The Birthday That Never Ends

Angelina is going to start thinking that every day comes with a present to open! Thanks to family and friends scattered across the world, for awhile there, a new cadeau was arriving almost daily!

This one came from the Etoy Allegrini Cousins. Actually, this is a mix of two - Charlotte aux Fraises (ie Strawberry Shortcake) and another cute skirt and top. I couldn't get her to wear the right combination though she insisted on putting it on immediately.

Merci Tonton Philippe, Taunte Sophie, Megane, Mael, and Gilles!





And here she is just having fun -

More fun for the Party Girl

It's been a month of parties. Last week was Wiley's birthday party at one of the bouncy castle places. Oh wow. Angelina was in HEAVEN. She was insane. She kept running up the HUGE slides. She couldn't get up the ladders on her own, so other kids had to help her, then she'd fling herself down. She went up the biggest slides there. She had a constant smile on her face she was having so much fun. I neglected to bring my camera, so you have to take my word for it.

Yesterday was Lily's Little Mermaid birthday at a pool. Angelina's other favourite activity is being in water. So you can only imagine how happy she was. At first we went to the big pool. We held her, but she doesn't quite understand that she can't float yet. She kept pushing us away, trying to swim. Then we went over to the wading pool where she played with Felice. That was much easier!



The hard part was getting her out, but cake made her happy.


Next up was a going away party for Ann and Garth who are leaving us for Portland. Angelina of course had a wonderful time being the only kid there and hence, belle of the ball. She's going to really miss Ann and Garth, just like the rest of us!

"Remain seated until Maman has turned off the seatbelt sign"

"REMAIN SEATED!!!!"
"PUT THAT SEATBELT BACK ON!!!"
"Do NOT. I mean NOT take that seatbelt off!"

Heard by Maman and sometimes Papa when driving 70mph down the freeway....

We have two carseats which apparently aren't childproof. I asked folks about a car seat that a 2 year old could not unlatch, and they said ours must be faulty, because no 2 year old can unlatch a car seat. Wrong. They're both highly rated safety-wise in Europe (which has more stringent standards than the US).

They're great seats.

Except Angelina can unlatch them. I thought we'd finally gotten her to stop, although she's like an airline passenger when a plane lands, the wheels barely touch ground and the seatbelts pop off. With Angelina, I just barely come to a stop - car is still running but we're in front of the house - and off comes the belt. I could handle that, except that today she yet again took off the seatbelt in a massive rain storm while on the freeway...

A wet weekend

No, it didn't rain again. Angelina spent the weekend all wet. On Saturday we walked to Main Plaza, where they were doing a puppet show. Angelina loved it! She couldn't follow it, but she loved seeing the puppets and kept saying "Look Wiley!" (our neighbor Wiley was sitting next to her).

Then the fountains...Main Plaza has just been redone with lots of fountains, which just welcomes kids. Angelina had tons of fun with Wiley and Felice playing in the water (and ripping off all her clothes....I told Fredo just to say we're European).

Sunday was a work day for Maman, so she joined in for awhile -. Finally she can stop trying to use MY wheelbarrow now she has her own. Best 99 cents we've ever spent (Goodwill)!

Then it was pool time - you'd think she was ready for the beach!

After a break and a nap, Wiley and Felice came over and it was pool time again. It's so fun to watch them.


Wiley is basically like a big brother to Angelina - I think sometimes it's easier when it's not your real sister :) He's so great with her, and she does EVERYTHING he does! I wonder how long before that starts to drive him crazy?

That's her in the back, hiding with Wiley while Felice poses for us.

She's Definitely Swiss

Little Miss Chocolate!

I sometimes think my in-laws are testing my mothering abilities (just kidding Marcel!)

GranPapa Marcel very kindly sent Angelina a great boat for her birthday. As she loves water, and anything to put in water, she was very very excited to see it."Oh COOL!" she says. But it was heavy. It wasn't obvious to me there was something in it, or even that it opened, but it was to her. "Open! Open!" she said. So I picked it up and studied it and finally figured out how to open it. Inside? CHOCOLATE. Lots of it. She immediately grabs as much as she can and tries to hide it from me. I manage to get all but one piece away, which she shoves in her mouth.

She was happy enough while she ate it. Then it was gone and she wanted more. MORE MORE MORE!!!! Welcome Terrible Twos Tantrum. Maman had to be tough. No more chocolate, no matter how much she screamed. Of course Fredo isn't here so lucky me I get to deal with it. I managed to hide it, and eventually, after more screaming, she forgot about it. Or so I thought. She happily played for 20 mins, sweet as can be, only to try to sneak more chocolate again.....

She said "Merci GranPapa!"

The Birthday Girl!

Angelina gets what seems like a week of parties....

She first had presents with us in the morning.

Then a little party at daycare.
Then a cake and celebration with Maman and Papa in the evening.

July 4 a BBQ at Ann and Garth's, which wasn't in her honor but she manages to be the star anyway (and she did open one present there from Kurt and Cory).

Then on July 5 (which happens to be Grace in Dublin's birthday!) she had her very own big special party. She had So Much Fun. I don't think she realized everyone was there in her honor. The kids all played in the kiddie pool, and then the bigger ones in the Dunk Tank (thanks Rick & Angela). Angelina LOVED this thing. No she didn't sit and get dunked. She's too small to even go in, but she insisted and being her birthday party I gave in. We had to hold her to the side as she was trying to swim around....she thinks she's a fish!

We had a piñata (is that Oscar the Grouch or the Cookie Monster?) which was so big I just had to fill it with tons of candy. It was so heavy Fredo worried the branch would snap.




And of course, singing Happy Birthday. It was at this point when she realized she really was the Star. All the attention was on her, and she was just amazed. I can't fully express how incredible she looked when she realized everyone was singing for her. Her eyes lit up even more than usual and she was so happy!

Happy Birthday!

Two years ago today, it was the best day of our lives, then the worst day, and then eventually the best day again.

I don't know if it's the same for other NICU parents, or for all parents. We both find ourselves overwhelmed with emotion on our child's birthday. Is it because we remember that day? So hopeful, then so terrifying? Or does everyone feel this?

It's amazing to us that she went from this:

To this:















It's difficult to think of that day. It started off with so much anticipation and promise, only to end with terrifying fear that we may lose her. But really, something inside us told us we wouldn't lose her. That she was tough, and would pull through. Thanks to a wonderful midwife, Holly, whose years of experience in delivering babies and with laboring moms told her Angelina was going to need some extra help, even though once we got to hospital, all signs were stable and normal. Thanks to a wonderful OB on call, Dr Bryant, who was patient and kind and proactive and not afraid to do what she thought best. Thanks to a wonderful neonatalogist, Dr. Hilliard, who told us "Don't even think of an ECMO when others mentioned it, and told me to just keep pumping milk, that it was the best thing for her once we could take her off the IV. Thanks to the wonderful lactation consultant who held my hand (and boob) to get the milk going. Thanks to a wonderful team at Christus who kept her alive in those first dark hours. Thanks to all our family and friends around the world, both real life and online, and the many many people whom we've never met but who prayed, wished us well, shared kind thoughts and supported us through those terrifying days.



Thanks to all, she is here today.

Celebrating her 2nd birthday.

Full of life and smiles and cheers and cries and screams and laughter. Angelina has all of that.

She already lives life fully.

Completely.

Sometimes much to our dismay.

I wouldn't change anything for the world.

But I'd also never go back to July 3, 2006. Or rather, July 4th at about 2am. No. I don't want to relive that. Instead, we'll live each day, as Angelina teaches us to.

Happy Birthday Sweet Pea.

The Water Baby

Yesterday was Fredo's company "picnic" at Fiesta Texas. Normally we wouldn't go there, as it's just too expensive, but for $6 each for all day and lunch, it's worth it. Our main aim was the water park. Well....we got there to find out that the water park wouldn't open for 3 more hours, so we had to make do with some kiddie rides.
She had a blast, of course.




But then we made it to the water and she was in heaven. She had a smile permanently on her face. She Really Loves the Water.

The Party Hostess

And why I love Lavaca

So this picture is from earlier in the day, since I didn't get a picture of her in the evening. Little Angelina has inherited the Party Hostess Extraordinaire gene (I think it comes from her Nanny and Opa). Last night we had our neighborhood crawl (see here for more on that). We were house #4. By that time, even though it was late, Angelina had spent much of the day at Fiesta Texas and had no nap, she was on fire! She just loved having a house full of people, and was wandering around entertaining everyone, laughing and singing and keeping them happy. A few more years and she'll be able to offer drinks and food too.

The Beach

Ah, my little one. There's something I want to share with you: The Beach.

Well, no. It's Nature. We share that every day. See, your Maman is a California Girl at heart. That means she loves the Beach. She loves the Desert. She loves the Mountains. There are many beautiful places in the world, but one place has all three. California. Alas, it has many other things we could do without - traffic, high prices.....so we live other places. But I make this promise to you now: once per year, we will see the Sea.

Somehow.

I think we'll see the mountains all year. And the deserts are a little more challenging. But you will know them all.

Tonight it's been 4 years since your Maman married your Papa, in a beautiful civil ceremony in your ancestral village of Orbe, Switzerland. It was a wonderful day and evening, celebrated with dear friends and family (and repeated again 6 weeks later, equally as wonderful - your Maman and Papa know how to have parties :)). I couldn't celebrate this day with either of you. I was far away, at the sea. But I had the evening to myself. I sat on the sand, and I thought of you both.

I thought of you as a I watched the sea. I thought of you as I listened to the waves crashing. I thought of you in every moment. In every grain of sand.

I hope to share with you the majesty, the scenery, the beauty of the sea. And the mountains. And the desert.

Mother Nature has so much for us to share. You will share many anniversaries with Maman and Papa, and sometimes we'll celebrate them on our own, but we'll always share the thing we all love so much: Nature. And the sea.

Oh Man!

That's her favourite phrase.

It's funny how you don't realize how much you say something, until it gets repeated by an almost 2 year old. Fortunately she wasn't saying what I thought she was saying (Oh Merde!), but she says "Oh Man!" over and over again.

She also says 'Thank you,' which is great, but she says it "OOOh! Thank you!" I never realized I did this, but Fredo claims that's how I say it to her all the time. "Here you go" is another.

Her speech is finally, really taking off now. She's been slow to say much, at least coherently, but now she's talking all the time. She certainly understands French and English. Tonight I said "Next we go to bed." She answered "No au lit!"

UPDATE: Her other favourite phrase: "Oh COOL!" I am pretty sure where that came from...she's a California girl at heart.

Happy Father's Day!

I'm not sure how much Papa enjoyed it, but Angelina did!

The pictures don't do it justice. I think she was having so much fun I couldn't get her to stay still long enough to snap a photo. We went to Landa Park - a spring fed pool in New Braunfels with our neighbors and some other friends. Though it got pretty crowded, Angelina didn't care. She wanted to be in the water ALL DAY LONG.




She had so much fun. SHe kept asking us to swim with her across the width of the 'pool' -which was no small task! It's hard swimming with just your legs (holding onto her). We managed to pull her out for a couple of breaks, but she was shivering and still insisting on staying in. She even jumped off the dock!

She's our little water baby.

Our Little Hiker

We were a little slow to make use of an REI gift card we got for our baby shower almost two years ago from Ann, Garth, Kyle, and Marisa. Until now we've carried her in the sling, which we still like, but she's getting a bit heavy, which makes hiking difficult. So we FINALLY found a backpack carrier we really liked. We lucked out at REI that day as the Kelty rep was there and could really work with us to get the right one (for Frederic, really, since he's going to do most of the carrying!).



Clearly, she was quite comfortable in it :)


Thanks Tormeons and Peebles families!

Hard at work

Or maybe it's play.

This is Angelina's favourite 'toy.' She has some fake computer toys, but she prefers the real thing. She found Nanny's computer pretty cool.

Water Baby

Though she loved the beach and was tempted by the water, she hesitated a bit at first.



Not for long.


By evening we had to drag her kicking and screaming out of the pool. She loves the water!

Bouncing, and bouncing, and sliding....

More from California. We celebrated Camille's birthday at a place filled with Bouncy Castles. Angelina was in heaven!


The best part was sharing it with her cousins!

She wants to clean so much

she has to create her own mess. She managed to dump an entire box of cereal on the floor. Then couldn't wait to clean it up.

Mud and Water and She's Happy!

Every day we come home and start pulling weeds in the lawn.

She was a bit cranky at first today:



And then I turned the water on. She immediately ran to the sprinkler and soaked herself. Then she played in the mud.
She's hiding behind the meter because I was chasing her with a towel. I managed to wipe off her face. I should have taken a picture first. It was covered with mud and she was as happy as can be.

Small Spaces

I am convinced Chakapu and Angelina are one and the same. Whenever we pack, Chakapu sits inside the suitcase. Just like this.

A Day at the Beach

And a weekend full of cousins!

During our visit to CA, we took cousin Camille to Little Corona del Mar tide pools to explore all the sea life.


Angelina was at first a little hesitant about the sand.

Soon she was making (or rather destroying) sand castles Papa and Camille were so carefully building.

She also wasn't so excited about the water at first....

That didn't last long either.... (That's water flowing she's playing in)



I did have a bathing suit for her, but as she was so hesitant about the water, I hadn't put it on. By this point she loved the water so much we had to drag her away.