Chez Nous

Fall into Christmas

2012-01-17T00:31:00.006-05:00

I've plenty of catching up to do. Let's start with Halloween.

Camille and I were princess butterfly fairies and Remi was a crusty Frenchman, complete with a crusty baguette.

We went out trick or treating with our next door neighbors. Their daughter Ava, who is a few months younger than Camille, was dressed up as the world's cutest ghostbuster.

We had some photo shoots out by the arroyo.

Then, we were in Black Mountain with my family for Thanksgiving.

These two always pick right back up where they left off, like they've been apart a few days instead of a few months.

My sisters and I ran a 5k with our friend Courtney.

Christmas card photo. The year of the awesome shoes.

People watching in Black Mountain.

Back home we did some hiking in the snow.

Camille's letter to Santa

This is our advent house

Our gingerbread house

And our real house, dusted with snow.

The Christmas eve-eve bird.

Camille starting in on the soup.

And our awesome tree, loaded with presents.

Christmas morning.

Camille and her new "bebe qui parle"

What Santa left for Maman.

Christmas day Camille had a couple of hours to play with Santa's gifts before we hopped on a plane for France. Next update will be France pictures.

For now...

Merry Christmas! Joyeux Noel!!

Home

2011-10-26T23:34:00.002-04:00

We found a wonderful house in the Northeast part of Albuquerque, in the foothills of the Sandia Mountains. We're all settled now, and starting to forget we ever left Albuquerque. It'll be a rambling post, just want to hit the highlights of our first couple of months in our new home.

Camille loves having a yard to play in.

Her new velo, a present for giving up diapers!

This was taken from the patio.

Another view from our patio, early snow on the mountain.

We enjoy the occasional ice cream.

We've scouted out all the good playgrounds in town.

Camille started going to preschool two days a week, for three hours a day. She loves it! These are the kids in her school (it's tiny! she has 3 kids in her class.) In this picture you can tell she likes to hang with the bigger kids. The school is about a 15 minute walk from the house, in a church.

Getting ready for school.

We hit the state fair, where the burritos serve a family of three with leftovers.

Then my parents came in town to visit while Remi spent a week in France for work. Camille and I took them to Santa Fe.

I love this sculpture, it's called "Yard Dog"

A late afternoon on the arroyo green space behind our house.

Our friends Nate and Carrie came to visit, we took them to the balloon fiesta.

Camille was impressed.

Halloween Prep.

Here we are at the zoo, Albuquerque has a first rate collection, including lots of giant cats. That's my favorite part, and Camille's too since the baby snow leopards have been on display.

This mountain lion is humongous!

Our great next door neighbors invited us to celebrate their daughter's second birthday. There was a bouncy castle, Camille looooved it.

Then more recently we went on a hike in the Pecos National forest. It was breathtakingly beautiful with the aspens turning and snow already on the mountaintops.

We'll leave you with the Trader Joe's boogie

And one last bit of good news, Remi became an American citizen last week! It's a wonderful accomplishment for him, he's happy to expand his passport collection, and I'm happy we won't have to worry about renewing his greencard!

Citizen of the world.

The move

2011-10-03T23:50:00.001-04:00

Following are some pictures of our move from New York to Albuquerque. Camille and I spent a couple of weeks in Asheville in between, while Rémi took care of the move.

On the airplane.

My grandmother met us at the Atlanta airport with my Dad, and drove to Asheville with us.

In Asheville, where we stayed with my parents and spent a lot of time with my older sister and her family.

My little sister came to visit too during our trip. Here she and Camille are playing in a tent my parents set up in their playroom.

The two cousins at the Nature Center.

Mimi and Pops' house in Black Mountain (just outside of Asheville) has a great big porch.

Then we flew to meet Rémi in Albuquerque.

We stayed at a corporate apartment for the first three weeks, the pool was awesome.

My parents came to visit for a week during that time, to help out.

We did some playgrounding,

Hiking

And other miscellaneous suburban stuff.

And at the beginning of September, baby Maggie was born!

Pictures of the new house coming next, and Camille's new preschool!

Les temps a dire au revoir

2011-09-15T10:36:00.003-04:00

In the 2+ months since my last post, so much has changed! We've moved (since 2 years seems to be our limit for staying in one city, we really had no choice) back to Albuquerque. We spent the month of July saying our long goodbyes to Brooklyn, and then headed back west.

We'll miss our favorite haunts, of course.

The Gardens

The Playground

Prospect Park

Our Bakeshop (Macarons, myum!)

But we will miss most our friends...

The last couple of weeks in New York we also celebrated Fathers' Day,

had a visit from my Dad,

and took a road trip to Connecticut to visit a great Kids' museum and aquarium

Bye bye Brooklyn! Pictures and videos from our new home soon.

Cousin Time

2011-06-25T16:00:00.000-04:00

Camille and I spent a week in Asheville at the end of May visiting my parents at their new house, and my sister and her family who live there too. After that, Remi met us and we went to the beach with my parents, sisters and their families at the beginning of June. Of course it was a great trip, the first one where Camille and her cousin Julia really got to know each other.

I remember snuggling with my mom like this too.

Little swimmer!

Checking out the turtles in the lake.

Harmonica + Car = happy ride for Camille and no body else.

Back at home we went to the Natural History Museum in Manhattan, Camille loves it there, we all do.

Had to take a break to change Madeleine's diaper.

Stampede!

I'll end with a close up of the cute Eiffel Tower hat that my friend Anna gave Camille. It's the stylish french toddler's summer essential.

Getting warmer

2011-05-21T23:30:00.005-04:00

A small post to catch up on the last couple of weeks. We've had some nice spring weather, and we profited.

Camille is scheduled to start preschool in the fall at the Brooklyn Waldorf School. They put on a May Day festival in Fort Green park. All the parents helped make crowns for the kids, Camille wore hers for about 3 minutes.

Then I put it on.

Playing with the big girls.

Of course there was ice cream.

Here Camille is playing with her buddy Caroline at the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens.

Camille is finally taking the advice Caroline loves to give her: "Relax, Camille!"

We've been doing our best to incorporate ice cream into our schedules whenever possible. (Those cows are free-range and grass-fed, so that means you can eat as much as you want, right?)

Just plain silliness.

Mothers Day Rémi and Camille made me breakfast in bed, then we spent the day in the city and walked home over the Brooklyn Bridge.

Everyday Camille helps out in the kitchen. Here she's helping me snap some beans, I think my Mema would be proud if she could see this skill.

Here Camille's modeling the new bathing suit my parents sent us. We're headed to Asheville tomorrow to visit Mimi and Pops, then we'll go with my family to the beach the following week, and this bathing suit will have it's actual premiere.

Finally Spring

2011-05-04T09:26:00.000-04:00

We have some friends that live at the Brooklyner, a very tall building in downtown Brooklyn that has amazing views of Manhattan from its rooftop deck. We spent a few jaw dropping minutes hanging out there a couple of weeks ago.

Below, some ballet moments.

This is taken in Camille's dance classroom at the Mark Morris Dance School after everyone else had left. It's always a little hard to drag her away from all those mirrors.

With Hank at the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens

These two love holding hands.

Hat sharing with Caroline at Prospect Park.

Then dancing in front of the Brooklyn Museum.

The girls love the water sculpture out front of the Museum,

and this tepee inside.

There was an Easter Egg Hunt in Fort Green Park that we went to with Hank, June and Anna. Camille was uncharacteristically unafraid of the bunny, and found a ton of eggs. It was a cold day, but a good one.

Hank in seersucker! He can really pose for a picture.

Easter Sunday we went to our neighborhood bakery for goodies.

Les gateaux!

Her Easter dress got it's Trader Joe's debut.

And to leave you, some sleepy pictures,

And below, a sample of Camille's American Idol audition video. (For the Record, she's never seen Beauty and the Beast, she just likes this song.) This is also pretty much the most concentrated English you'll hear from her.

Whirlygig

2011-03-29T20:50:00.002-04:00

Camille is a creature shunted hither and yon by her many whimsies which vary only in the severity of their girlishness. Since I am a fairly down to earth, blue-jeans-wearing, ponytail type of woman, I have been surprised to see how strong is the sway of all things pink, ruffly, and twirly on my daughter. Lately and predictably she is obsessed with all things ballerine. She chanced to see some Youtube clips of the Nutcracker and since then she asks me regularly to play the music so she can do her own little dance. It's from the tornado, karate-chop school of ballet, but what she lacks in fluidity, I think she makes up for in style. Below are a couple of examples, in the first she's online with her Papy and Mammie, Remi's parents.

My parents brought this dress for Camille, it's one I used to wear. I guess my mom had trouble getting me to take it off as a girl, so enamored was I with it's ruffliness. That story gives me hope for Camille, it's just a phase (it's just a phase it's just a phase it's just a phase.)

Play-doh time, baby gets a bow too.

Another ballerina skirt, but not as pink as the other one, so not her favorite.

P-R-I-S-S-Y

This was the day Remi got back from a long trip to San Diego.

We still can't seem to get any good weather up here. We've had a handful of nice days in March, but mostly when we have a sunny day it's still very cold. And more often we've had rain and lots of wind.

A very rare family nap.

The following are just some silly iPhone pictures, she's looking at herself while making these faces. We're hanging out in the vintage phone booths on the second floor of the Central branch of the Brooklyn Public Library, which is happily just up the road from us. The walls are blue leather.

As I've mentioned before, Camille helps me cook pretty much every day.

Ok, so sometimes she's not actually helping.

Every Saturday before her French playgroup, Camille polishes off a chocolate croissant the size of her head at Joyce's (our neighborhood bakery, arguably the best thing about living here). She gets a good, double handed grip and dives right in. Of course she usually ends up with as much on her face as in her tummy.

Remi teaches a class on Thursday nights and doesn't get home until Camille is asleep, so this is one way they get to hang out a little together before bedtime.

All the kids at the playground want this look.

Here's Camille and the adorable Caroline, her best friend.

As is evident in this video, Caroline has some smooth moves of her own.

With Caroline at the zoo.

We went to the Natural History Museum one Saturday.

This picture I took in the Halls of Minerals and Gems, one of the coolest and usually least crowded parts of the museum. It's a toddler paradise with tons of stairs and ramps and pretty rocks to look at.

I can't get enough of those dioramas, I could look and look all day. Camille moves at a less appreciative clip in the museum, unfortunately, and we're usually breaking our necks just to keep up.

She was pooped on the way home.

Mimi and Pops' visit

2011-03-08T21:35:00.006-05:00

In what will I'm sure end up being the highlight of our month, my parents came to visit us for a week. Remi and I got a long-awaited night on the town, and Camille got all the spoiling and loving she could handle. I'll tell you what I didn't get though: enough pictures!

On the street with Pops.

Here we're all sitting at our neighborhood creamery on one of the warmer days. There was just a tease of spring in the air, enough to make you think "ice cream!" Unfortunately, all of Prospect Heights had the same idea and turned out at 4pm (prime ice-cream hour) for a scoop. It was nonetheless an awesome summer preview.

Seriously! This look will get a smile from the toughest Brooklyner.

We had a few tea parties.

On Wednesday we took advantage of my parents car and went to the Bronx Zoo. Many of the animals were not on display because of the cold, but we saw enough to keep us talking about it for months. We went with my friend Anna and her son Hank who is just a few months older than Camille and her new baby June.

It was so great to have two extra sets of eyes to watch the kids, and two extra sets of legs to chase them down!

I think Mimi and Pops enjoyed the zoo as much as we did.

Up close with the turtle.

Look at this converse couple! I should be getting some endorsement dollars for this pic, it's so stinking cute. Hank is Camille's only guy friend and she just loves him. The feeling is pretty mutual, I was too busy laughing to get it on film, but Hank went in for the mouth kiss more than once. Camille still gives a very shy smile when asked about that.

I'll leave you with Camille's latest masterpiece. She did this all by herself, and only showed me when she was done. Nevermind the poor guy's got two noses, three eyes and about twenty ears, c'est pas mal, n'est-ce pas?

February

2011-02-25T16:37:00.000-05:00

No big happenings to document here, just a bunch of little moments that add up to a low key, lovely February.

Just learned how to wink.

This little banjo was her V-day gift, she calls it a guitare.

Baby wearing

We went to the Transit Museum last week with Nate, who gave Camille this peluche to bring along.

It's a great museum, in a re-purposed subway station near downtown Brooklyn. At the lowest level of the station, where one would have normally caught the train, there are a bunch of parked subway cars, all actual trains from the last hundred years. It was such accessible, tactual history. Camille loved running through the trains, I loved imagining what the passengers who sat on those same seats were like.

The rat seemed to feel right at home.

I normally do NOT let her do this on the subway, I promise.

They also had buses that the kids could get in and drive.

After leaving the museum we walked around under the Brooklyn Bridge by the water, where there was still some snow.

Then we got pizza. Museum trolling always makes me hungry, I guess Camille too - she polished off that giant slice by herself.

This is at our playground, where people bring their used baby/kid toys to share. Of course Camille wouldn't have been caught dead in a bouncer seat like this as an infant.

We had another late snowstorm, just when we thought Spring was here. It was pretty to look at, if unwelcome.

We're lucky to live just a couple of blocks from Brooklyn's Central Library. It's been a winter refuge for us.

Round 2

2011-02-11T08:50:00.001-05:00

Camille turned 2 a couple of weeks ago and my parents came in town for the fete. It was a nice island of celebration in the midst of a long winter. I'll take any excuse to celebrate my amazing little girl, who gets every day cuter, smarter and more fun to be around.

The birthday girl eating "choux."

With Mimi, Pops and a new baby.

The celebration at her playgroup, the moms all made a birthday wish for her, it was really special.

We've had boatloads of snow!

Snowy-day-stuck-inside activity #1, stuffed animal inventory.

#2, Play-doh.

#3, Kitchen time! She's a whiz with a whisk, and a pretty good helper in general, even if things can get a little messy at times.

Here's the stuffy nose birthday princess.

Julia got her this great get-up.

Sleeping late (so rare I had to get the camera out). Still a little baby after all.

The Holiday

2011-01-14T23:22:00.001-05:00

We spent three weeks with my family this Christmas, leaving New York in mid December and coming back after a conference Rémi had in Atlanta the first week in January. Christmas morning, Camille got a beautiful table and chairs from my parents, and a cute tea set. We gave her that robot and apron. She spent hours pouring that robot tea, and we all had Christmas breakfast around the little table.

Earlier in the week we had breakfast with Aunt Jami.

With Papa on Christmas eve.

Here Camille is helping to prepare for guests, my mom's side of the family joined us on the day after Christmas.

Rémi plays cards with some of my cousins, aunts and uncles, and Camille's uncle Andy in the Santa hat.

Rémi with his good luck charm. She was watching the play so intently.

Pops shelling a walnut for Camille. He did this a lot this holiday, just like he did for me as a girl.

Family story time.

Watching the snow and waiting for Julia to arrive.

When the cousins are finally together, they both want to head directly to the playroom in the basement.

My parents bought us all tickets to the Georgia Aquarium for Christmas. It was such a highlight of the holiday, the girls LOVED it, we all did. I think Rémi and I were both behind the camera for the above picture.

Whale Shark!

There is a giant theater-style portal with a wall of glass two feet deep, two stories high and 60+ feet wide separating viewers from the most amazing, enormous fish. It's a jaw dropper.

This audience was torn between looking at the two girls and looking at the fish.

Of course, Camille wanted to touch everything, even when she said "berk!"

Playtime back at the house with Grandmother.

Right after this video, Julia said "Camille get down?".

Snuggle time with Pops.

For new year's, we drove to Niki and Nick's house just outside of Asheville. The weather was pretty bad, but we had a great time playing with all Julia's new Christmas toys.

Then, just before coming home, I celebrated my 31st birthday.

C'est le Père Noël!

2010-12-16T23:43:00.000-05:00

Santa came a little early this year and gave Camille a kitchen. She woke up asking for her present from Pere Noel and was not disappointed.

She likes it!

We did some baking later in the week, Camille is an expert egg beater.

Since we'll be in Atlanta for most of the holiday season, we didn't get a real Christmas tree. This construction paper substitute seems to have symbolically filled the void for Camille.

Cheesey Cheese.

No comment really needed here.

Putting the money in the laundry machine is always a highlight of our day.

It was very cold outside.

This is Camille's adorable friend Caroline. She invited us over to play this week, notice Camille came right in and made herself at home with Caroline's baby.
Good thing Caroline was such a gracious hostess!

Snack time.

Roll around on the floor time.

Bisous et

Joyeux Noël!

To be thankful for

2010-12-07T21:15:00.001-05:00

I had a tough time picking the lead picture for this post, that tells me I have plenty to be thankful for. The sheer abundance of sweet, beautiful moments like the one above makes them easy to take for granted. That's why I love Thanksgiving, what a wonderful holiday. Not only do we get to spend time with our family, eat great food, and kick off the holiday season, but also we get this other side effect, the reminder to be grateful for our passing lives. Here Camille is playing in her sun-flooded window.

Dressed up in my hat and scarf. Petite Maman.

Airborne tea party, headed to Hartsfield.

Playing with Julia at Mimi and Pops house. The morning after this was taken, Camille woke up with a fever and was very sick for the rest of the trip. Not surprisingly, a few days after Camille, Julia came down with the same sickness. Hard not to regret putting them in the same office chair! But they were soooo cute.

Crunching leaves.

We took a long walk along my favorite trail to scatter Will's ashes in the creek where he loved to play. This is one of my favorite places in the world.

Back home and ready to go to dance class.

Of Late

2010-11-18T20:49:00.003-05:00

While in Macon for my grandfather's funeral, we had some good time with my family (here with Pops). I took this picture through a screen door, that's why it looks so cool.

Camille hanging out on my Mema's beautiful embroidered couch.

Fun time with Aunt Kiki and Jooyah.

At Mimi and Pops' house, Camille helped carve the pumpkin. I think she was a little grossed out when she looked inside.

"Let's just keep that top on there."

Back at home and headed to school on a rainy day.

Camille had her first ballet class last week.

Practicing at home before.

She's was so great in class, a natural.

Here we are at the playground one cold morning.

Not sure if this is how the balance beam works.

On the double slide with Papa.

Our local playground got a nod from Rick Moody in the NY Times here.

Representin'

Fall in Prospect Park

In Memoriam - Newsome Corbitt, my Grandfather

2010-11-02T08:51:00.005-04:00

May 5, 1927 - October 24, 2010

I am not resigned to the shutting away of loving hearts in the hard ground.
So it is, and so it will be, for so it has been, time out of mind:
Into the darkness they go, the wise and the lovely. Crowned
With lilies and with laurel they go; but I am not resigned.

Lovers and thinkers, into the earth with you.
Be one with the dull, the indiscriminate dust.
A fragment of what you felt, of what you knew,
A formula, a phrase remains, --- but the best is lost.

The answers quick & keen, the honest look, the laughter, the love,
They are gone. They have gone to feed the roses. Elegant and curled
Is the blossom. Fragrant is the blossom. I know. But I do not approve.
More precious was the light in your eyes than all the roses in the world.

Down, down, down into the darkness of the grave
Gently they go, the beautiful, the tender, the kind;
Quietly they go, the intelligent, the witty, the brave.
I know. But I do not approve. And I am not resigned.

- Edna St. Vincent Millay

Brooklyners

2010-10-21T01:34:00.000-04:00

We've had a few quiet weeks around here, some time to settle into our new home. We were happy to learn that there is a ton of stuff to do with a kid in our neighborhood.

One Saturday we spent some time in the childrens' section of Prospect Park. There's a nice little zoo and an incredible old-school outdoor carousel.

The highlight of the zoo was the sea lion exhibit. Camille LOVED this guy, and didn't stop bringing him up for days afterward. This posed a tiny problem for me, since the french word for sea lion ("phoque") sounds a lot like another word in English that you wouldn't want coming out of your toddler's mouth. Especially not with such enthusiasm.

At the carousel.

As the ride got going faster, she got a little scared and decided to hold on to Remi instead of the horse. It really went fast, and the music was too loud for her. I think we'll wait a few months before we try it again. But I completely loved it!

Here we are at Blue Marble, an off-the-hook ice cream place that is so dangerously close to our apartment. Camille is obsessed with glace au chocolat. No idea where she gets that from.

Yummy.

Back at home. I know what you're thinking, with this kind of support, it's shocking that the Braves couldn't make it past the playoffs.

This is Camille is "helping" me with the dishes.

Here Camille's doing her Pops impersonation, which I have to tell you is spot-on. I can just hear my dad telling her "good morning precious"

Witness an alarming understanding of the credit card zip process.

Antics.

School/Life Begins in Brooklyn

2010-09-28T09:01:00.002-04:00

Appearances aside, Camille was ebullient on her first day of school. She's going to the Brooklyn Waldorf School one day a week for 2 hours with me in tow, so it's not really a major milestone, more of a ceremonial one. Anyway, I dressed her up like the real thing, and on a perfectly cool, cloudy September day we set off for school.

Here's the real picture, once I requited the baby, whose absence caused all the fuss.

The class meets in the most charming, doll-house of a garden apartment near Fort Green park. There's a big sunny room full of wooden toys, hand knit baby dolls, eight or so toddlers and like minded parents.

Camille was busy in the kitchen most of the morning, until it was time to wash hands and make bread. I mean really make bread, all the kids had a little dough to work, then we put it all in a pan and the teacher took it to the oven. The rest of the morning we played with the unbelievable smell of the baking bread filling us all with well-being. We ate the warm bread for snack with sliced apples and almond butter, and it was all very sublime and idyllic.

Here she is exploring the hallway and the front door, just before snack.

Also that week, one of Remi's closest, oldest friends (also a best man at our wedding, Seb) came to visit from Paris.

Seb's a tough guy, actually once while we were walking someone (jokingly?) asked if he was our bodyguard.

But don't let him fool you, he was a big softie with Camille who absolutely adored him.

Here Remi and Camille are practicing their grimaces. Camille is actually getting pretty good at her "mean face" and Remi, well, he's like the guru of grimaces.

I'll leave you with some more sweet first-day pictures. I am in love with this little ensemble, a gift from France. The buttons on her white shirt are wood, a little canary, umbrella and flower, and all the details on the jumper are leather. I'm sure that in 20 years we'll all cringe when we look at these, but for now, c'est trop jolie!

At Summer's End: Albuquerque

2010-09-20T13:24:00.001-04:00

We had a wonderful time in Albuquerque, it felt a little like being home again. We took a weekend trip to Durango with our friends Robert and Holly and their daughter Mira.

We hiked* one of Durango's beautiful trails.

*Toddler definition of hike: to walk about 1/10th of a mile at an excruciatingly slow pace, reach a creek and spend a half hour or so skipping rocks.

We also went into the small town and did some tourism, including the excellent railroad museum. Durango still has an operating coal-fired steam engine train that is significantly more impressive than your average New York City subway car.

Mira is just a few months older than Camille and they got along really well.

Back in Albuquerque we hit the aquarium with Camille's friend Shreya and her mom, Varsha.

Camille did some suburban-kid stuff, like play in the garage,

and ride in this car with Garfield outside the Babies R Us.

And we spent some memorable evenings with our former neighbors and good friends Jurg and Kathy. Camille was in LOVE with their adorable kitty, Fiona. Actually, the affection was kind of mutual.

Summer Recap: Part 2, the long layover

2010-09-16T15:15:00.004-04:00

Remi went to Australia at the end of July for 10 days, so Camille and I decided to go to Atlanta in the meantime, and meet him in Albuquerque. We were able to see my parents, grandparents and sisters.

The complete cultural immersion works like a charm on her English, it seems that, all things considered, we needn't have worried.

Cracking up with Mimi, typically.

With Pops on a motorcycle, typically.

I love this picture.

Here's the real one, with my Grandaddy and his wife Ernie, three of my cousins on the right, Daniel, Jordan and Chase, and my Aunt Susan kneeling in front of my Grandaddy.

Mutual affection.

Eating with her Great Grandmother.

Here she did some dancing with my cousin Dave.

Happy baby in the car.

Look at that guilty expression.

The two cousins really played well together.

At the pool with Mimi, I love this picture. Niki has the coolest pool close to her house with fountains and beautiful mountains in the background. We were only able to stay a few minutes before it started pouring, you can see the impending storm in this picture.

Loss

2010-09-06T21:25:00.003-04:00

With the heaviest hearts, we are mourning the death of our wonderful dog, Will. He died two weeks ago, leaving us in such shock and sadness, that Remi and I are both still bursting into tears on a fairly regular basis. He was our friend, protector, listener, our beloved. For the last ten years he's been my near constant companion and it seems that in saying goodbye to him I'm also walking away from my childhood in a sense, and the silly idea that you never have to say goodbye. In short, we're pretty much just plain ole heartbroken around here, grateful for every minute we had with him, but so sad to say goodbye. Since everyone he's ever met has loved him, I thought I'd post a bunch of pictures of our beautiful, loyal, snuggly, baby-tolerating beastie.

May he rest in peace in a world full of creeks, sunshine and tennis balls.

The Summer Slowdown, a recap in parts

2010-07-17T13:49:00.018-04:00

The title really refers only to a slowdown in the blog world, since every other part of our lives has been busier than ever the last couple of months. After coming back from the beach with my family we were home about a week and a half, then headed to France for about 10 days. Then we were back in NY for a couple of weeks until Remi had to go to Australia for work, and Camille and I went to Atlanta for two weeks. Now, as I'm writing this, the New Mexican sun is streaming in to the apartment that we're renting for the month of August. Remi is doing some work with Sandia Labs in Albuquerque, so we're all out here for the month. What with all the hustle and bustle, there just hasn't been time to document this crazy chapter in our lives. Rather than leave it out of our (blog) story outright, I thought I'd just take it step by step, hitting the highlights.

First, France:

Camille in her grandparent's garden.

Dancing with her great grandmother.

With her great grandparents, Jacques and Muguette.

Playing at this awesome pool close to Remi's parents' house.

And her aunt Chloe.

La Bonne Mamy.

Back at home, she played in these boxes for a while.

And tried out a new hairstyle.

La Mer

2010-06-12T11:44:00.001-04:00

Camille loves the beach!

She was so daring in the ocean.

And the pool!

That's a Stephens grimace.

Covered in sand!

Uncle Didi and Aunt Jamiamy

Beautiful Julia

Good lookin' family.

Mimi and Pops on the hammock (also Cloud 9)

Camille's first driving lesson with Pops.

Jolie comme un coeur.

Playing in the beach house.

This is Camille's Airport Dance.

Since we've been back, it's been business (playing) as usual.

This was taken at a playgroup Camille has visited a couple of times with Ana.

At our coffee shop, what a big girl!

Behemoth

2010-05-27T13:30:00.002-04:00

I hate getting behind! You go somewhere for a couple of weeks and all of a sudden there are about ten different posts you wish you would have uploaded in a well-spaced and timely way. Instead, if you're me, you just cram it all in to a rambling, over-sized post that your average reader would never finish. Anyway, if for posterity's sake only, here's a big one.

As advertised, a few pics from when we went to the Natural History Museum about five years ago. Camille was enraptured the whole time.

Once we let her walk around it was impossible to get a photo of her, she was moving so fast from one diorama to another.

We stopped on Park to smell the tulips.

On the way home.

The next weekend we went to breakfast on the west side, a one hundred-year-old restaurant called Barney Greengrass. Great bagels.

Then we went to see a Dan Zanes concert at the Met with Camille's best friend in New York, Ana, and her mom and dad, Laura and Sean.

After the concert we played in the park for a while. Ana shared her snacks with Camille.

These girls are so sweet together! Notice how Camille apprehended the snack trap. I'm hoping Ana's giving nature will rub off a little on my hedonist.

Then it was cousin time...

We all went to LaGuardia at the same time, and Remi went one way (to Chicago for business) and Camille and I another (my parents' house in Georgia). He had two business trips back to back, Chicago then Paris, so Camille and I decided to go hole up with Mimi and Pops, and clock some time with her cousin, who also came to visit.

Awkward family photo, this one won't make the Christmas card.

Julia is a character, look at those eyes!

This girl is obsessed with her Mimi and Pops. Mostly because they let her go wherever she wanted to, whenever she wanted to.

They made her laugh.

And she made them laugh.

They installed this awesome baby swing for her and Julia.

Aunt Jami was also a big hit.

And Uncle Andy.

Oh yeah, and I was there too.

One highlight of the trip was seeing Camille's Great Grandfather and his wife.

My Granddaddy won her over (he has a way with women).

Also we took a little road trip to visit my close friend from college, Chrissy.

These are her sweet kids, Sierra and Ranier. Ranier is just a couple weeks older than Camille.

We spent a lot of the trip playing in my parent's basement, it's a kid-heaven. One of the most beneficial aspects of such a long trip was Camille's exposure to English every day. She picked up about ten English words, putting her vocabulary ratio at about 10% English, 90% French. Not bad for only a couple of weeks exposure. We're hoping that having overheard Remi and I speak English to each other will give her a leg-up for learning to speak it herself. Basement is by far her most hilarious English word ("base-ah-mint") and blueberry is next, it comes out something like "bleebulee".

The world on a string

2010-05-04T15:06:00.000-04:00

I think all it takes is a great weekend, a heavenly weekend to make you fall in love with the place you live. Manhattan and I have had our share of differences this past year, but after last weekend I'm ready to bury the hatchet. I caught myself more than once thinking that there is really nowhere else I'd rather be.

On Saturday we went for the second time to the Art Farm on 91st. We met Ana (who joined us at the Braves game) and her mom Laura there. The girls were able to pet and feed rabbits, guinea pigs and turtles, and look at a whole lot of other animals. Camille LOVES it there, she is so fearless with the animals. I know she could not have gotten this from me, I'm sure a 15-month-old me wouldn't have gone near that big turtle with a 10 foot pole. I was pretty reluctant to go near it on Saturday, luckily her Papa was there to get excited with her.

"Lapin!"

See what I mean? Fearless!

Those bunnies are so cute.

Kisses for the fishes.

Remi showing Ana a lizard.

Then we went to a playground and Camille and Ana got dirty in the sandbox.

After a long, well earned nap, we spent a couple of hours in Central Park. Remi and I found a shady patch of grass, plopped down with some baguette and took turns chasing Camille around.

She spent some time ridding the lawn of its dandelions.

The trees were full of birds.

Failed family portrait.

Listen to that squeal!

That girl and her baguette.

After about almost two hours of running around, she started to get sleepy.

Crossing Park Ave on the way home.

Cute outfit earlier in the week.

Romping.

Some dog walkers have taken to parking their flock right outside our apartment windows. At about 1pm every day we get to listen to their ruckus. Camille never really minds it. She's pantless thanks to the chocolate pudding she "fed" herself at lunch.

Sunday we went to the Natural History Museum, an outing that deserves it's own post I think, since this one is already a (graphic) novel.

Out to the ballgame

2010-04-25T20:25:00.005-04:00

Against some odds, we managed to find a good-sized group of Braves fans here in the middle of Mets country. We went with a group of 12 to the game on Saturday afternoon and so we weren't too scared to show our colors. The surrounding Mets crowd were pretty tolerant, possibly because the Mets totally outplayed the Braves, but more likely because two of our number were so darn cute. Camille and her new friend Ana were so adorable in their jerseys! Even though Ana was wearing a Red Sox onesie, (her dad's a fan, it's not her fault) still, that's a lot of cuteness.

Camille representin'.

Ana banana.

They had fun together.

Camille snacking on a hard boiled oeuf ("ufff, ufff!")

She was occasionally interested in the goings on down on the field.

Tickle break.

Let's go Bravos, let's go!

This is in the subway on the way home.

She did some coloring earlier in the week.

Then, after an afternoon at the playground, Camille was working on a pear on the way home in the stroller.

It was hard to eat!

Sunday afternoon.

Bisous!

This is just after waking up.

Bye bye baby

2010-04-18T13:24:00.001-04:00

I guess, technically, these babies aren't babies anymore once they start to walk, that's when they become toddlers. I was a little slow on the uptake with that one, since, even though Camille was walking, she was still babbling and grabbing her feet occasionally and smelling so good, smelling like a baby. Lately all that's begun to change, and some recent developments have pushed us over the edge, into toddlerland, where there's no going back.

#1. The Skinned Knee (or The Sweaty Kid Smell)

We're spending a lot of time these days at the playground, there are a couple of good ones near us and we usually visit at least once a day when the weather is nice. Camille, no longer content to just swing a little bit and walk around holding my hand, spends most of her time running (that awkward, straight-leg, arm-swinging, toddler run) between slide, sand box and swing. Once while climbing some stairs at one of the playgrounds, and wearing shorts, she skinned her knee. She was, of course, completely oblivious, way too interested in her climbing to notice - and it's really the tiniest scratch - but still it's a turning point.

This video gives a little glimpse of the knee, if you look close. Also, it's just hilarious. My husband's intense dedication to napping should be noted here (and praised).

This is when we came upon some older kids playing ball with their parents at the park, Camille thought they were so cool. I like a few things about this video: First, if you turn it up you can hear how she's mumbling to herself a little, second I like that you can see her little curlicues at the back of her hat, and last I like how she's climbed up on the rail, to get closer to the action.

#2The Remote Control

Remote controls are generally off limits for Camille, but it's pretty hilarious when she does get a hold of one. She pretty much presses every button, trying desperately (as loyal readers of this blog could predict) to make Babar appear on the screen. This most recent experience with the remote was a little different. She turned on the tv, found a jazz radio station she liked, accidentally muted it and then couldn't get the sound back on. Following temper tantrum (why remote controls are generally off limits for Camille) notwithstanding, these are not the actions of a baby.

#3 The Almost Hourly Wardrobe Change

When Camille was a baby, she would wear the same adorable outfit all the live-long day. Barring a diaper blowout (rare), I would take off the sweet smelling outfit at the end of the day when she'd get her (virtually unnecessary) bath and consider whether it needed washing. Lately she can't stay in the same outfit longer than the next meal. And now when I take off her clothes I have to consider whether they're even fit for the hamper, or straight into the sink to soak out whatever strawberry/beet/butternut squash irretrievable stain is beginning to set in.

Oh yeah, and she started drinking out of a (non-sippy) cup. So, that's the last straw.

But really, who am I kidding? She'll always be my baby.

Happy Easter

2010-04-07T22:04:00.000-04:00

We walked past the big Catholic church on 84th and Park, where the line to get in stretched almost around the block, and headed to Central Park for our Easter Sunday communion. We couldn't have asked for a prettier day.

Camille brushing her teeth earlier that morning.

Sorry about this video, at some point I thought Camille was going to fall off her step ladder, so it's a little shaky. I thought it was worth posting anyway, just to show how well she's brushing those teeth!

We went to a restaurant after the park, where Camille worked on a bit of baguette (hands-down her favorite food) for a while.

Moment de tendresse

2010-03-31T14:24:00.000-04:00

What's wonderful about having a baby, is that there are so many little moments like this. Even though there is also hard work aplenty, it's these sweet minutes that make it all worth it.

Chez MimiPops

2010-03-27T14:42:00.000-04:00

Camille and I spent last week with my parents celebrating my Grandmother's 80th birthday while Rémi was in Canada for work. My big sister, her husband and their daughter, Camille's cousin Julia, came in town from Asheville. My little sister and her husband live just a few minutes from my parents, so we all got to spend some good time together. My grandmother was there the first weekend.

I hope that when I'm about to turn 80, I'm on my knees playing "kitchen" with my great grandchildren!

Uncle Nick provided some entertainment for the girls. It seems he and Rémi have been reading the same parenting books.

Then we went on a walk by the river.

Camille just LOVES her cousin. She was constantly hugging her and patting her and only occasionally stealing toys from her.

Here Camille is "helping" Julia with her bunny ears.

My parents are really such incredible grandparents. Both the girls just adore them both. Camille is lucky to have fantastic grandparents on both sides of the Atlantic.

Introducing her baby to Uncle Andy.

We took the girls to some awesome playgrounds near my parents' house on the sunnier days. It was great, we didn't even have to queue up to swing!

Camille has barely enough hair to justify this hair accessory. It was really cute for about 3 minutes. My mom made that awesome net to keep the girls off the stairs.

Walking on the street with Pops.

Since Camille is really into pushing her stroller, my parents got her this baby stroller to push. At first she really wanted to get into it.

Eventually she figured it out.

Then we got home to Papa and spent a beautiful Sunday afternoon in Central park.

All about Papa

2010-03-11T13:23:00.000-05:00

Chillin.

Camille had some good Papa time this week. When you spend 90% of your time with the same old boring Mama, being with Papa is like the circus coming to town, no matter what you're doing. The three of us went to the playground on Saturday, Remi and Camille had fun on the swings,

and on the slides.

Then they danced around the apartment a little.

I gave Camille one of Remi's old credit cards with his picture on it since she's always trying to get my credit card. She carried it around all day.

And as a side note, this is what happens when you let a 13 month old feed herself a peanut butter sandwich.

Babar, a mini post

2010-03-05T14:08:00.000-05:00

When we were in France we bought Camille some french dvds, they weren't supposed to come out of the package until she turns 2, but in a moment of weakness, Rémi played Camille a bit of Babar one day. You can see from the above picture the effect this magical show has on our little motion-addict of a daughter. She freezes with delight. And since that one moment of parental oversight, she hasn't forgotten her bliss and she requests it by name almost daily. If anything comes out of our mouths that remotely sounds like Babar, or if one of us starts humming the ridiculously catchy theme song, we're gonners. I've only caved in a couple of times, (YES I did read that NY Times article about no screen time before she's 2!) always with lots of guilt.

Last Thursday was a particularly tough day for us (bad naps, bad weather, etc. - our street looked like this!) so after staring out the window for a while, I let her get her fix. Boy was she transfixed.

13 Months Old

2010-03-01T02:17:00.000-05:00

Even though New York City just got dumped with 20 inches of snow this weekend, earlier this week we had the tiniest glimpse of spring and we took full advantage.

Camille and I went to our neighborhood playground.

This jacket was a gift from Rémi's godmother. It's just beautiful, and hopefully big enough to still fit her next fall/early winter. (If not, I know a little Swann who will make good use.)

Walking along the river with Nate and some new friends, Fabian and Elisabeth.

Of course, we were cooped up in the apartment plenty also.

This bag had to weigh (at least!) 10 pounds. Bag lady.

Of course, this is not exactly how the monkey is supposed to work. Presumably, her next trick will be learning how to get me into that harness.

Drama.

This head banging against the couch is a new, funny but hopefully short-lived habit.

We went for a walk in a really crowded Central Park.

There were hundreds of kids sledding.

And we came upon this beauty.

Her eyes were limes.