The Rohr-Allegini Cloning Experiment

We are scientists afterall, so perhaps it's not shocking we'd conduct our own little experiment with cloning and genetics.

At least, that is how it woul appear...




(Lenaïc has straight hair like my brother Albert instead of my curls, otherwise, he's a clone)

Genetics Experiment

The Birthday Model

Ok, so it has been awhile since Angelina had a birthday, but we finally got her to pose a bit in the presents from GranPapa Marcel and Granmaman Josiane in Switzerland.




And today she wanted to make a cake with flowers, just because.





She definitely has a style all her own!

The Many Faces of Lenaïc

Learning to crawl comes with its downside: everything that can be pulled down, will be pulled down. When I inevitably yell "Lenaïc! No!" he looks up at me with the cutest grin as if to say "Who? me?"

And then there's food. I confess, I have given up feeding him with a spoon. He much prefers to feed himself. It's all part of learning right?



Bear with me while I try to figure out a better way to show multiple photos (these tiles didn't come out so well, the original pics are better)

Who me? What could I be up to?


See? Nothing there!

Ummmmm, caught?


Oh well, it tastes GOOD!



Wait, maybe not so good.



hahahaha! Gotcha!

Camping!

We have discovered the joy of Family Camping. Despite backpacking for much of my adult life, I feel like a newbie when it comes to car camping. Especially with kids. Angelina loves camping. LOVES it. She is so excited to help Papa set up the tent and she asks to go all the time. We’ve been trying to make use of our State Parks Pass, so this weekend we checked out Colorado Bend State Park.

It took us 3.5 hours on a Friday night to get there, no short trek. The last 25 miles we drove into the sunset in the middle of nowhere, with spectacular views. The final 10 miles in the dark on a gravel path. It all felt so isolated, until we made it to the campground bustling with people. A nice area for camping near the Colorado River, but camping in Texas is so different from the west or the northeast. I guess it’s due to fewer trees, as when I’ve been car camping elsewhere, the campsites tend to be spaced out a bit with lots of trees in between. Here it’s like a big field with the occasional tree. No real privacy. Fortunately when you have kids, that can be a good thing.


We hiked to Gorman Falls (previously open only by tour guide, now anyone can hike it). An easy path until the very end when you have to scamper down very steep rocks. With two kids. It was well worth it, as the falls were stunning and so different than anything I’d seen in Texas:deep green moss covering rocks is not a common sight in this arid land.



When we got back to the campground, we discovered something most appealing: two families of kids had set up two spaces over from us. Angelina has never met a kid with whom she didn’t want to play. So in a matter of minutes she wandered over, introduced herself, and asked if she could join the 2 6 year old girls, 3 yr old girl and 3 yr old boy.





Later we took what we thought was a short walk to the end of the campground but turned into a 1.5 mile walk (that’s what happens when you don’t look at the map closely) to a spring-fed pool. Whoa! This was amazing. The pictures should tell it all.

Happy Birthday Ruby!

Angelina has a lovely little friend named Ruby who just turned 4. And thanks to neighbor Felice, she has a new princess dress. Though princesses were not the theme of the party, Angelina was insistent that she MUST dress up in a pretty dress for Ruby’s birthday. We love Ruby!

Learning to Crawl

When we were in California in August, Lenaïc was just starting to make efforts at crawling. He’d do this funny yoga stretch with the front leg bent and the back leg stretched behind him as he inched forward like an inchworm. Into September (at almost 9 months) he made more efforts at crawling, advancing to an army crawl. By mid-September he’s become a full-fledged crawler.

This is a new experience for us since Angelina never crawled. She was mobile, scooting everywhere on her bum, but her mobility was a bit more limited. Lenaïc, on the other hand, now has access to a whole new world of doors to open, CDs to pull off shelves, books to reach (and rip apart), cat food to eat, splinters to get in his hand (thanks to unfinished wood floors)….

A Day At the Beach

I’m a little behind on my blog posts, so it’s time to catch up. We didn’t want to brave the crowds by going away on Labor Day Weekend, but decided a trip to the beach was worth it. Although Texas beaches don’t quite match up to California beaches, at least we have *a* beach, and the water is warmer. Almost too warm.




For more photos, click HERE

What Every SwinG Needs: A Laughing Child

California Dreaming

Now I finally have some pictures to post, more on our trip. click HERE

I finished work on July 30. The next day Angelina, Lenaïc and I flew to CA. Yes, me alone with two kids. Other people do it, surely I could too? Well, fortunately, both kids are pretty good fliers and it wasn't that difficult (not that I want to do it again anytime soon).

What followed was two weeks of non-stop parties: Uncle Chris and Aunt Debbie's pool with the big slide and trampoline, Aunt Loretta and Uncle Bruce's pool, Aunt Loretta's "cabin" in Big Bear (can you call it a cabin if it's bigger than your house?), Nanny's house, Corona del Mar Beach, Santa Barbara, Hiking up Mt Baldy, daily swimming lessons, and lots and lots of cousin-time.

If it looks like Angelina spent all her time in her bathing suit, that's because she did. She took a little breack for Lenaïc's baptism to wear a dress, but brought along her goggles to the church just in case (more on the baptism in another post). She lived in her bathing suit, not unlike we did as kids every summer.

The best part? Playing with cousins, aunts and uncles, and Nanny and Opa every day for more than 2 weeks. Alas, now she associates cousins with a pool, as when she skyped with Maël and Gilles upon returning home she asked "do they have a pool?"



There are more pics from Big Bear on facebook, I'll try to post a link here soon, so check back.

More pictures

For those not on facebook, here's the link for the Beach photos. Goleta Beach
More CA photos to come!

Someone is missing Papa

Frédéric has been gone since Sunday.

Angelina has handled it better than usual, but still not easy. Tonight, after a crisis about something I couldn't figure out, she finally cried "I want Papa!" and then it was clear.

I managed to distract her with a trip to Friendly Spot (or rather, Lily and Wilson and a few other kids did the distracting). Then to bed.

Angelina: "Mommy, Papa needs to come home and sleep in his bed."
Me: "Honey, he's in Sweden right now but he'll be home tomorrow to sleep in his bed."
Angelina: "He's in Sweden? But he can't sleep! he doesn't have his bed! He really really really needs to sleep in *his* bed!"
Me: "I'm sure he has a bed in Sweden."
Angelina: "No Mommy. There are no beds in Sweden. He has to come home to sleep!"

And there you have it. There are no beds in Sweden.

But then, she's always been a Daddy's girl, even from a couple of weeks old:

A college reunion!

And lucky for me I went to college in a gorgeous place: Santa Barbara. I can't believe I haven't been back in about 15 years or so. Now I've visited again, I wonder why I ever left. University ON the beach. Who could ask for more?

Thanks to facebook I've reconnected with some old college friends. One, Hyun, I credit for getting me through my first year at UCSB. See, he was the only one on our floor with a computer in 1987. Many a night my roomate Jen and I sat up in Hyun's room writing papers on a PC with a dot matrix printer.

Hyun still lives in SB with a wonderful wife and two of the cutest kids ever. He's also a great photographer. You need to check back for the rest of the photos (they're too big, so I need to do some work to manipulate them so I can post them, though they are on facebook already). But here are a few:






2.5 weeks in California = a lot to tell. So check back for more stories and pictures.

Starting a New Life

or at least the Next Phase in my life.

Since I was about 15, I've never not worked (i.e. had some sort of paycheck coming in), except a few months here and there during transitions. As of August 1, 2010, I will be officially unemployed. Fortunately, by choice. And by "employed" I just mean some sort of organization giving me a regular paycheck and me being responsible to some boss. I will still be employed, only now I won't have a regular paycheck (unless you count Frédéric's) and I'll be responsible only to two munchkins demanding my time and attention. Yup, just call me "Dr. Mom."

I suppose I should be a little scared, and I was initially when, despite thinking about this for the past few years, we finally looked to it as a real possibility. But really, I'm just excited. I know many people manage to work full time, raise kids, take them to all sorts of events, volunteer for boards, etc etc. Me? I can barely find time to make it to and from work. Between the demands of both our jobs, something had to give, and I was all too happy to give my job back :)

I like what I do - I still occasionally convinced myself I was out saving the world from infectious diseases - but I'm tired, and the day to day minutia is just not worth the time away from the family. I want to be able to do all the little things I can barely manage now, and then some. I feel really fortunate that this is even an option. Frédéric's job is pretty demanding and requires lots of travel. Until now, we've been coordinating it ok, but it's a challenge. My not working will ease up the pressure on him a bit too, although I've made no guarantees of a home cooked meal on a nightly basis (now, he cooks about 75% of the time).

As for my many many years earning an MPH and then a PhD? Some may say I'm "throwing it all away." Not really. My student years, though trying at times, were not a means to an end. I didn't sacrifice anything really for the hope of something greater at the end (ok, I did sacrifice a larger paycheck, but working in non-profit wasn't exactly a windfall either). No, those years of graduate school were, in hindsight, wonderful years of exploration and opportunity and enlightenment. While doing my research, I got to work on 3 other continents and an isthmus (or whatever Central America is considered). I met and learned from an amazing assortment of people. I am definitely a richer human being for the experience (if not richer in my checkbook...). It was all worth it, and I would do it again.

I'm sure being a Stay-At-Home-Parent will have a similar impact: full of wonder and exploration and enlightenment. Just in a smaller package, though some might say Angelina and Lenaïc have personalities which are not exactly "small." Rather, they are larger than life. There's a whole new world to explore. I'm ready!

Two Peas in a Pod

Nothing's better than sharing a treat with a friend!














And don't forget little brother.