais dodo ..." and patted her on the head.This morning while I was getting ready for work, Natalie started wining and Rachel sat down, put her on her laps on caressed her hair and said "See maman, she does not cry anymore, she loves me.""yes ma cherie, she does love you very much."

September already

Rachel and Natlalie love to play together. They chase each other, play hide and seek, or sit on the floor sharing toys.

At night we read a few stories, exchange a ton of kisses and I put the little night light on. Rachel reads a book and talks to Natalie who is laying down hugging her "bebe". All is quiet at 4905 Druid Dr.

language

I do speak French to the girls and Rachel replies either in French or English, it is more often English with some French words I have to admit. When we are just the 2 together, she speaks more French with me, how funny.
I recently visited a friend who does also speak French to her 2 kids (5 1/2 and 3 1/2). She said that Rachel should be speaking French. [I remember that her son at Rachel's age was speaking English to his sister...]. Her youngest speaks very good French but she was in a day-care where no English was spoken. I was hurt and that day Rachel made a special effort for not speaking French (!?).
Anyway, I will not force French on my kids and I am glad that Rachel feels comfortable in English to make long sentences and in French for shorter sentences. I am just happy that they understand both languages and can at 1 1/2 and 3 1/2 express themselves in French and English. I will continue speaking French at home and let them repeat French words/sentences.

Yesterday Rachel told Natalie.
"Natalie, je t'aime beaucoup. Donne-moi un bisou"
and Natalie did give her a kiss.
I was happy to see the bond that these 2 have and that they do once in while speak French to each other.


Last night my mom called from her vacation in Portugal. Rachel was already in bed and I called her to say hi to "mammy Nicole". She did come but refused to speak on the phone. It must have made my mom sad - desolee maman, mais sache que les 15 minutes apres ton coup de fil, Rachel n'a cesse de pleurer et de dire je veux "mamy Nicole". Meme Natalie s'y est mise et disait "mammy Nicole."
I did not want to call you back and wake her everybody up.
I am sure that next time mammy Nicole calls Rachel will rush to the phone to say hi.

holidays with Charlotte

Charlotte est arrivee et les filles sont aux anges.

Aug. 31---Charlotte est repartie mais reviendra on l'espere pour plus longtemps l'annee prochaine pendant les vacances .
On t'attend!

18 months

Natalie turned 18 months 4 days ago. I first stopped nursing her in the morning 1 month ago and this week-end I stopped nursing her at night. She still asks once in a while for "tete" but she is doing well (and so am I). We sit on the rocking chair and we have a wonderful cuddling session while she drinks her milk. It is very nice.

ere des princesses

Rachel a entame une nouvelle phase: celle des princesses et des sirenes.
Tous les soirs je lui lis plusieurs histoires et ce n'est plus chaperon rouge mais Ariel la sirene. Elle a voulu de nouveaux draps de lits avec des princesses, et oui elle grandit notre puce.
Quand Natlie lui prend ses affaires, elle me dit "c'est ok maman".

Bye bye high chair

Rachel' s and Natalie's high chair was a present from their gandma (meme Frida) and I loved that Peg-Perego chair. I will give it to a colleague and I am glad that it will continue to be used by someone I know.
Yossi and I had a little "twitch" in our stomach yesterday when I closed it and when he put it in the trunk of my car. How silly...
The girls are now sitting at the little table (Tinker Bell all over it) and Natalie likes that freedom to sit and pull the table towards her.

growing up

They are growing.. and I feel that they have changed during these last few weeks. Rachel loves to play with her Lego cubes and likes to "pretend".
R: "mon chateau est rouge"
I: "ce n'est pas rouge c'est jaune
R: "maman, just pretend"

Natalie is now repeating what Rachel says, and they play more and more together.
R: "tu veux jouer Natalie"
--no reply
R: allez, tu veux jouer Natalie?"
and finally the two are sprinting in the living room/kitchen. Rachel runs after Natalie and they take turns.

Last evening I took them to the library. Rachel wanted a book with a mermaid. As we were looking at DVDs, Rachel asked me what I was looking for and I told her I was checking if they had the French language option.
Rachel: "Natalie not this one, c'est pas en francais". Maman veut en francais"
I: "merci ma cherie".

English/francais

quelle langue parles-tu avec papa Rachel?
'English"
quelle langue parles-tu avec maman Rachel?
'fancais"

17 months today

That's it. Today is the day. 12 teeth, a huge smile, hair landing into your eyes, that our Natalie.
She has experienced the potty and I sit her 2 or 3 times a day. We have had some luck so far and it surprised her and made her proud.

Rachel is battling some fever today. It started yesterday when I picked her up. She had a big lunch and complained of her tummy. She was cold and very tired. We all cuddle on the sofa eating cackers. Around 7pm, she fell asleep on the sofa and at 9.30pm Yossi carried her to her bed. She ended up in our bed early this morning and we somewhat managed to sleep. Last week, the same thing happened but then she threw up in the evening. The next morning she was slightly better and by the end of that day she was fine. This morning I had to come to work and Yossi took her to the day care, she was better already but was still a little bit warm. Pauvre cherie.

stopping nursing - I don't think so

Early this week Natalie was sick. She had a few blisters in her mouth and could not nurse.
Was nursing over? Was I sad or happy I am not sure.
On the third day she felt better and asked to nurse and she did and to my surprise I still had milk. The end hasn't come yet.
This morning she woke up with a stuffy nose and I was happy to be able to nurse her and calm her down. She felt asleep in my arms nursing.

May pictures

Natalie turns 17 months

You are now walking, running, smiling, laughing, talking, yelling and you are still enjoying your morning and night nursing sessions and so am I.

You are a very funny little girl. I say little but I do not know exactly how tall you are since I missed your 15-month check. We will find out next month.

You love to eat and it is a pleasure to watch you eating. You don’t want me to help you anymore. Eating with your fingers seems to be fun but you have now mastered the use of the fork and spoon.
You were a very shy baby and still are but you will let our friends pick you up and play with you.
You love playing with water and enjoy the sandbox in our backyard. You even played once with Heidi’s water bowl when I was not looking. You feed Heidi (6-year German Sheppard) and you do a good job and she sits patiently while you pour her breakfast or dinner.

You want to sit on the sofa or join your sister on the rocking chair to watch tv.
You think that hitting is fun and you cry when I yell “NO”, then caress my arm and give me a kiss. When you fall or bump into something, you point to the object and say “no no no no” and it takes care of it.

You bring me clean clothes from the drawer in the bedroom but put them back when I ask you. You put your dirty diaper in the trash.

You think that running around naked is the way to go and I can not blame you.
You used to tell me when you had done #2 and I appreciated it tremendously. We started experimenting with the potty in the morning and we have had some good days.

You love your sister and run to her when she cries and give her a big hug. You do the same with the baby at the daycare.

You and your sister Rachel share the same bedroom and you delight in your sister’s stories, songs and her yelling “Natalie”.

Right now you re in love with your “bebe”. You feed it, hug it, kiss it and push it around in the stroller and scream if Rachel tries to take it away.

In the morning you want to wake up Rachel but when I say that she is sleeping, you put your little finger on your lips and say "shuut". If you hear some noise in our bedroon, you immediatly call "papa" which makes him proud and happy.

We went back and forth about expanding the family after having Rachel and I can say that we are SOOOO glad that we did.

Photos to follow
We love you babusha

A day @Auntie Kay at the Chesapeake Bay