A blog full of memories
Caprice du temps Humagne Blanc. A wine varietal native to Valais,Switzerland, my father-in-law–Hughes Clavien–is renowned for his rendition of this wine. It also happens to be his favourite and he is often heard saying: “Humange Blanc: toute la nuit, toute la vie!” (Humange Blanc: all night long, all life long). We often drink this wine …
Well..we have some BIG NEWS. B.I.G. We’ve been telling everybody by phone, but now it is offically on the blog. Jman is diaper-free. Ever since we moved into our house, he was right away interested to use the potty. Then, right after his third birthday, he decided: No more pampers (“Pas de pampers, Maman. Plus“). …
Jman comes over to the table and puts a wee spec of ooze on it. “Regardez Maman. C’est quoi ça?” “Look Mummy. What is this?” I look down, inspect it and ask: “I’m not sure Little Bear. Where did you find it?” “Dans mon nez!” “In my nose!” Hmmmm….
You know your child is becoming bilingual when he says: “A is for pomme!”
“Poopies don’t live in your bum. Poopies don’t live in your diapers. Where do poopies live?” “La maison des poopies!” “And where is the maison des poopies?” “La toilette!”
I saw this bill board today walking home from downtown today. I don’t know about you, but really, the only thing it does for me is disappoint me. I am not really a fan of Lee jeans. I found my brand a long time ago (you know–when you can go into a store, tell them …
My mum is a quilter. She lives in Whitehorse, Yukon and has been quilting since the late 1980s. (When she reads this blog post, she will tell me the exact date and the exact project she started working on.) She quilts for a number of reasons: to express her creativitiy, for the company (of other …
Both M-pants and Jman are growing up so fast. I have this quote: “The days are long, but the years are short.” I thought I should at least start recording progress. M-pants likes books right now. Especially those simple books with one picture on each page. He likes the interactive book T’choupi et Dou-dou–the one …
How many stories are there about that pinot noir quote in Sideways? How many people did it resonate with? I know I was one of them. Bear with me, it is a good story. When I first met my husband, we were colleagues working in a start up in California. At that time, he was …
Memorable day today: M-pants took about seven step by himself. He is definitely walking now. Jman climbed up the play structure for big kids (a number of times), by himself, and slid down the big kid’s slide. Then, he climbed up the slide (a number of times), and slid down again. The slide was at …
Is it a prophecy? We bought them at the Reynolds-Alberta Museum on our visit to Alberta. The school bus is Jman’s (based on his facination with them). The Corvette is actually M-pants’s–but he doesn’t know it yet. I just think it’s great that these two vehicles are the ones that Jman plays with the most.
Random story from our trip: we went to the big dinosaur museum (Royal Tyrell) in Drumheller, AB. A world class museum on dinosaurs. What caught the Jman’s interest? A school bus! We even had to go say hello to it. Luckily enough, the driver was still aboard. She let him board and sit in the …
I told Jman today to look up when he walked. He seems always to be looking down at his feet. He bumps into things left, right, and centre. I said if he looked up he would see where he was going and he wouldn’t bump his head as much. He looked up. Way up. To …
Jman came dancing out of his room today–without his diaper on. “Pee-pee Maman. Pee-pee!” I glanced up from my laptop and absently asked: “Great Jman. Pee-Pee. Do you have to go pee-pee?” A bit excited as we have been telling him about the toilet and potties lately. And asking if he wants to use the …
I have been remembering my friend Carol lately as I try to exercise a bit each day and get my pre-pregnancy body back. Carol and her husband were my neighbours in Healdsburg. They once took me on a ski trip to Tahoe. I was 32. They were 55 (ish). They have exercised at least one …
I am a Mum. I am allowed to brag…a bit. No? The other day we were out walking. I was pushing M-pants in the baby buggy and Johnny brought his scooter. He is just starting to get good on it, but he doesn’t know how to brake. We paused at the top of his uncle’s …
I had an interview in Geneva recently. I felt it went well with the hiring manager but am skeptical about how it went with the HR person. She asked me those questions that nobody likes to answer, and I wasn’t prepared for them. One of them was: “What one word would you use to describe …
Jman is in his independent stage. He wants to do things himself: from eating to brushing his teeth. “Moi faire” he says. “Moi faire”. Which roughly translates to: Me do. Me do. I love it.
Yesterday, everybody went to the store to get dinner–even Ludo. We were both exhausted and just wanted to pick up a pizza or something easy. As we walked in, there was smoked salmon on sale. We llllooovvvveee smoked salmon. We put it in the basket. We went around the store picking up some chocolates for …
Jman’s nose has been running it seems since September. Occasionally, we get a few days when it is not running. But then he goes to crèche again and brings home another virus or two. Every time Ludo wipes it, he tells Jman: “Ton nez coquin! C’est embettant, non?” “Your naughty nose! It’s tiresome, eh? (I …
We are driving along in the car (going to a friend’s for the morning) and I have Pink’s latest cd playing. At the end of the second song (Blow Me (One Last Kiss)), Jman shouts: “Bravo” and claps his hands! I was playing it a bit loudly. It is kind of a catchy tune. I …
Tonight, after Jman finished his dinner, he got down from his chair and walked over to the wine fridge. “Vin. Maman. Vin.” He demanded. “Wine. Mummy. Wine.” We laughed and told him he couldn’t have any wine. Wine isn’t for little boys. I turned back to the stove and finished dishing out Ludo’s and my …
Ever since my 41st birthday a few weeks ago, I look in the mirror every morning and ask myself: “Could you be taking better care of your skin?” I am not one to buy a whole lot of make up and skin care products. I usually just use a gentle liquid soap (in Canada and …
I made the J-man gnocchi for dinner tonight. I just boiled a bit of water and slid them in. I waited for them to cook in the water for one minute (according to the package instructions) then I strained them and added sauce. I don’t know if it is a sense of spring but he …
