Lenaïc doesn't like it when Papa leaves for the day

Papa has had to work a lot lately. This happens every day, but today, Sunday, it was particularly traumatic.

It's heartwrenching, but sweet. Since he's fine a few minutes later, I tend to smile more than cry. His excitement when Papa comes home, well, is beyond imagination. Jumping for joy.

That's ok. I'm chopped liver. I'm used to it.

And She's SIX

It often still amazes me. This life we brought into the world, six years ago, shortly before 10pm on July 3.






From her first moments she made her mark on us, and on everyone around us. Every year I relive the joy and excitement and trauma and fear that was her birth. The excitement as I finally realized I was in labor.  The peace and calm throughout labor, until, she decided to stall  (knowing her now, she was probably distracted on her way out of the birth canal...). Then finally, when she made her way out - the relief and joy. And then those hours after, when the NICU team weren't sure she'd survive (even though we never entertained such thoughts). 

In the six years since, our strong and determined baby has blossomed into a strong and determined and beautiful and funny and clever and crazy little girl.










She has this amazing sensitivity that allows her to feel so intensely, so passionately, for all those around her.






She's said before that she couldn't have just one best friend, because that would make her other friends feel bad.









A friend described her, saying, "you feel so full of love when you're with her." And it's true.









You get this sense of a big heart full of love flowing out to fill the space when she's near (except when she's cranky....she is a kid, after all).

Happy 6th Birthday Angelina! The world is a better place because you are in it.

Wild Birthdays!

It's that time of year again. Time to throw a wild party in honor of Angelina's Birthday. Since we have so many parties regularly, I thought we needed to do something to make this party different, more special, that the usual weekly parties.

All week Angelina walked around with her notepad saying "We have so much to do before the party! Where's my list?!" Angelina is a party girl (wonder where she gets that from?). But not only that, she has a big heart and generous soul. A party isn't a party unless she invites EVERYONE. She wants to celebrate with everyone she knows. And so she did.

Angelina was SO excited when friends started arriving. She eventually got into the pool, but then realized she wouldn't be able to appropriately greet all her guests, so she got out to play hostess. Her hostess skills are impressive! In the end, we had 49 kids, ages about 7 months to 13 years. I didn't count the adults, but am guessing about 30. So that's about 80 people in our house. Well, mostly outside our house, even though it was in the high 90sF (lovely a cool compared to how it's been...). 

Don't let this picture fool you, this was taken during the After Party at 7pm

We have a 15ft above ground pool, which at its peak had at least 17 kids.  We also had a couple of kiddie pools set up. A trampoline. A playscape. A playhouse. A sandbox. A kid paradise.

 But to add to the fun, we had a special surprise. Animals. And not just any animals, but exotic animals:

Kinkajou

Hedgehog

Lemur

Ball python

Coati

and cake......

Lenaïc was sure to join in the fun

Words! Words! Words!

It's not been a word explosion, it's been a Word Eruption!

At 18 months, Lenaïc was not talking. He appeared "normal" (i.e. meeting all milestones) in everyway except speaking. I wasn't too worried, as Angelina was also speech delayed, and he was hearing two languages, so this was within normal range. But, 18 months is the top end of that range, so we contacted ECI - Early Childhood Intervention, the state social services. They evaluated him, and declared he was 6+ months behind and eligible for services. So, for the past year, they've come to the house 3x/month (and in the past few months, about 5x) to work with him. He has loved it. But until a few months ago, he still wasn't speaking much. He had begun to say more and more words, but not consistently. His hearing had been checked, and it was perfect. 6 months ago we started going to a private speech therapist as well, but after 6 weeks decided it wasn't worth it and decided to persist with the public services.

He slowly started to add more words. Eventually he started saying "Mom-mom" (he never said "Mommy" though he'd been saying "Papa" for awhile). Now he just says "mom." New words continued to come, though he refuses to say "car" which is his favourite object. He was due for his 1 year evaluation, and as of a month ago, the therapists said he was still significantly delayed (more than 15%) so he would continue to receive services.

well, that was until last week. Suddenly, the words started to explode. He started saying everything he saw. The funniest part is that he says harder words like "swimsuit." Sunday, he pointed to my red shirt and said "rojo!" then proceeded to point to every red object saying "rojo!" and then every green object and saying "verde!" Oh, and instead of car, he said 'voiture!" And he calls Chico, our dog, "Taco." (He had a Spanish speaking babysitter for awhile, and he saw her Saturday night) So, not only has he had a word eruption, it's in three languages. he is now 30 months old. At his evaluation, he was only behind in communication (27months), cognitive skills were at 46 months and social skills? 50 months. That's more than 4 yrs old... Anyone who knows this kid will not refute that. He is Mr Social. With everyone. Kids, grownups, he loves them all. So no more therapy, but that's a good thing. Except, we'll miss his therapists. He's always so happy when they arrive. But he doesn't need it. Now he won't stop talking.....

Memorial Day

Today was Memorial Day here in the US. A day initially intended to honor those who died in the Civil War, and later to include all who died during military action in all wars.

So it's a holiday, a day off school. A few days ago, I had the following exchange with Angelina.


Me: "Angelina, you don't have school on Monday. It's Memorial Day."
A: "What's Memorial Day?"
Me: "It's the day we remember and honor all those people who died in wars."
A: "Why do we have wars if people die in them?"


For her lips to our leaders' ears.

Ah, to be a Mom! I waited a long time for this. And I confess, some days it's the hardest job in the world. But many, many days are like this: :

Pure, pure joy.

This is what makes being a Mom all worth it. Listening to the laughter of my kids.

And that's something they are full of: Laughter.

On Mother's Day, it is I who have people to thank: Frédéric for helping to make me a mother and giving me these incredible kids, said kids, Lenaïc and Angelina, who fill my days with such joy, and those wonderful people around me, who help me every day to be a better mom. I couldn't do it without you.

A Day on the Mission Trail

It's been an insanely busy couple of months. Spring in San Antonio = neverending events. Fun, but exhausting. Many pictures to come, but for now, our day on the River

It's all in the Eyes

Maybe it's just me, but as soon as I saw this picture taken a few days ago,

it brought to mind the look in her eyes the day after she was born

There's an amazing soul behind those eyes

A Day at the Parks

It's March in Texas, which means it's sunny and beautiful and warm. Warmish. Saturday was cooler than the 80F days previous, but still lovely for a day out. After a trip to the Farmer's Market, we went to Landa Library, a beautiful old estate that was donated to the city for a gorgeous library with wonderful grounds. In addition to finding great new books, the kids get to play in a fabulous playground surrounded by lovely old trees. And because the day was so spectacular, we decided to check out Hardberger Park as well.

The best part was watching the kids play together. Nothing says happiness like watching your kids run and laugh and hug and laugh some more. For more pictures, go HERE.

February Fun

I'm pretty slow to post these days, so I'll just show some pictures.

For lots more photos, click HERE

A Style All Her Own

Today was "Free Dress" day at school. Some people call it "Dress down Day" because they kids don't have to wear their uniforms.

Angelina, however, does not quite get the term "Dress Down." Free Dress = wear a special dress. She tried to wear her Christmas red velvet with faux fur collar dress, but we managed to convince her otherwise. Instead, we talked her into the burgundy velvet + taffeta dress. of course, it is always topped by a red bow.

She refuses to cut her hair, or to brush it, so the red bow serves to hold it back. Just a little.

Clearly, she has her own style.



In other news, we received official word that she's been recommended for the school district's "Gift/Talented Education Program." This means our suspicions have been correct: she is already smarter than her parents.


On Lenaïc news, he still won't say "mommy", but he showed me his red car and said "Lite-ning" (Lightening McQueen)

A Time to Reflect

It's that time again, end of the year. Time to think about all that's happened this year, and all we hope the next year to be.

I think we should be feeling like this was a bad year, and we're glad to see the back side of it. Getting 2 cancer diagnoses is enough to ruin any year.

But as I look back on the past year, I see only what good it brought us. Yes, two major surgeries for Frédéric, recovery time, medical expenses, worry, fear.

But it also brought us strength.

Strength in ourselves and as a family.

It brought us tears and laughter.

It brought pain and joy.

It brought hope.

It brought friends.

It brought us community. Without hesitation, our "village" stepped in to help before even being asked. The year has taught us how wonderful our lives really are, how lucky we are to be surrounded by so much love and support.


Not just here, locally, but amongst our friends and family around the world.

Goodbye to 2011. As always, we're lucky in our bad luck.