Back to the land of the vertical

First of all, congratulations to my dear friend Cori-Lee for the birth of her lovely new daughter, Natalie!



Well. Its been a little while since I have last written. It has been an interesting past week and a half to say the least. On the positive side, we had a great birthday party for Vincent a couple of Saturday nights ago. We invited his friends over for dinner of salmon and sausages on the bbq...and lots of red wine! Then, at 10:30 our lovely babysitter arrived and we were all out the door for a night of dancing which was a lot of fun and much appreciated.



Unfortunately, the next day I started to get very sick. Long story short, after a few days with a lot of vomiting and room turning we found ourselves in the emergency room where I was diagnosed with peripheral vertigo and sent home. We went back a few days later when the room started turning even more and I had developed a drying machine sound in my ear. Anyways, after a lot of laying on the couch, I am feeling so much better. I started to be able to walk again a few days again and now my vision is almost back to normal! I am so happy to be off the couch and Vincent, who was doing everything around here and generally being sweet and amazing, is surely happy to have some help with the kids once again!!!



One thing that I appreciate about this and can not take for granted is how our friends were so good to us offering to help in anyway that they could even with such a minor illness. It just made me appreciate how lucky we are to have such wonderful friends in Montreal. Vincent and I knew that , if we were to have kids in Montreal where neither of us has our family around, it would be important to create for ourselves a circle of friends and support that would become like a family and support network for our children. Nothing replaces family of course, but we are very lucky to have such wonderful people in our lives.



Mathieu turned 5 on the 20th and we had a family birthday party. He got a rocket ship from Grandmaman Odette which he has been playing with non stop!!! From us, he got a space-themed aquarium. The fish we bought him for it have already died so we have to make another trip to the pet store today!! We had to cancel Mathieu's birthday party last Sunday but are going to be redoing it this Sunday. We will have nine little rugrats running around our place!!! It should be quite fun!

We are thrilled that the past days have been warm and beautiful and all the snow is long gone, leaving lots of opportunity to play in the park and in the sandbox. Its fun to watch the two boys play in the sand side-by side and to see how brave Gabriel has gotten climbing the stairs and going down the slide by himself. He has become quite an independent man on the playground!

Well, that's all for now. Our camera should be back from the repair shop soon so pictures are to come!

Stephanie

The Joys of Parenting

Okay...so here is one for the books!


So, to break out of our regular routine and in the futile hope of possibly finding a pair of shoes that actually fit my feet, Mathieu, Gabriel and I ventured off to the Place Versailles mall today. Since its not in our neighborhood, it takes us about 40 minutes and is a bit of hassle to get there by metro. But we were up for adventure and off we went!!

We made an afternoon of it by visiting the pet store, the toy store and stopping for ice cream. Mathieu was even nice enough to keep Gabriel entertained while I tried on some clothes (always an adventure trying on clothes with children tagging along!!).

But the piece de resistance was the big water fountain that they had in the mall. After a few hours of shopping we were all tuckered out and Gabriel was way beyond his nap time but they wanted to stop yet again to check out the fountain. Gabriel was having fun running around the fountain and Mathieu was crawling along the wide edge of it trying to make him laugh when I heard a big splash (and a scream- both mine and Mathieu's) and then realized that my oldest, almost 5 year old, had fallen into the mall fountain. After scooping my shocked son out of the water and watching as a big puddle formed around him on the mall floor (as well as watching as the old ladies in the food court stopped their lunch to stare), I went through the usual few minutes of internal frantic maternal dialogue which went something like, "Okay, what the !#@* am I going to do with a sopping wet child...! Fortunatley, after that colourful dialogue, I was able to see the humour in this ridiculous situation and just started to laugh (fortunately Mathieu did too). I said, "Mathieu, next time we'll bring your bathing suit to the mall if you want to go swimming".

Anyways, with the nearest kids clothing store being at the other end of the mall and the fact that it was luckily a beautiful warm spring day today, I decided to wring Mathieu out as much as possible, pour the water out of his shoes, strip off his shirt and put his jacket on, and then take a very wet and squishy ride home on the metro. I was careful not to let him sit next to anyone else for fear he would get them all wet...!

Anyway, all and all a memorable day!! My almost 5 year old is sleeping it off right now!

Stephanie

si tu aimes le soleil tape les mains....

Hi,

Unfortunately, our camera is broken and it will be a good few weeks before you will get to see any new pictures or videos. This is really unfortunate because today there were so many moments which I wish I could have captured digitally!!

We had a great day today. It was one of those amazing days in Montreal where spring arrives for the first time and it feels like the city (well the plateau at least!!) comes alive... Everyone comes out of hibernation and Mont royal and St. Denis street are brimming with people out in the streets and on the cafe terrasses drinking in the first signs of spring...We took the kids to Parc Lafontaine today where all the snow was melting. And really, I don't think there could be any better sign of spring than watching Mathieu jump through puddles with his rain boots on. Vincent and I were commenting that that is was childhood is all about...the absolute joy kids get from jumping in puddles and getting soaking wet. We had to stop at a store on the way home to buy Mathieu new socks since his feet were soaking wet. We actually had to take his boots off to pour water out of them!!!

On the way home we performed the ritual that we perform every year on the first day of spring...We stop at Frites Alors to get some french fries (with mayo of course) and stopped and sat on someones steps to eat them. Then, just for good measure, we stopped at the chocolate store for homemade chocolate chip cookies...A well balanced diet I would say!!!

Anyway, a wonderful, memorable day. I know that there were surely be a few more cold days before we are out of the woods but its just so great to know spring is around the corner...

On a more official note, it looks like I got a job. I will have more details tomorrow, but so far it looks like I will be working two days a week (perfect!) in the psycho-social department at a CLSC. I will keep you posted!!!

Take care everyone! Happy almost spring!!

Stephanie

Blessings to be counted...

February 26

I thought I would put up a couple of pictures and videos from Gabriel's play group at the Carrefour. I have been going to the Carrefour since Mathieu was a baby so it has been a weekly ritual for a few years and the songs are permanently imprinted on my brain! Last year, Gabriel got to tag along (usually carried in the front pack as Mathieu and I did our thing). But this year, it is his turn to be the star!! So, I find myself singing the same songs but still getting a kick out of seeing how Gabriel reacts to it all!!

Last weekend, we got a chance to go visit my good friend Joyce and her family in their new country house in St. Gregoire. Mathieu and Jacob are 5 days apart and have known each other since they were both in our bellies so it was fun to see them play together. It was also nice to get out of the city for the day.

If all goes well this weekend and everyone is flu free we planning a trip to Ottawa for the day to visit the Musee de la civilasation which is supposed to have an amazing children's section. We will keep you updated!!!

February 10

Wow...A day of reprieve. It was an incredible plus 8 today in Montreal. No mittens, no scarf and the ice melting around me. I was able to take Gabriel to the park where he played on the play structure. It was a joy to see him squealing with delight as he climbed up the steps and made his way down the slide. Those are the moments...so simple and yet so incredibly precious. I am so grateful to be a part of it all...

February 14.We had a great day today. Vincent invited 2 of his really good friends and their partners for brunch and we ended up talking and eating around the table for 5 hours straight. The kids were really good sitting around the table with us but, of course, at some point Mathieu got bored so he was excused to watch cartoons. Gabriel, on his side, got excused to have a nap!!!

Gabriel has been quite the little parrot lately and seems to be picking up new words everyday. At this point, he is mixing up his french and his english a little bit( e.g. "pain please") but mostly seems to be starting to make the distinction between the two of us. With Mathieu's help I put together a list of words that he knows so that I can compare how much the list has changed in the future:

mama, papa, grandpapa ,grandmama, no, caca, do do, tatieu (Mathieu), Gabriel ,Gaby, baby, Hello, Hi, Allo, Bonjour,Bye Bye, Au revoir, lait , l'eau, bain, apple, wawa (water), jus, cookie, pain, cracker, cheese, cake, shito (prosciutto), apple, pizza, nana (banana), beaucoup, encore, boots, bijoux, bravo, yeah, petit (bon appetit) , choo choo , more, toes ,shoes, bedon, oreilles, ca (cat) ,chat, gog (dog), chien,tweet tweet (bird), tan kou (thank you) ,tiens, gotta go, snow, ball, book, car, monkey , panda , peeze (please), Doodlebops, papa a wor (papa's at work)

Last weekend, we went down to Quebec city to visit with Odette and to go to the Carnival. Fortunately, the weather was beautiful both days. Mathieu had a great time but was disappointed to have not seen the Bonhomme Carnival! We also got the wonderful news that Michel is getting married to Yuko this spring. There will be a ceremony in Japan in the summer so Vincent and I are working on plans to go.

Odette is doing much better and is now walking with the cane. The winter has been long though so she has been feeling a little housebound as she is not able to get out and about on her own. Hopefully, spring will make its way here soon!

This morning, Vincent is taking Mathieu to Kung Fu class and then I am going with him to the Doodlebops concert. We have had it marked on our calendar for weeks and Mathieu has been counting down the days.

On my side, I have been doing a little bit of job hunting in my field. It has been tricky since most of the postings are full time but I am not in a big hurry. In terms of the fitness, I did my exam last week and it went very well so I am also going to start working on teaching a few classes here and there. I am going to send my CV to Cardio Plein Air today.

The JOYS of Winter

Hello Again,

Well the title of this blog is both sincere and sarcastic. It has been a bit of a challenging winter this year so far. We've had some days of extreme cold and some days of snow storms. So, between that and a family bout of gastro (we politely took turns...we like to share everything, even germs!!) we've been a bit more housebound lately but have made the most of it by turning the living room into a play room on some days and having friends over for play dates. We also had a play date to meet friends in the park the other day but when we got there we realised that the snow in the park was up to the kids waist! On the bright side, I think I may have come up with a new weight-loss aerobics craze and could possibly make millions. Forget Tai Bo, forget step aerobics, I think the next work out craze could be Snow Stroller aerobics. Its easy, just take some snowstorms, no car, and then the next day try pushing two kids through the snow in a stroller to try to get them to Judo or play group or wherever. It will have you huffing and puffing in no time and sweating in -20 weather guaranteed!!!

But, cursing and sweating aside, we have had a couple of more mild days in which to enjoy the joys of winter! Yesterday, we take a long walk down to the library and stopped at the park along the way. Today, we had a great morning with our friends Tanissa, Ryan and baby Christian sledding and then a nice long lunch at our place.

Anyway, I thought I would put some pictures for you and a grainy video of Mathieu at Judo class

Enjoy!

Stephanie

The little moments