Sybille's first

step today!
 
It would have been yesterday, but Tassia came running up at the wrong time and spooked her.  But, she made one baby step from hanging onto her dresser to throwing herself into Mama's arms.  A big smile was on her face, and much cuddling and clapping ensued.

3 goods and a bad

Good: After pulling it out from the wall, detaching and re-attaching some hoses, and running a cycle with white vinegar, my washing machine can actually complete an entire wash cycle and stop at the end.
 
Good: The cilantro I planted that went to seed in July and has shown no signs of life since?  Little sprigs of cilantro are springing up!
 
Good:  I did not lose my voice.
 
Bad:  Alina has had a fever since Sunday.  Starting antibiotics tonight.

Something's wrong

with this picture! I think we have the wrong children in the playpen, and the wrong child out!

Here's the escapee:

Quiet before bed

Right now, I'm trying to see God in dirty dishes, runny noses, and doses of Tylenol.

Bye-bye

Sybille has gotten really good at waving bye-bye. She'll open and close her two fists, and sometimes point to the person who is leaving, before opening and closing her hands again. It's so cute. Today, as we were dropping Alina off at school after lunch, Sybille was waving, and I said, quite rhetorically, "Sybille, can you say bye-bye to Alina?" Much to my surprise, she said, "Ba-ba."

Sometimes maybe we just don't expect enough from our children.

Frost

I wanted to share this:

THE ONSET

Always the same, when on a fated night
At last the gathered snow lets down as white
As may be in dark woods, and with a song
It shall not make again all winter long
Of hissing on the yet uncovered ground,
I almost stumble looking up and round,
As one who overtaken by the end
Gives up his errand, and lets death descend
Upon him where he is, with nothing done
To evil, no important triumph won,
More than if life had never been begun.

Yet all the precedent is on my side:
I know that winter death has never tried
The earth but it has failed: the snow may heap
In long storms an undrifted four feet deep
As measured against maple, birch and oak,
It cannot check the peeper's silver croak:
And I shall see the snow all go down hill
In water of a slender April rill
That flashes tail through last year's withered brake
And dead weeds, like a disappearing snake.
Nothing will be left white but here a birch,
And there a clump of houses with a church.

--Robert Frost

The end of the first stanza caught my attention. I hope and pray that, at the end of my life, evil will have suffered a blow, that my life will have been a part of a great triumph which is even now being won. And, by God's grace, and God's grace alone, that will be the case.

Trinity

ALINA: Mama, how many kinds of God are there? (begins counting on her fingers) There's God who is God, and God who is Jesus, and (pauses to think) God who is the Holy Spirit.

ME: Yes, there are three. (Launching into my oh-so-clear explanation of the trinity, and ending with) That's what the Bible teaches, but it's kind of hard to understand.

ALINA: Maybe they each take turns dressing up as God.

Walking soon?

Sourdough Success

I have to show this off: This is bread that I baked, with my very own sourdough starter. I happened a couple of weeks ago to be talking with one of my two favorite sisters-in-law, and mentioned I had bread rising. She sent me a link giving instructions for a no-knead bread. The site was well-done and interesting, and I will maybe try their method sometime. But, in browsing around the site, I found that they couldn't get their method to work using all whole-grain flour (which I usually use), and they couldn't get their method to work using only sourdough starter and no yeast (which I used to do.) Well, this all got me thinking and motivated to re-start baking sourdough. Since my starter died (long story), I knew I would have to start another one. A quick Google let me to this website. This site is amazing, for anyone who intends to ever bake bread, and especially anyone who wants to bake sourdough. The 3 batches of bread I've baked since I found this site have been the best bread I've ever made, and I have a sourdough starter that will knock your socks off!

One of the advantages of this site, besides the great advice, is the recipes. Notably, there are recipes for what to do with your leftover starter that you would normally be throwing away. Which is how we enjoyed a batch of sourdough blackberry muffins (sounds crazy, but they were really good) a few days ago, and sourdough pizza dough today. I had help with my pizza crust. Two little girls wanted their own pizzas shaped like Mickey Mouse.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go feed my starter.

Halloween???

I believe I mentioned 2 years ago (we didn't celebrate Halloween last year. We had been in our new house for less than a week, and I was 7 months pregnant and didn't have the energy) the difficulties encountered in celebrating Halloween in a country where people aren't expecting random children to ring their doorbells and ask for candy. But, in my attempt to raise my children as good Americans, here we are ready to go out on our trick-or-treating expedition. And, yes, Alina is dressed up as a princess. Again. The girls pose with their loot:

The jack-o-lantern. Alina did the general design, I actually did the carving.

Tassiaisms

TASSIA: Mama, can we go swimming pooling?

(Later, at the table)

ALINA: Mama, can I have more quince sauce?

TASSIA: Mama, can I have more get down?

(We did in fact go to the swimming pool today, and Tassia was allowed to leave the table.)

5 for 5

Alina turned 5 on Monday. Here she is at the breakfast table, with the loot that was waiting for her!Here is the cake we made for her birthday party, which was yesterday. The theme of the party was "Princesses", so we made a cake in the shape of a crown, and then Alina decorated it with candies she chose herself!

Here were all our little princesses!

Blowing out candles!

Posing for the picture!

Here she is modeling some of her new Princess attire:

We celebrate half-birthdays, too!

Yesterday, Tassia turned two and a half. We did not bake a cake, but I wanted to say a little bit about her anyway. Mostly because I'm feeling guilty about not keeping up on the little journals I'm keeping for the 3 girls, and here's a way to catch up on writing down some things I've missed.

When I think of what to say about Tassia, I end up with a smile on my face. She is so full of life, so funny. She still runs around every with her tongue sticking out, concentrating on getting the most out of whatever it is she's doing. She's starting to draw and color more, and is very definitely left-handed. (Thank you to whoever invented ambidextrous children's scissors. This is going to save her from the fate I suffered!) She loves to read books, and as soon as I finish a book, her response is, "More of dat!", which means, "Start over, Mom!" And, if I don't get it, she says, "More of dat book!" She has become my little helper, especially where dishes, sweeping, and baking are concerned. She will go get her "apowin" (ie apron) and ask me to "please buckle me up", meaning, please tie it around me. A few weeks ago, we had a problem with our oven. I had to explain to her that I could not bake Franklin a birthday cake, since our oven was broken. She laid her hand on my arm, looked up at me with her sweet face and, "I could help you fix it, if you want."

She will delight people in the street by randomly bursting into song, often "Jesus loves me". She recently decided that I needed to share my small French bible (that I often take to church) with her. I had put it on the bookcase, and she asked me, "Where is my ting to go Amen, Amen?"

Recently, she keeps asking us if we would like to go to the Tassia Restaurant. When I ask what kind of food it serves, she says, "Da kind you nike, and da kind Papa nike and the kind Nina nike." When asked where it is, she says, "Where dat man give us food." ????? If she really likes something, she may say that it's her "pavowit."

She likes to be like her big sister, look at books, and pick out letters. Usually it's the T for Tata! But sometimes, it's the C for cookie (Thank you, Cookie Monster and Sesame Street!)

Recently, she's gotten in the habit of snuggling up next to me, under my arm, and saying, "I'm cuddling wit you."

Hopefully, she won't grow out of that anytime soon.

The Littlest Princess

Hi, I'm Sybille! What are these bars? Is this a cage?

Hi! Here I am again!

I'd really love for you to pick me up!

No???

Well, then, I'm going to get you, anyway!

Way too cute!

In case you were wondering, our camera and computer are now once more speaking to each other, albeit through a mediator (aka USB card-reader.) Here, to catch up, is a hint of the random cuteness that runs through our house on a daily basis.

Celtic Days

We recently paid a visit to one of our favorite places: Exoudun. They are reconstructing a Gaulish village, and had a Celtic days. It was very back-to-nature: There were many activities, for kids and adults alike. Here Alina and I are practicing our sword-fighting as Tassia looks on.

Here as you can see, Tassia gets in on the action.

Here they go at it against each other (with Franklin as collateral damage).

And here they gang up on me! (As our friends look on and laugh!)

Sickies

Sick Alina. Sick Mama. Sybille seemed like she was a bit snuffly when I was trying to put her to sleep. Sick, sick, sick. And the school year (and the autumn) have barely started!

Sybille's 9th month

Today Sybille is 9 months old.  I would absolutely love to post some pictures, but our camera and our desktop computer are currently not speaking to each other, and our laptop asked me for drivers this afternoon, which I have yet to locate, so all those cute pictures are just going to stay safely tucked away in the camera for awhile.   At 8 and a half months, give or take a few days, Sybille decided that she prefers the upright position.  She now pulls herself up on everything.  She even scooted herself around our living room floor pushing on a kiddy-size wooden chair the other day.  Alina walked at 14 months.  Tassia at 18.  Something tells me Sybille is going to beat them both.  She has also decided that she absolutely needs to reach the top of the stairs under her own power.  Not if I can help it, Sybille!  You can wait awhile on that one!   She's started saying, "Mama."  Whenever she's upset, that is the syllable that comes out of her mouth.  Does it really designate me at this point?  I don't know, but since I'm often the one to come and fix whatever the problem is, it seems highly appropriate.  When she's happy, she belts out contented chains of "Ba Ba Ba" or "Da Da Da."  We could therefore say that she says "Dada" when she's happy, but that would be a bit of a stretch.   The tooth count is up to 5, and if her sleeping pattern for the last 2 days is an indication, another one may be on its way.  She's managed to bite me a few times.  Why, when this happens, do I end up having to comfort her?   She's an expert at picking up lint off the floor.  Pebbles, too.  You know, the ones her sisters collect and bring in the house.  As far as I know, she has yet to ingest anything dangerous.  But, maybe I'm just better off in the dark.   She has a funny way of puffing out her lips and blowing. Practicing for birthday candles already?  Fortunately, we have awhile...

Never

If your 2 and a half year old presses her nose up against the bakery window and begins to pick out which pastry she would like, do not reply, "We don't need to buy those cakes.  We can always make a cake when we get home," unless you actually have the intention of making said cake upon entering the house.

Alina's First day of School

After much thought and hesitation, we finally did enroll Alina in school for this fall, and she had her first day today. As you can see by the big grin, she was pretty happy to go, and she apparently had a wonderful time. She picked out her favorite dress (her "dress to get married in") to wear today. She's sporting a new backpack, which was packed full of Chessy, and her Hello Kitty lunchbox. In French schools, the kids have 90 minutes for lunch, and Alina will normally be coming home to eat. They are, however, allowed to bring a snack for morning recess, so she picked out her snack for today herself: apple-raspberry sauce and a rice cake.

Mama's still not sure how she feels about the whole thing. However, the morning went by so quickly that, although it felt strange to be at the playground without Alina, we didn't really have time to miss her. Both Sybille and Tassia obligingly slept all afternoon. Now, THAT I could get used to!

Church is 40

Our local church celebrated its 40th anniversary this weekend. More on that later, but if you want to see some picts, click here.

Goin' to the...

The girls and I spent the perfect day at the zoo today.  It was slightly overcast, not too hot, but no rain.  Alina and Tassia squealed in laughter as the goats begged for popcorn, they squealed in laughter again watching the guinea fowl herd (gaggle?) chase after more popcorn, are always delighted by picnics, thoroughly enjoyed the swings and slide, marvelled at how soft the mule's nose was, laughed at the turtles falling in the water, and ate messy but well-deserved ice cream cones before 2 out of 3 fell asleep in the car on the way home.  Of only the otters would have been out, things would have been too good to be true!   Would love to show you some cute pictures, but every time I tried, either animal or little girl was not cooperative.  Too bad!

Random Aug 16

It's amazing how much better your day can go when you pray about it.   Getting stung by a wasp does nothing to help Tassia's mood.   It does, however, make her finger swell and turn her arm pink almost up to the elbow.   I have mixed feelings about finding the word "poo" spelled out on my refrigerator in magnets.   Great, simple dinner:  Cold, cooked rice.  Cold, no-longer-frozen peas.  Dallop of crème fraîche.  Freshly snipped mint and chives.  Salt and pepper.   First zucchini bread of the season.   Alina played all of "Lightly Row" today.  There were many starts and stops.  It was squeaky.  But she did it.   Tassia covers her eyes with her hands every time she hears Alina approaching.

Sitting Pretty

7 on the 7th

So, Sybille is 7 months old today. I realize that 6 months would be a more appropriate milestone, but one month ago, I had better things to do than sit in front of a computer. (No offense.)

So, what is 7-month-old Sybille like? Funny. Very funny. She's sporting 2 bottom teeth, which we get a very good view of when she grins. One of her favorite activities is sticking her tongue out, and she also loves blowing raspberries. She is very sociable, and it's fun to see the way she interacts with her sisters. The first time she sees them in the morning, she greets them with a cheery "Aa!" and can carry on whole conversations based on this syllable. When she's not growling. Yes, one of her most frequently-made sounds is currently a sort of gutteral, in-the-throat growl.

She's very excited about eating. A bit more excited about fruits than vegetables, but anything will do. What she gets really, really excited about, though, is a cup of water. If she things you're actually going to let her drink out of a cup, her eyes get wide, and she begins flailing the air with both arms and legs. In her excitement, she is usually unable to actually swallow more than a very small amount of water, spilling most of it all over herself in her failure to hold still.

She has become an expert roller. She can get lots of places by rolling. She's starting pulling herself forward, as well, and the other day I actually caught her up on all fours. She can maintain a sitting position for a few seconds, but usually loses it when she see something she wants and reaches too far in one direction or the other, and loses her balance. It's funny to see her roll over onto her side, and prop herself up on her elbow. All she needs is a bunch of grapes in the other hand, and someone standing over her with a fan.

She is usually very tolerant of her sisters, who hug her, kiss her, bring her toys, and occasionally sit on her (although we do try to avoid that). One of my most-used expressions is currently "You don't need to be in Sybille's face!"

But, I guess she's going to have to get used to that.

Dr Mom

ALINA: (Bringing me her doll)  Doctor, my baby needs a shot and a bloodtest. ME: (Executing the necessary procedures) Here you go. TASSIA: (Bringing me her Frankling. Now, what she certainly meant was "Franklin needs one, too.  But what she actually said was) Franklin needs a tattoo.

Skirts

ME: (Rummaging in the girls' closet) Tassia, do you want to wear a pair of pants?

TASSIA: No, a pair of skirt.

Explorations of Sound

Eating mushy

Sybille has begun the big adventure of (semi-)solid food. Here we are around the table:

A Concert

We had a special treat after dinner the other night: