Anatomy Lesson

Today, we were all 4 sitting around the table eating lunch. It became apparent at one point that Tassia was furnishing a great effort toward the accomplishment of a specific task. As we watched her grunt and turn red, Alina said, "Maybe bébé Tata tryin' to go poop out her nose." And, if that wasn't funny enough, she added after a slight pause, "Like the other day."

We're still trying to figure out what event she was referring to.

All's Quiet

at the Constantini house. OK, Alina is still talking herself to sleep, but hopefully it won't be long now. Recently we've started shooting for 8:00 as the girls' bedtime instead of 9:00. Somehow, when we moved the clocks back, someone forgot to tell 2 little bodies. So instead of dealing with Tassia falling asleep during dinner and then not being tired at bedtime, we've moved both dinner and bedtime up an hour. So far, it seems to work well.

Thomas is gone this evening. He's in Niort doing a conference. The title is, "Obama, a Calvinist in the White House?" The conference is organized by the Reformed Church in Niort, but it's been widely publicized and some of the people who are interested in our church will be there. Hopefully after this evening, there will be even more people interested in our church. Thomas gave them several possible subjects, all having to do with Jean Calvin or Calvinism. This year, of course, is the 500th anniversary of Calvin's birth. They chose Obama. I'm not sure what Thomas is going to say, except that Obamas not exactly a Calvinist, but that Calvinism has had an influence on America and its politics.

Before dinner this evening, Alina and I watched, "How the Grinch Stole Christmas." It's a bit early, but I was afraid it would be checked out from the library by the time it's actually officially the Christmas season. I must admit I was unprepared for the barrage of questions this sparked. "Mama, why was him mean? Why him take their Christmas tree? Why it needed fixed? Why him take their sleepy things? ("Those were candy canes, sweetie.") Why him put the dog in that red thing? Why that green thing tell me one story?" and to finish, "Me like it when him tell me one story. Dat mean him love me!"

Yes, Alina, the Grinch loves you.

To Piano or not to Piano?

We're getting a piano! We won't actually move it for a couple of weeks, but we agreed today to buy it! It was made ca. 1900, so it's lived a little bit. But that, to me, is a plus in an instrument. Here are some pictures:

Do you know what a piano is? It's an invitation. Who can walk by a piano with the lid up and resist playing a few keys? Very few people. A piano invites music, it inspires somehow. In a way the violin, even though I love the violin, does not. Maybe because it's never put away in a case. Or maybe because you push a key and the note is just...well...there. Anyway, we're going to have an invitation in our living room.

I could give you several reasons why it would have been better to go electronic. It's easier to move. It doesn't go out of tune. It's not so sensitive to hot, cold, and humidity. You can plug in earphones to play without disturbing anyone. But, I'm sorry. An electric piano is not a real instrument. You can't run your hand lovingly over the wood. You can't feel the vibration. It's an approximation of a piano. It's not a real piano.

We now own a real piano. It needs tuned. Badly. It needs repaired. It has silly bronze candleholders on it. But it's beautiful.

Tassia's First Tooth

just came in today. Tooth #2 will probably not be far behind. It's been a (relatively) painless process, at least for us. No out-of-control-grumpy baby. No flaming red cheeks. No runny noses. No fever. Maybe it's the amber necklace she's been wearing, or maybe it's just luck. At any rate, we're not going to remove the necklace.

Gardening with Missia'

Bunny Fun

Our First Halloween

You know what's great about America? During fall and winter, we have a holiday on average every 4 weeks. Halloween...Thanksgiving...Christmas... In France, Halloween is not common, and Thanksgiving is not celebrated. But, we decided that, since our girls are American, they should celebrate Halloween. So we did.

In order to be correctly celebrated, Halloween has to be a community thing. Here, if it is observed, it is mostly by families with young children, ie the people doing the receiving of the candy. While we were out this evening, I saw several cases of families or groups of kids knocking on door after door and getting no answer. Because the older generations, those who would otherwise be giving the candy, don't celebrate Halloween. Because it's an importand holidy and therefore a recent addition and they're just not used to celebrating it. We crossed paths with one mom pushing a stroller and accompanying a young witch. She asked, "You having any luck?" I smiled and said, "We're only going to houses where we know the people and where we've warned them ahead of time." We talked to Thomas's parents and grandma and a couple of friends yesterday and asked them if we could stop by with our little princess(es). They said sure. Somehow, we didn't get a picture of the princess in her costume, but you've seen the princess and the costume in a previous post.

Alina made out like a bandit. Her grandparents and great-grandma, either because they didn't quite understand the concept, or because they were purposefully avoiding candy, got her presents. The neighbors who gave us our cat included a few candies, but also another present. And the other neighbors decided that since Alina wouldn't be visiting very many houses, they would single-handedly make her trick-or-treating worthwhile.

Since we were perpetuating American traditions, I made chocolate chip cookies this afternoon. We left a little packet of cookies everywhere we stopped. That's a bit atypical as far as Halloween behavior is concerned, but I felt good about making the whole thing sort of an exchange. Anyway, a good time was had by all. The only downside is that our pumpking somehow ended its short life splattered on the street. We're not sure if it did that itself or if it had some help. Oh, well.