Air tickets for Singapore next year

We have to go Singapore next august for a big family event. Since I already know the dates, I thought I check out the air tickets. Yoo hoo! For a family of 2 adults, a 3 year old and a 2 year old kids, it would cost 18 719.48€ on economy class.

OK. I will come back and buy these tickets later. Not because by then I would have save enough to buy them. I just know that the price will drop as the dates get nearer.

Seriously, who would buy them at this price?

Shoes for A2

Baby A2 has been cruising around the appartment since a few weeks. It was time to get him a pair of walking shoes. For his first walking shoes, I was told to buy him new shoes. Making him walk with used shoes from his brother might caused him feet problems later. He had to form his own prints on his shoes.

Since baby A2 had many hand-me-downs from his brother, we felt that he deserved new shoes. We went shopping at Jardin de Luxembourg area and got him a pair of mid-season shoes. We both liked the shoes very much. The sales assistant told us that size 20 was just right and size 21 would be more comfortable for baby A2.
However, when we returned home, I realised that the shoes were too big. Baby A2 kept dropping his shoes.

This weekend, when Seb was back from his work trip, we went to buy another pair of shoes for baby A2. Ended up at the usual shop at Usine Center near the airport and got baby A2 a pair of Kickers size 20.

The soles of the shoes were pretty unique. The design was different from that of toddler's A1 first walking shoes.

I really like Kickers shoes for babies and toddlers. Think I will stick to this brand for the moment.

Baby blues

No, I'm not having that kind of baby blues. I'm having baby blue on my nails.
While getting milk for the kids at Monoprix during lunch time, I grabbed a small bottle of nail polish. The last time I bought a nail color was in July and I got a pale beige color that showed no effects on my nails. The color was similar to my natural nail color. Furthermore, I realised that I already had this color nail polish at home. Err.... Once biten, twice still not shy. Got conned into buying the same color that showed no effects. Where is my memory??!

That's why I chose baby blue color this time. Took the photo below while going to work. I was stuck behind a rubbish collector truck. It was a one lane road so I just had to be patience. Now, that's flashy isn't it. I think I will start trying out other colors. Yes, I have more 'me' time since the 2 boys sleep in separate rooms. Yipee.

Disney Studio

My ex-neighbour asked if I was interested to bring toddler A1 to Disney Studio as she had a lobang (good deal). She had an annual pass and was able to invite friends to Disney for one third of the usual price during septembre.

We made it to Disney Studio two saturdays ago. As our kids were young, Nadia felt that Disney Studio would be more appropriate than Disneyland Park. Disney park was too big and the boys were too young for most rides.

Our target was to get there early, catched 2 shows and leave. Here we were waiting for the show 'Animagique'.

Toddler A1 was frightened when the lights went out but he got all excited when Mickey and Donald made their apparences.

After the show, we queued up for a ride. But when it was our turn, toddler A1 backed out. He did not want to take the ride. Ended up, we watched our friends took it. Somehow, he loved high slides but had no courage for kiddy rides.

We grabbed a quick lunch. With the limited choice, I ordered a burger and fries with cherry tomatoes and yoghurt drink. But alas, toddler A1 ate everything except the burger. Nadia offered him chicken nuggets but he did not want. He was not a burger person.

At noon, we watched the Disney Playhouse show. It was fun and the boys enjoyed it.

We left Disney Studio by 1pm and the boys dozed off in the car. It was a magical outing for them. I did not take many photos as we did not tour around the place. Our eyes were fixed on our kids as there were too many people around. Oh, lots of little girls in princess costumes. :) Is that every little girl's dream?

The circus room

As you might have read earlier, we put our two boys in the same bedroom. But it was not working out. Each night/early morning, either one would wake up the other. Baby A2 cried at times in the middle of the night and woke up toddler A1. Toddler A1 woke up around 5.30am and started calling for his papa and woke up baby A2.

We decided to put toddler A1 in the 'playroom'. After all, it was easier to just move his bed to the other room. We got rid of the old computer and the computer table to make room for a play tent. The only one I found at Toys 'R Us was a circus tent. Once his bed was moved over and the tent put up, we invited toddler A1 to see the surprise. He took a look and did not even want to go into the tent. He then went back to watch his cartoons on the IPad. Seb and I looked at each other and shook our heads. We were anticipating his excitements at our efforts but I guessed we held too much hopes. Funny parents.
For his afternoon nap, toddler A1 went to bed without any problem in his new room. He checked out his tent and loved it so much that each night, we (toddler A1 and I) read stories in it. He invited his papa to join him but Seb declined. He told his son in french: 'If papa goes in, there won't be any tent left.' Interesting, baby A2 is not allowed into tent by his brother. Each time baby A2 tried to crawl in, his brother would be upset and said 'No, no no!' It is not easy to explain to toddler A1 that he has to share with his brother.

For the bare wall, I looked up internet for some stickers and got a set of circus themed stickers from Berceaumagique. I received them really fast and we as a family had a good time pasting them on the wall. Toddler A1 was all excited and I can tell he likes his room with the funny stickers.
And now, the boys do not wake up each other. Goal achieved. Next up, I will try to take photos of Baby A2's room and do a post for memory sake.

This little fruit

Any idea what is the name of the fruit? I just love it.

The Post'It War

A war is going on between office buildings here in Paris. It is the Post'It war. I saw this nearby my office at La Défense,the business district of Paris.

Office workers used different colors of Post'It and made up 'pixel' images. I saw smurf, Mario, flower, heartshape etc. There were even 2 and 3 storeys high images. One of Tintin in space and the other of his rocket. See image below.

To view more creations, check out this site.

What is he saying?

Toddler A1 is more than 2 years old and I have to admit with regards to speech, he is on the slower side compared with kids of his age. Recently, he is making progress and his vocabulary has improved each day.

At the age of 10 months, he was babbling with 'dada papa blah'. He was saying papa by then and effectively called out for his dad each time. He was really close to his father and it was Seb who put him to sleep each evening if he was available. The fact that I was pregnant with baby A2 and after that took care of the new-born might contribute to this closeness between son and dad.

Finally at age of 2, toddler A1 called me 'mama'. It was such a joy to hear that. Now that I am working 80% (part time), toddler A1 is closer to me. I put him to bed half the time. He starts calling me 'maman' (french) recently.

Except for the word 'mother' which he says 'mama' (chinese) or 'maman' (french), all other words he says are in one of the three languages. Yet, he understands us when Seb speaks to him in french, I speak to him in english and the nanny speaks to him in chinese.

He knows I meant water when I say 'water' but he replies 'eau'. At Brittany, he told his grandmother he wanted 'pi'. I thought he meant to say 'pen' in english but mispronounced it. Then it hit upon me that he was speaking in chinese. I translated to Seb's mother and she gave him paper and pens to keep him occupied.

Another occasion, he was out with his grandmother. He pointed at a car and said 'car'. His grandmother corrected him and say 'Ce n'est pas un car. c'est une voiture.' (It is not a coach. It is a car.) Then she realised that he was speaking in english.

Each time we go out and buy things, I will tell toddler A1 to say 'thank you'. He will look at the person and says 'xie xie'. Gosh. People are generally amused when they realise that I speak english to toddler A1. But they must be confused to hear something as greek as 'xie xie'. I just don't bother to explain that it was chinese.

Here are some of his vocab.
In English
'Pain' and then pointing to where it hurts
'Bye bye' and doing a flying kiss
'cold'
'up'
'bird'
'car'
'bus'
'No' and 'Yes'

In chinese
'Yu' while pointing to the fish in the book (fish)
'Di di' (younger brother)
'Nehneh' ( grandmother)
'Bing' (biscuits)
'xie xie' (thank you)

In french
'papa' (father)
'maman' (mother)
'Cou cou' and waving (hello)
'Pipi' (papi for his grandfather)
'Encore' (more/again)
'çaça' (poo)
'pas là' (not there/here)
'là' (here)
'veux pas' (don't want)
'eau' (water)
'balle' (ball)
'bus' (bus)

To be corrected
'Bei bei' for all cats (Bao Bei is our pet cat)
'Moo' for cows
'Woo woo' for dogs
'Té té' and pointing to himself
'Barba' for Barbapapa

These are what I can think of at the moment. From the list above, I gather that he chooses to say words that are easiest to pronounce among the three languages.

Not forgetting baby A2, he is 10 months old and starts to babble about 'Dada papa blah'. Hm... I do hope he says 'Maman' soon.

Holidays in Brittany, again.

We came to Brittany on wed as I did not work this wed and fri. Thurs was Bastille day which was French national day. So Seb took 2 days off on wed and fri and drove the whole family to join his parents at the summer house in Brittany.

The weather was sunny for the past 2 days but it had became grey and rains were expected for the next few days. While I thought that there would be no internet, I was happy to know that my father-in-law brought along his modem and we did have an internet connection.
Now that the kids are taking a nap, I do have a chance to surf a little.

Seb's father had been going out to sea with his fishing boat every day. He caught a lobster everyday since we were here. Seb's mother and I shared a lobster for dinner on wed. And since there was one caught yesterday and one this morning, we would have lobsters for dinner again tonight. What a treat. I do hope that he could continue to get one each day cos' I love seafood especially lobster. Seb's father had 2 cages and I was told that we could never find lobster and crab togather in a cage. If there was a lobster in a cage, there won't be any other creatures in it. However, we could find several crabs in one cage. And if a lobster was caught, no crab would be caught at the same time.

I drew the conclusions that lobsters and crabs do not share territory; and lobsters are lonely creatures while crabs stay in groups.

Seb would be leaving tomorrow as he has to work next week. The kids and I will stay for another week before Seb flies back on friday evening to join us. We would then drive back home either on Sat or Sun next week. All this planning because the nanny is on 2 weeks leave and Seb had no leave. Anyway, it is good to have the kids spend time with their grandparents. I could only hope that the weather will clear up so that we can visit the beaches. We do have to find activities to tire out toddler A1.

So Parisien

We had another sunny weekend. On Sunday, we headed to the Jardin de Luxembourg. There was a paid playground and we spent an hour and half with toddler A1 running, playing around and having fun.

I could not help take pictures of these Parisiens having picnic on the grass. Green carpet is so rare in Paris that everyone wants a piece of it. It was amusing as more people arrived looking for a piece of green to settle upon.

The deckchairs provided by the park were all occupied. People were basking under the sun. This sight was so Parisien.

We hit 31 degrees today. At the moment, things are looking bright!

The playroom

This is often how it looks at the end of the day.
As Seb said , "That's why it's called a playroom."

Still, we make an effort to tidy it up each evening when possible, either when the kids are sleeping or sometimes getting toddler A 1 to help out. Well, it very much depends on his 2 year old mood in this case.

Air plane food

Finally downloaded photos from my mobile phone. Here is the kid's meal on Singapore Airline when we were heading to Singapore from Paris. There were tomates, bread, carrot and potato purée with minced chicken. A pack of juice and yoghurt. It even came with a goodie box. A complete meal for toddler A1.

For my 3 trips to Helsinki in May and June, I travelled on business class. It was no big deal as the plane was a small one for the short journey. So all seats were of the same size. The only difference was the meal. Instead of a sandwich, we had a complete meal with wine or champagne included.

After the E. Coli cucumber scare in Germany, I ate more cucumber than ever. The client's canteen served cucumber and so did the meals on flight. They must be so cheap now that food industry bought them in tons.


One evening, on the way back to France, I captured this scene of the sun rays peeking through the clouds. It was magnifient. Too bad, the photo did not do the scene justice.

No more work trips at the moment. Hooray. The next travel plan will be in Nov when baby A2 and I are heading to Singapore (again).

Great birthday party

Lukas used to live next door but had moved recently. His mother invited us to his birthday party at the grand-uncle's place. We enjoyed ourselves. The weather was great that day and the venue was calm in the countryside.

The theme of the party was around Mickey Mouse. Boy, the decorations put up by Nadia just blew me off. It was a small party with Lukas' family and us and she put in such efforts.

Toddler A1 had so much fun with his friend. As you could see from the pictures below, any kid is bound to enjoy himself. We got Lukas a fire engine truck and he loved it.

The boys having lunch on their own picnic table with Lukas' grand-father watching over. Toddler A1 had too many hotdogs that day.

Mickey everywhere!

We miss Lukas and Nadia a lot. We do promise to keep in touch and try to do activities with our boys togather.

Rice dumpling

In the fifth day of the fifth month of the Chinese calendar, the chinese celebrates the dragon boat(Duanwu) festival. On this day and even during the month, one can find rice dumplings everywhere in Singapore.

I remembered that when I was young, my mum used to make those Nonya rice dumplings. For a long time, those were the only ones I ate. In my late teens, I came across the common meat rice dumpling made by a friend's mother but I still preferred mum's.

Having lived in France for so many years, I never celebrate Duanwu festival. OK, celebrate is a big word cos even in Singapore, for me, it was eating a few rice dumplings that mum made for the occasion. I think I only bought rice dumpling once in my entire 8 years here.

Last week, Ai Yi (aunty in chinese), the kids' nanny asked if I would like to eat rice dumplings. She offered to give me several but after knowing that her rice dumplings are dessert rice dumplings, I told her to just give me 3. I never like sweet rice dumplings though my mum had been converted since many years. I think that is one of the reason why she no longer does Nonya rice dumplings.

When I came back from my Helsinki trip on wed, I saw 3 rice dumplings sitting on the kitchen table. I ate one in office the next day and I enjoyed the slightly salty glutinous rice with a sweet big red date. I called home to thank Ai Yi cos' I won't see her until tues. It was really nice of her.
I took a pic before sharing the 2 left with Seb that evening.

Now that I have kids, I should maybe learn from my mum or Ai Yi the making of rice dumplings. I do hope that tradition continues and my kids will be eating rice dumpling made by their mother.

Dalloyau

We bought this cake for my mother-in-law's birthday celebration at Galleries Lafayette gourmet. I had to take a pic of it as it looked good and tasted good, even for a non-cake person like me. If you do happen to be in Paris and come across a Dalloyau tea salon, try it. It is just as famous as Ladurée.

There are also Lenôtre and Fauchon which creates lovely to the eyes and tasty food.

I have been eating and eating these days. Now, I understand why most middle age mums put on weight so easily. I do crave for sweet things at times and this was so unlike me before having the 2 boys. Will write more about my other food indulgences soon.

First Aid training

2 weeks ago, I took up a 2 days first aid course with my 3 colleagues. This course was oriented towards working environment as we would be certified (workplace) first aider. The company sponsored the course. But this did not mean that we could not help others in the public.

We were 10 in total and the instructor was a fireman. He had lots of experiences and shared with us many of his life experiences. Accidents could happen anyway, anytime and often in normal circumstances where we least expected it.

The first half day was spent on reading on the slides shows about PREVENTION. It was interesting though most were not applicable for office environment. Examples like wearing protective gears for factory works, not obstructing the corridors and stairways with cartons, reading the notice carefully and following the rules on how to use dangerous machine just to name a few.
After that, we had practical lessons. We were taught how to assess a situation when someone was in trouble. Was there any danger around him? Would it endanger your own life if you go to his help? Was it possible to get him out of the danger? If the surrounding was safe, check if he was bleeding, if not, check if he was choked, if not, check if he was concious and breathing, if not, check if he was unconcious and breathing, if not, .... As we eliminated the options and came to a conclusion, we had to administer the appropriate first aid before the medical team arrived to take over.

On the last day, each of us had a chance to try out giving cardio pulmonary resuscitation CPR to dummies (adult, child and baby). For hygiene purpose, we were given a face for each of the dummies. For the last hour, we did role play. One victim and one rescuer volunteered each time and the instructor came up with a scenario unknown to the rescuer. The instructor used professional make up and he could simulate injuries like amputation of finger, burns, bad cuts, blues. They looked real and it was gore at times. This really helped to enforce our experience in this training.

I am happy with the training as I got to know a new friend whose parents live near my in-laws. But the most important thing I gained is knowing that I could be helpful if my family or strangers need first aid. I felt equiped and confident.

For those who are interested in this area, there is a site at BBC on first aid skills tests. I just tested myself on CPR and it was exactly as I was taught. Try it, you never know, with this little knowledge, you could save lives.

Neighbour's day

Today is neighbour's day and as usual, a gathering was organised for our residence at the gardien's office. Neighbour's day is something recent and this is the third year our residence organised it.
In the evening, people brought along drinks and tibits and cakes and we just mingled around and chatted. I brought toddler A1 along while Seb stayed at home to take care of baby A2 who was sleeping.
I just came back from Helsinki yesterday night and brought a pack of sweets fabricated in Finland. I got to know a few new neighbours and even a neighbour who had been there for a few years but we just never met. We had an interesting conversation. This residence consists of 4 small buildings totalling 99 apartments. With people moving in and out, there are always new faces.
Toddler A1 was shy at first but overcame his shyness fast when he was offered chips and orange juice. He played with some big kids at soccer and when the younger kids arrived later, he run around with them. It was also a good chance to talk to other young parents and exchange tips on where to go and education etc...
One good thing out of this neighbour party is that I now have 2 contacts for baby sittings on weekends. When the kids are older, it would be nice for Seb and I to hang out a bit without them for a evening.

Solo parenting

Our challange for the next few weeks: solo parenting.

As I had written before, I go on work trips at times. Since having baby A2, I had not been on any overnight trips. Well, it is starting again. A new project starts in Helsinki with one of my fav client. It requires a few trips in a span of 2 months. I know that I would enjoy working on this project yet I felt unfair to Seb for having to take care of the boys alone.

So coming monday, Seb would be going to Lille for a day trip meaning he leaves the house really early and comes back late. I would have to wait for the nanny to come at 9am and be home by 6pm. As I have less flexible hours than Seb, I would have to take half a day's leave. I can't reach office at 10am and leave by 5pm. (Peak hour traffic takes me an hour between home and office). Good thing that Seb does not need to travel much now. Or he tries to travel on Wed, the day I don't work.

From Tues to Thurs, I would be heading to Helsinki. I will leave home early and be late home on thurs. As I am working 80% now, I would have my friday off from work.

Then comes the month of June. We will be spending 5 days in Brittany as a family starting from 01 June as we have a long weekend due to the public holiday on 02 June.

In the second and fourth week of June, I will be heading to Helsinki again for 3 and 4 days respectively. On the third week of June, Seb would be away in London for 3 days. I will be taking half day leaves on Tues and Thurs; always the issue of nanny.

Seb and I would take turns to do single parenting in June; him more than me. He is confident that he can manage it. As for me, I am stress over putting the boys to sleep as they both require attention during sleep time.

A friend is asking how we can cope with the coming few weeks. With good organisation, we should do fine. It won't be easy though. We had been lucky in the past year that my mum was here to help out so if one of us was away, the other could cope easily. Now, we are on our own.

The playpen

Baby A2 is starting to crawl and like his brother, he does it backwards for a start. He is such an active boy that it is time to set up the playpen. Toddler A1 was so excited when he saw it that he wanted to get in too.
The 2 boys even played togather in the playpen. We can work in the kitchen at peace now knowing that the 2 are confined in the playpen. Had we known that toddler A1 would like it so much, we would never had kept it when he started to walk. (We wanted to make space for him in the living room.)
Baby A2 is teething and the 2 front lower teeth had cut out. He is eating well on fruits and vegetables. He has not tried meat yet. The only complain I have is that he sleeps so little. He hardly naps.
Toddler A1 is growing fine too. Brought him for his 2 year old checkup and pediatre asked him to name the animals in the book. He could not since he was not speaking much yet. He could make sounds of animals though. Upon the pediatre's instruction, I asked toddler A1 to fetch a toy from the table and he did as told. The pediatre understood that he was learning 3 languages which might explain the slowness in speech. However, she still prescribed an audio examination for toddler A1. Huh? She is just a procedure base person. I realised that many medicial staff gave extra examinations over here. Either they are over precaution, or they are just protecting themselves from mis-diagnosis. Anyway, most examinations are paid partially by social security and the rest top up by mutuelle. Still, sometimes, it takes up a lot of our engergy and time. We shall wait and see for toddler A1.

Summery spring time

Spring is here and usually we do get a week or two of freaking sunny days. However, it has been hot like summer since we come back from Singapore. People we know told us that the weather was good even while we were in Singapore. That makes it a total of 4 weeks of summery spring time.

The tourism industry is happy while the agriculture industry is worried. No rain means crops are not growing well. No fresh pasture for the cows and hay meant for winter is already being used.

The cherry and strawberry season is already here. Usually, it is in two weeks' time. I am not complaining cos we are enjoying this good dry, warm weather. It is easier to support the heat when there is no humidity unlike in Singapore.

2 sundays ago, we had a picnic with Anca and family at the park nearby our place. Last weekend, we were out again. Seb suggested a walk in the park of the Chateau de Chantilly. The drive up north took us about 30minutes. We took the double seater stroller as we predicted that toddler A1 would want to be carried and not walk. Our prediction came true. It took some coaxing and an afternoon snack for him to walk and not "koala bear" hug his dad.

The visit to the park is not free but I guess the money was put to good use as the lawns are well maintained. It is a lovely big park and we only cover less than a quarter of it. There are ducks in mating games and swans with their nests at the riverbank. This swan was protecting its 3 cygnets.

We enjoyed our little outing and everyone slept in the car on the way back except the driver, of course. Thanks Seb for the getaway.

On Sunday, we went to church and since it was another beautiful day, we decided to have lunch outside. We wanted to try something new other than those regular resturants we go to. After all, most of them are small eateries with limited space for stroller.

We headed for the 6th district of Paris as there are many brasseries (french traditional restaurants). We ended up at Le Petit Zinc as there was a table at the terrace with space for a stroller and in the menu, there was something vegeterian for Seb. It is never easy spotting vegeterian dishes in brasserie. The food was good and the wine Seb ordered was very good too. He had noted it down and we would definitely get some for home consumption. Even the service was good which was pretty rare in Paris.

I hope the good days continue to stay and it would rain at night while we are sleeping. I understand our farmers' plights and hope their harvests would not be too badly affected.