randomattentiondisorder

corsicamadian? americorsadian?

coucou, anyone there? i'm not sure anyone actually reads this thing anymore, but maybe this will get your attention:

we're expecting another Corsican-Canadian- American baby!

yup, that's right, after what seemed like months and months and months of trying, one of the little guys was finally successful! currently the size of a lentil bean, the tentative due date is November 9th. i say tentative because i have yet to go to the doctor yet. some of you might remember the ribbing my doctor gave me with Ayva, and i'm so not in the mood for fat comments this soon into the pregnancy. i'll wait until i am feeling a little bit less hormonal.

so far, i am feeling pretty great. lots of little things seem different than last time. or maybe my memory is just wonky. Henri hopes that doesn't mean i am having a boy as he still wants to have all girls. at this point, a girl is what we are used to, but a boy would be great too. i think. right now it's hard enough trying to fathom my Ayva-filled heart having any more room for another child. but i have heard many stories how miracles happen and that your heart just opens wide and lets another little person in. i can't wait!

Espagne!

let's just hop right into things without me going on about what a horrible blogger i am. i think we all know that by now. :)

so Spain was fantastic. Barcelona is an amazing city. the people seem to take so much pride in it. i mean, i saw a man cleaning a public telephone. sure, he was probably getting paid, but i have been to many major world cities and have never seen that. as i've used a lot public telephones, i wish more cities paid employees to clean them.

i really can't say enough nice things about Barcelona. we stayed just off La Rambla which made exploring the city very easy as we were within walking distance of just about everything we wanted to see. or we could take the metro which was just across the street. fabulous, i tell you. our hotel was nothing to sneeze at (i love that saying), all the employees smoked in the lobby and that got annoying, but as i mentioned it was very centrally-located. plus they bought Ayva a teddy bear as a present which was very sweet.

my dad and i took in a football (soccer) game at this stadium along with 75,000 other FC Barcelona supporters. wow, was that an experience. Barca ended up tying the game with 10 seconds left. i'm not sure you can quite imagine the hysteria that erupted. thankfully, i captured it on camera so i can relive the moment whenever the mood hits me. the only bummer part of the night was that the game ended around 12 am. what time did the metro stop? yep, 12 am. we, and thousands of others were stranded and left to walk home.

i got a lot of exercise in Spain. we walked everywhere. that walk home from the stadium was over and hour and a half. good thing too as i ate more than my fair share of pastries. i was under the misconception that Spanish desserts suck. i think i thought this because Mexican desserts suck, therefore all Spanish-speaking country's desserts suck? i was completely wrong. i found their pastries to be far superior to the French. they have this croissant that is dipped in chocolate on both ends and has chocolate inside it too! oh.my.goodness. they just got better from there. stupidly, i never took any pictures of them. guess i was too busy inhaling them to take the time to get my camera out and take a click.

i have put a few pictures up on Facebook that you can take a look at. here and here and here. more to come as soon as i can find where Henri hid them on my computer.

bad news

growing up, my parents didn't have a lot of friends. i mean, sure they knew lots of people through church and work, but there weren't many that they socialized with. Ed and Nancy were a couple that my parents met when i was two years old and hit it off immediately from what i've heard. both couples ended up having three kids roughly the same ages.  my dad and Ed were in business together at least two times that i remember. we had family sleep overs often, where one family would descend upon the home of the other, the kids would take off and surface just for meals and the parents would play Whist until 3 AM. almost all of the New Year's Eves (my mom's birthday) i can remember were spent this way. in the tapestry that makes up my childhood memories, this family is one of the big threads, a constant running all through it.

and now i've just received an email from my brother telling me that Ed committed suicide. i'm just in shock and disbelief. i don't even know what more to write.  this, on top of my parent's recent divorce just makes a mess out of so many memories for me.

newsy goodness

last night i finished off my articles and sent them away for editing. totally a great feeling to be done with that for a week or two before i start it up again. at least they are monthly and not weekly. i'd really have to come to terms with my procrastination then. :)

more job news, or a case of when it rains, it pours: i've been hired to be an English assistant again. this go around, my hours are split between to places: a lycée in Bastia (yay! no three hour drive for me this time!) and the IUFM, which is basically a teacher's college helping wanna-be pre-school and elementary teachers to prepare for their big test to become teachers. not sure that made sense, but it means i get to work with adults for a change.

i'm excited about getting back out working, but a little apprehensive about figuring out childcare for Ayva. i have two leads for daycare, so hopefully one or split time between both will work. it will just be an adjustment for all of us.

i've also heard, informally, that the company that employed me  last summer on Sundays, would like to hire me part-time this summer. i really enjoyed the work and would like to take on more, but that would mean i would be tied to the island until October. not sure that sounds too appealing, when other more exotic places are calling my name. nothing is for sure on that one yet though, so we'll see.

my dad is coming next week for a 12 day visit. this will be the first time that someone from my side of the family has visited us here. i'm pretty stoked as we are also going to go to Barcelona with him!! i think i've mentioned before how little goes on in Corsica during the winter. so that led Henri and i to thinking about something else we could do with dad while he was here. 12 days is too long to be cooped up in the village, especially for my dad who wouldn't last too long without ESPN. Spain is somewhere we've never been and Barcelona seems like the top attraction there, so here we come! if anyone has any tips/suggestions au sujet de Barcelona, let me know.

what's old is new

hi.

what?! Cara is blogging again?!

yeah, i know, i've been a bad, bad blogger...*hangs head in shame*

really, all is ok. i just wasn't in the blogging mood for oh, almost 3 months now. i'm not really particularly now either, but know that i need to in order to keep documenting our lives in Corsica in a more concrete way. Facebook just doesn't meet that need.

so. um, yeah. what's new?

oh! i got a new job, completely out of the blue, thanks to this blog. i am going to be a published writer! as it is thanks to this blog i'm not too sure it's appropriate of me to go blabbing the details. let's just say that i am now a travel writer, perhaps somewhat obviously, on the subject of Corsica. i will give it a think though, and perhaps later i'll share more. although i've working on my articles for a while now, today was the first time i actually ventured from the cozy confines of my home and "interviewed" someone. man, is it hard to be speaking and listening to French and trying to take notes in English at the same time. this skill will need some honing as my notes are a bit of a jumbled Franglais as you might imagine. i do feel like the two hours spent jabbering were quite well spent though. don't people say that it's all about making the right contacts?

now onto Ayva. my darling 15 month old little wonder. sometimes i just get so overwhelmed with the fierce love i feel for her. we just returned from 5 weeks in Canada and the US and it was so interesting to see her really make the transition from baby to toddler while we were there. it's an acknowledgment that does sadden me too, though. i suppose none of these grand choses will be exactly easy to watch. i was at the post office the other day and ran into a guy that has a son a few days younger than Ayva. his parting comment was that pretty soon they'll both be in school. i replied, "nooo!" but he reminded me that many people put their kids in maternelle at two years old. yeah, we'll see about that.

how can you get irritated at a face like that? plus she no longer has vampire teeth, with her two top front teeth literally poking through on the plane ride to Canada. so on the next visit to the pédiatre, he can't ask me again if she is the daughter of Dracula or if we have any Romanian blood.

Ayva and i have now been back for a week and i am must say that i was really glad to come home. it's not that i didn't enjoy our time there, because i really did, even though it was emotionally hard-hitting in a great many ways. the trip really just served as a confirmation, highlighting that our home right now really is this crazy yet calm, complex yet simple, little island.

la rentrée

well, we're home. back from a 7 day cruise around Italy, Greece, and Turkey. back from 3 glorious days in Rome. back to sunny fall days in Corsica, so life is not that bad.

our trip was truly wonderful and i would love to go into details now. alas, i have a baby and in-laws and supper all calling my name. suffice it to say, i think we may be looking into spending a month this spring in Rome learning Italian. anyone want to join us?

here are a few more pictures in the meantime...

Ayva's first cupcake on her birthday. she really wasn't too interested in it. when she tries new things she likes to do it on her own terms, in her own time. she doesn't like it at all when someone pushes something on her for her to try. tomorrow night we're having her cousin's birthday party and so she'll get to try some more cake. i'm sure it will be a big hit the second go around.

another first: McDonald's french fries in Civitavecchia before we boarded the ship. a much bigger hit than the cupcake. you can see what we call her little vampire teeth poking out in the second picture. she now has four, those two and the two lower center ones.

we celebrated Halloween on the cruise, although i think i only saw two other children dressed up. Ayva was the belle of the ball. people even came over to our dinner table to take her picture!

i loved our time in Rome. we stayed in a wonderful apartment right in the middle of the Trastevere neighborhood. i don't think we could have asked for a better part of town. we walked to everything we wanted to see! i almost liked wandering around the little streets of Trastevere more than seeing the big sites like the Roman Rorum or the Colosseum.

Happy Birthday, Ayva!

today is Ayva's first birthday! this picture is from earlier in the month when the weather was still really warm. you can see her first tooth. she's had two more come in since then.

i know i have been a really, really bad blogger/mommy. i still have to write up Ayva's 10th, 11th, and 12th months. i might just put up some pictures instead.

we just got back from her one year checkup and all is going well in the growth department. Dr. C. did ask if i had made her any flans or souffles. grr, i was hoping he'd forget about that. Ayva pretty much cried the whole time he was checking her out. he said that it's a good thing she is so beautiful or she would be annoying. hmm.

for the rest of the day, we are going to take it easy. Meme and Grandpa arrive in a few days and then on Saturday we are having a joint first birthday with Matteo!

we can't wait to see you Meme!

creepy kitty

on one our walks, Ayva and i came across this cat. it just stared at us, even when Ayva started barking at it thinking it was a dog. i couldn't figure out at first what was creepy about it, besides the staring. then i realized it only has one ear!

our "park"

Corsican villages don't have many parks. usually they have town squares where the locals play boule or just hang out. i'm not sure why Patrimonio doesn't have a square, perhaps because it's too spread out on the side of a mountain. what we do have is a "park" of sorts. this is the area where they put on concerts and have the big week-long international guitar festival. the next event that will be held there will probably be at the beginning of November when they have the festival for the new wine.

i take Ayva here often for little picnics and to just have an open space where she can enjoy the outdoors.  plus it's just up the road from us. too bad they don't have any swings or slides.

first times

so far this week i have done two things that i have never done before. not just firsts in France, but firsts ever.

the first first is this little beauty:

yes, i was in my first ever car accident. also, it was mostly my fault which makes it even worse. it happened around 9:30 Sunday morning on my way to Erbalunga. there was no one ahead of me and i was just rolling along thinking i would get there in no time. usually with all the twists and turns of the road combined with tourist drivers, there can be some slow going on the route.

i approached a pretty sharp turn, took it, and oh crap there is a line up of cars all at a dead stop, boom! it's all still a bit of a blur in my memory, but it seems that a tourist bus coming from the other direction had caused a bit of a jam and brought all the cars in both directions to a stop. i wasn't speeding, but i also didn't have enough time to come to a complete stop without banging into the guy in front of me. thankfully, or really rather unfortunately depending on how you view it, there was no one behind me. also, i didn't hit the guy hard enough to do any damage to myself and really i didn't do much damage to his car either.

there were four people in the car all on there first day of vacation. bienvenu en corse! i told them. (if any readers out there have been in a car accident in France, can you please email me? we're confused on a few points and have a few questions. thanks!)

the second first was that i went to an aerobics class. normally this would not be something i would ever even entertain the idea of doing. however, in our little corner of Corsica, options for "fun" are few and far between. and i surprised myself, it was exactly what i needed, so i'm going to keep going. it was a good combination of slightly challenging and interesting exercises put to rather questionable 80s music (Taylor Dayne anyone? ok, who am i kidding, i love that song. and i miss my crimper). the class was made up of mostly 40s-ish women, but i'm told that there are some younger women that come too, so hopefully i'll be able to meet some new folks. i went with Laetitia, but the instructor was so warm and personable that i totally feel like i could go by myself if she can't make it with me. and unlike that first and only disastrous yoga class i took, i totally understood all the instructions so i didn't feel lost and out of place.

erg. it's raining here. i actually had to put a long sleeve shirt, pants and socks on Ayva today. i don't even remember the last time i had to do that. probably April sometime.  so far, she isn't NOT liking the socks, but just wait until i try to put shoes on her. she's my little manouche (gypsy).

happy birthday to me!

i think this calls for a little shopping! what do you think? a pair of brown boots? or a new winter jacket? i mentioned my ideas to Henri and he said, "Where's a Value Village when you need one?"

nine months! part 2

once papa got home from Canada, the rest of the month was pretty calm. we went for some walks with your buddy, Mattéo. he can't pull your hair when you're both in strollers.

you are very flexible, Ayva. you like to have your feet up like when you're in your stroller and high chair. sometimes even when you're sleeping, i find you with your foot up on the side of your crib.

we took you to the ostéopath after a second incident where you hurt your arm. thankfully the second was not nearly as bad as the first, but i just wanted to find out what was going on and how we could stop it. the ostéopath (not really sure what this is in English or really what he actually does. he seemed kind of like a chiropractor without all the popping.) was a really nice guy, but he could have been Brad Pitt, you just didn't want anyone touching you but your mama. the ostéopath confirmed what we already knew about your flexibility, saying you were almost too flexible. he gave us some good ideas to help strengthen up your arms so they aren't susceptible to getting out of joint again.

papa bought you a floaty boat thing for the ocean. it even has a cover over it to protect you from the sun. you loved it and why not: the water is the same temperature as your bath. mama didn't want to bring the camera into the water so we don't yet have any pictures of you in it.

you are a super friendly little girl. you flash your big smile at people and they are instantly drawn into your sphere. when we go to a new place it takes you about five minutes or so to acclimatize yourself and then you are good to go. well, as long as i am nearby.

you like to bob up and down when you hear music. i bought a little keyboard for myself on Ebay as i was taking piano lessons. it ended up being to small for me as it's a little bit too hard to play on keys the size of my pinky finger. however, it's perfect for you! you love pounding on that thing with your hands and feet!

you are still not crawling yet, but you are certainly more mobile in your own fashion. and you continue to be not at all interested in standing. we try to help you practice often, but you pick your feet and refuse to play along. silly monkey. papa thinks you're inherited random attention disorder from me as you are quite distracted by anything and everything which is normal for your age. not sure what that says about someone my age, but whatev.

sometimes you still puke up stuff, but we still love you. :)

you like to play peek-a-boo (or cou-cou in French) by yourself. sometimes mommy is mean and scares you when you pull off the blanket. that last picture is you freaked out by mama.

another thing that happened this month was that you went on a five day nursing strike. one Wednesday morning we went through our normal routine of waking up, diaper change, glass of orange juice for mom, and then sit down and boob feed. but no, you started pushing me away. it was really strange. i tried a few more times, but you just got frustrated, so we took a break. this was the story for the rest of the day. thankfully you continued to eat your other meals, so it wasn't like you were starving. the next morning we tried again, and still you were not interested. by this time i was worried and getting a bit upset. we still didn't have internet, so i couldn't Google it or call Auntie Rebecca. i talked to cousin Annick who breastfed her two boys but she never had this problem. i tried all kinds of different positions and places. i tried hard not to take it personally when you kept pushing me away. i tried waking you up in the middle of the night to see if a groggy Ayva would want to nurse. you did for like a minute before you really woke and were like what the heck is going on here? i tried taking a bath with you because someone told me that might help you relax.

Friday i went to a doctor in St. Florent to see if there might be something wrong with you. we had never been to this one, but he turned out to be really nice right up until the end of the visit. he didn't find anything to be wrong with you: no ear aches, dehydration (it had been really hot out lately) etc. i asked him if it happened sometimes when a baby just decides to quit cold turkey. he said that yes, it does sometimes. well, i was a bit stressed and worried and didn't really want to hear that. so i said, " i'm not ready for her to just quit." he replied, "tant pis," which means basically "too bad for you". yeah, that wasn't really the kind of compassionate understanding i was looking for.

i was finally able to talk to Auntie Rebecca, who was compassionate and encouraging. she reminded me about how hard breastfeeding was in the beginning with you and that if i stuck that out for as long as i did, i could work through this with you too. all through the weekend, you steadfastly refused to feed over and over. i did my best to remain patient, but it was really frustrating.

finally Monday morning arrived, and like i had been doing for the past several days, i stuck to our routine. we sat down at the chair and i went to feed you and what do you know: you latched on! i was in shock! it was almost like you never stopped. throughout the day you were still a little standoffish at times, but nothing like you had been. by the next day, everything was back to normal. it was a miracle.

the strike made me realize how much i really love breastfeeding you and how much i was taking it for granted. now i am trying to treasure our time more as now i know what it's like when it's gone. hopefully when the time does come to stop, we can ease into it. that cold turkey business was tough.

you are growing up so fast. every day you are doing something new. you continue to be the biggest blessing and joy in our lives Ayva, and in those around you. it makes me feel warm and gooey inside when i see your smile light up other people's faces. you sure are one special little girl and i'm so glad you're ours. 

grapes

our village, Patrimonio, is the most important wine producing region in Corsica. imagine a huge bowl, with the village hanging off the hillside to the east, and then vineyards dominating every other direction, with the Mediterranean a little further west. so vineyards are what we see when we go out onto our terrace, row upon row upon row. harvest time has been in full session for the past few weeks as witnessed by the tractors going up and down the road next to us. going up to the village full of grapes, coming back down empty, i became used to the sound first thing in the morning. however, the last few days have been silent save the normal car traffic so the harvesting must be done.

this is a vineyard of muscat grapes, which are used to make muscat, a heavy, sweet dessert wine.

fall is near

although my birthday (September 21st ;) is technically the last day of summer this year, in our village it already looks like fall is here.

lately, i've been a bit bored. when i'm bored, i eat. needless to say, i've put on more than a few pounds. i would even venture to say that i feel larger than i was a few weeks after i had Ayva. with our upcoming cruise and trip to North America, i DO NOT want to be this big. so i've been trying to get back out walking with Ayva. i usually bring the camera because you never know what you'll see on the Corsican countryside. so as a bit of an incentive to myself, i am going to try to post a picture a day. if i don't, feel free to berate me all you want in the comment section. :)

nine months! part 1

man, am i behind, but i'm trying to get this done before she turns 11 months in ten days. eek. also, this is probably going to be very long, but i just wanted to get it all down for posterity's sake, so feel free to skim or what have you. in fact i think i will break it down into two parts.

so nine months. this month (end of June/July) we had lots of "excitement". to start off with, papa went to Canada to surprise his mummy in honor of her retiring from teaching for 11 days and so it was just us girls. he also took the camera, so there won't be any photos to document the events that follow. :(

you came to work with me the first Sunday papa was gone. usually you stay at home with him and he helps you to practice standing and to learn how to crawl, neither of which you show any interest in doing at all. i could have had someone else babysit you, but i thought everything would go peachy. and indeed it did until the very end. we were up in Erbalunga, about 45 mins- an hour from home, and you were getting hungry. so rather than make you wait til we got home, i decided to breastfeed you. i didn't let you feed for too long as it was soooo hot out. i just wanted to get us in the car and turn on the air conditioning.  by the time i got the stroller in the trunk, you fastening into your "cage" as papa calls it, i had sweat rivulets running down my temples from the heat. and then the car would not start. it's like it wanted to start, but it too was weakened by the heat. i could tell it was the battery, but i just didn't understand how it could have died. i hadn't left the lights on or a door open. so now we're stuck, hot, half-fed, with no jumper cables, and no knowledge of what the French word for jumper cables even is. also, it's around 12:30, smack dab in the middle of island nap time.

so i piled you back into your stroller to go in search of someone to help us. i also put a call into our pastor as he lives on the side of the island i was on and thus he was the closest person to us. i got through to him and explained the situation, but then we got cut off. i tried calling again, but the line kept being busy. arg! so i decided to ask for help at the restaurant that's right by two of my work apartments. i stopped one of the servers and explained the situation. he told me that he would love to help me, and he even has jumper cables in his car, but he's working and so too bad (literally he said, "c'est dommage"). he looked over at what must have been his boss who was sitting with a few other guys at a table just shootin' the shit as it were. the server guy went over and whispered in his ear. the boss dude shook his head but gave him a phone number to give me for a service station a couple of kilometers down the road.

i tried the phone number and it just rang and rang. thanks for nothing pals! i mean seriously. i totally thought having a baby with me would have won some sympathy. maybe i should have pinched you to make you cry or something.

next stop was a little tourist crap shop that was just closing for the sieste. the girl running it was from an Asian country and spoke worse French than me. she realized i spoke English and said, "i close, i close, sorry." grrr.

while crossing the street to try at a hotel, i tried calling a few cousins, and no one, i mean, no one was answering. it was so frustrating! i started thinking the world was somehow conspiring against me.

at the hotel, i finally tracked down a  lady, who passed me off to another lady, who passed me off to their boss. he wasn't too happy about it, probably taking him away from his nap, but he agreed to come help me. he came out after a few minutes with some sort of contraption that was not jumper cables. i'm still not sure what it was exactly. he measured the water level of the battery and was poking and prodding at other things, but i don't think he really knew what he was doing. he was in the middle of telling me that he couldn't help me when, hallelujah! our pastor drove up. i was so happy to see him. the bummer thing was that he didn't know anything about cars either.

in the end, we decided that it would be best to go back to his house with him and leave the car. you needed to eat and i was a little stressed and needed to eat too. so we had a good lunch at their house and then he took us back to Patrimonio. it was a really long day, but Muffin, you were fantastic! i would have stressed out more if you had been whiny or crying, but you were calm and patient.

on Tuesday Philippe and Jean-Michel went and got the car. they ended up buying us a new battery because the old one that died wasn't even strong enough for the car to begin with. nice. so maybe that's why it died?

the next day i decided we should go down to the camping to see the family and be sociable. plus i needed the boys to reset something having to do with the new battery and the car stereo. no biggie, i thought. now, the road to the campsite is not paved. it's fairly rocky and has a lot of potholes that you need to watch out for. can you see where this is going? we're tooling right along and all of a sudden i hear/feel a bit of a boom. oh no. now what. i got out of the car to investigate. right front tire: shattered, shredded, flat. you have got to be kidding me! well good thing i'm going to see Philippe and Jean Michel, the two car guru guys.

on Friday afternoon, we were invited to Baptiste's 7th birthday party and then to stay for dinner. you tried to play with Mateo, but he's a boy, and sometimes boys just don't know how to play with girls. plus your hair is just so fabulous and so who wouldn't want to touch/pull the curls. it sure got a lot quieter when the two of you went down for the night, that is, until you fell off Philippe and Laetitia's bed! thankfully, their bed is really low to the ground and so you weren't hurt as much as you scared the crap out of yourself. how you unswaddled yourself and rolled over two pillows amazes me.

the next day, you were playing around on the floor having a good time by yourself. it was past time for your second nap, but you were having so much fun, i decided to let you play a while longer. suddenly, you started crying, i mean really crying! it freaked me out as i had never heard you cry like that before. i could tell that something was wrong only i had no idea what. i picked you up and tried to calm you down, but there was no calming you down. i tried a soother thinking maybe you were just really tired. nope. i tried to breastfeed you a bit, but you didn't want any of that. it took me a little while, but i finally realized that you weren't moving your right arm. so now we're both freaked out. i tried to call Laetitia, but she didn't answer. i tried Philippe, Marie-line, Annick and finally Jean Michel answered. by this time, i'm practically crying because i didn't really know what to do and i was worried you had broken your arm when you fell off the bed. i had you in your car seat ready to go. Jean Mi was with Laetitia, so he handed off the phone to her. she was at our house in five minutes and we took off for the hospital, 25 minutes away.

as long as your arm wasn't moved, you only whimpered. if i budged it, you cried and cried. it was so sad. and extremely hard to get you into and out of your car seat without hurting you more.

the hospital emergency room, unsurprisingly for a Saturday, was packed. we couldn't even get into the front door without pushing and squirming through. there wasn't even anyone manning the counter. the whole situation looked a little hopeless. so Laetitia got on her cell and called her sister, Lise-Laure who works in a clinic. she recommended we go to this semi-private clinic 15 minutes away, and so that's what we did.

when we got there, the place was practically empty. in the waiting room, there was only one couple who came in after us. i still don't really understand the situation. i did hear Laetitia tell the admin person that the hospital sent us over as they were too busy, but at that point i was too worried about you to wonder what was going on exactly.

we saw a doctor, a stinky B.O. doctor, after a wait of less than five minutes which was awesome. Doctor Stink had me place you on the counter while he asked a lot of questions. i explained what i thought had occurred and while doing so i realized that you couldn't have hurt your arm from the fall as you fell on your left side and it was your right arm that was hurt. so you must have done something while turning over while playing on the floor. it really helped having Laetitia there as she filled in many of the holes in my lousy French explanation. then the doctor sent us to get x-rays taken of your arm. this freaked you out. you were not a happy camper and did not want to lay still on the table while i held your arm in order for the machine to do it's business. the x-ray technician kept telling me that in the future, i should never pick you up or pull you up by your arms. the first time was ok, but the third and fourth times really started getting on my nerves. your papa and i never do that, just so you know.

the x-rays showed that there was a slight pull in the ligament in your elbow, or at least i think that's what they said. the doctor then played around with your arm like it was a spaghetti noodle. you cried and cried, i cried, even Laetitia left the room because she was crying. it seemed to last forever. i had to fight to keep from taking your arm back from the B.O. doctor. finally he seemed satisfied and stopped manhandling your poor little arm. he said that you should be back to normal in a day or two, and if you weren't than we should come back to see him. in the meantime, i could give you some Advil for the pain. thank you God that it was nothing more serious than that!

for the rest of the day, you didn't cry as much, but you didn't move your arm at all either. we skipped your bath, i gave you some Advil before bed time, and thankfully you slept normally.  the next day was Sunday, but there was no way i was going to be bringing you in and out of the car while i worked. you still weren't moving your arm, although now you only whimpered when i moved it. it was so sad to see it just laying limp at your side. Laetitia had volunteered to babysit so that's where you spent most of the day. they reported back to me, that just before i came to get you, you had started to cautiously use your arm again. great news! and by Tuesday, you were back to normal. whew.

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picture 1: you and papa at the airport. we had to be there at 6:30 AM! we haven't been up that early since you were a brand new baby.

picture 2: meme in her classroom on the day of her retirement party

picture 3: the village of Erbalunga

souffles and flans?

as we have yet to find a pediatrician that is accepting new patients, each month we take Ayva to the PMI. the PMI is basically a place you can take your child to get weighed, measured, vaccinated, questions answered, etc. there are a couple of doctors on staff and their assistants, plus a sage femme or two occasionally. they have open office hours on Tuesday mornings and Friday afternoons. we always go on Tuesdays, and so have have gotten to know the doctor and his two lady assistants who work at that time. also, it's completely free. we've never had to show any kind of paperwork at all. every child born in France is given what's called a carnet de santé and that's all they ask to see.

Dr. C. is a friendly grandfatherly kind of fellow, always interested in trying to speak English (which he does horribly, but A for effort) or discuss the poor quality of English teaching in France. both he and the two ladies adore Ayva and always have loads of new adjectives for me to learn as they shower them upon her. unfortunately Ayva has recently entered a stage where she really doesn't want to be too far from me and has always been somewhat uncomfortable in the doctor's office. today she just cried and cried and wanted me to hold her.

Dr. C. saw this and suggested to me was that i need to give Ayva to people more, like to our neighbors. um, ok. we do stop and talk to our neighbors every time they are outside at the same time we are. well talking is a relative term. i think sometimes people are reticent to talk to us as they think we don't understand them. the neighbor lady loves on Ayva, but she smokes like a chimney, but reeks like bleach as she is ALWAYS cleaning something. i do understand what the doctor means though and i know that i need to find ways for Ayva to be around more children. we do go for our walks and get out and about besides that, but it's not so easy around here to really get to know people. she is super friendly with everyone we come in contact with, but those are usually just short little interactions. our village doesn't have a crèche, which is basically day care for children three years of age and under. there is one two villages away that Laetitia has Mattéo in (she only pays something like 12 centimes a day after all the medical coverage is taken into account. crazy!) that i will try to see if i can get Ayva into every so often in the fall. all the full-time spots are taken, but i'm not interested in that anyway. i've been told that it may be possible to put her in on an occasional basis which i think would work well for us.

speaking of Mattéo, he and Ayva play around each other about once a week. even though he is 10 days younger than her, he is quite a bit bigger and already crawls and climbs around. he's not a mean kid at all, but he's a boy and thus is much rougher. he's fascinated by her hair and pulls it often or pushes her over while grabbing for a toy. Ayva doesn't really know how to react to this and i'm not sure what to do either. do i separate her from him or let them somehow work it out or calm her down every time she cries because he's pulled her hair and then put her right back down next to him? any ideas?

between this month and last month, Ayva has not put on much weight. looking at her though, the doctor was not at all concerned as she sleeps, eats, poops and pees, and plays well. he asked me what she eats and i told him that she eats the usual fruits, veggies, some meat, fish, and poultry, dairy products, etc. he made another suggestion that i start feeding her cheese or egg soufflés and flans. when he looked up at me and saw my reaction (basically one of horror and confusion), he asked Henri, "doesn't your wife make soufflés and flans?" i butted in before Henri could answer that he didn't even know what those things are. i felt horror because soufflés have always sounded really freaky and difficult to make. i was confused because i had never heard this suggestion before as something to feed a baby. they are really into feeding soup, fish and cheese to babies here, but i had never heard anyone mention flans or soufflés.

overall it was a good visit (besides one of the ladies thinking i was pregnant..."oh! vous attendez un bébé? super!" yeah, it's really super lady that my belly only contains fat, no baby. ahem. only slightly embarrassing for me. she just shrugged it off like it was nothing.) even though i can see that Ayva's healthy and doing well, it's always reassuring to have an actual medical professional confirm it. now to work on making a soufflé or maybe a flan, and working on losing my gut. i know i could find myriad recipes for both on the Internet, but does anyone out there have a tried and true recipe for either? i told the doctor i would try, so gosh darn it, i will!

eight months!

muffin! you are eight months old now! woweee, the time is just flying by. this month you became quite the little gourmande. you may have started slow in the whole eating solids department, but you have sure made up for lost time. like most babies, you love all kinds of fruit, especially nectarines and plums. veggies are sometimes hit and miss, but you certainly are always willing to try them. leeks and spinach are not your favorites for the moment, but you really enjoy carrots and sweet potatoes (shocker - i found a few at Monoprix!), zucchini, and potatoes. the grand prize winner for you though, and this should come as no surprise and it proves you truly are a little French girl, you love all things dairy! if you see me coming with a yogurt, your arms start flapping and your legs start boogieing. it's the cutest thing. same thing goes for petit suisses and cheese. i guess you won't be lacking any calcium in your diet.

these are pictures are from our mini holiday in the south. (with a few more to come further down. thanks again, Ros! if anyone needs a great place to stay in southern Corsica, this place makes a great base for exploring.)

sometimes i give you the peels of fruits to keep you occupied while i make your food.

you had two favorite play spots this month. the first one was on mama and papa's bed. you have a bag of toys that you like to go through and spread all over the bed. then you roll over from one side to the other slobbering all over them. mama uses this time to catch up on reading. it's nice and comfy for the both of us.

your other favorite play spot continues to be the jolly jumper. you go crazy in that thing, spinning and bouncing. i hope this somehow conditions you to not get motion sickness. i want to be able to go on all those big crazy roller coasters with you when you are older.

the big social event for this month was your cousin Matéo's baptism. mama had her first day at work so you went with papa. everyone reported that you were well behaved and only made minimal baby noises. this is a picture of you afterwords, so maybe you didn't have a good time after all? by the way, your papa did your hair.

you have become an adorable little people person this month. while at a restaurant in Ajaccio, you made best friends with our waitress. at the end of the meal she took you into the kitchen where the cooks and other wait staff all oohed and aahed over you. you loved all the attention and squealed and flashed your big smile for them. 

 

your first time in the Mediterranean! you weren't too impressed as it was a little cooler than your bath water. perhaps later in the summer you'll have a better time.

as i mentioned earlier, i started my job this month. this means that you are spending some quality one on one time with your papa. so far, so good. papa loves to tickle you and make you giggle. you don't seem to mind his beard at all. he also makes sure you have your tummy time and helps you practice standing up. as he has done for your whole life, papa continues to be your main bath giver. you guys have a great time together and mama loves it as it gives her a chance to get other stuff done.

well mon bébé, once again it's been a great month of learning and exploring and expanding our horizons. and it's going by way too fast...

101

seeing as i haven't been blogging much lately...here's 101 random things to remind you of who i am. as if these things could really do that. :) i snagged this from somewhere (can't remember where, sorry!) while catching up on all my favorite blogs...

1. How many keys are on your keychain? three, and it's shared with Henri which is kind of weird at times.

2. What curse word do you use the most? sh*t and it's French equivalent.

3. Do you own an iPod? sadly, no.

4. What time is your alarm clock set for? ha ha. i haven't used an alarm clock since Ayva was born. lately she's been getting up around 9:30!

5. How many suitcases do you own? 4, but they're all pretty crappy and beat up. some are even missing a wheel.

6. Do you wear flip–flops even when it’s cold outside? definitely. real Corsicans only wear them during summer though. Corsican women love their boots so much that i am sure many of them have them ready to go once school is back in session. who cares if it's still technically summer and still really warm out! also soon to be gone are all the fabulous summer colors, replaced by blah black to match said boots.

7. Where do you buy your groceries from? Géant Casino

8. Would you rather take the picture or be in the picture? most definitely taking the pictures. i rarely like pictures taken of myself.

9. What was the last movie you watched? The Bourne Ultimatum. good action flic.

10. Do any of your friends have children? i used to think that they all do, but there are a few holdouts out there.

11. If you won the lottery, what’s the first thing you would buy? i'd go on a shopping spree at Promod.

12. Has anyone ever called you lazy? heh, i think i'll answer this question later.

13. Do you ever take medication to help you fall asleep faster? no, i generally fall asleep quite easily. unless Henri is already in full snoring mode.

14. What CD is currently in your CD player? we don't have a CD player. all of our music is on my computer. currently playing Ayva's favorite singer Mika.

15. Do you prefer regular or chocolate milk? chocolate milk all the way.

16. Has anyone told you a secret this week? hmm. no.

17. When was the last time someone hit on you? does staring at your boobs count? if so, this afternoon at the post office. the guy thought i was German.

18. What did you have for dinner? Basil Chicken in a Coconut Curry sauce. email me if you want the recipe...it's so good and a snap to make. Henri gave is 9/10, but then he is fairly easy to please.

19. Do you wear hoodies often? i live in them come late fall/winter. Ayva just got a new one from Debbie (just one adorable thing in a horde of others direct from Old Navy! thanks Debbie!). i can't wait until she can wear it. i mean i can because that will mean she is just that much older and already she is growing up way too fast. the hoodie is just so cute though. of course i will always have great memories of her first hoodie from Dawn. too adorable. every baby should have a hoodie.

20. Can you whistle? yes. when i think of whistlers i think of slightly inebriated, flirtations/sleazy older men with whiskers. not wanting to fit into this category, i don't whistle often.

21. Have you ever participated in a protest? nope.

22. Who was the last person to call you? Laetitia to confirm our plans for tomorrow afternoon.

23. What is your favorite ride at an amusement park? the really big roller coasters. i don't like the carnival-like rides as i tend to get sick on them.

24. Do you think people talk about you behind your back? i am a foreigner in a small village, of course people talk about me.

25. What area code are you in right now? well we still have a 604 number, so 604. you'd think that with a number that is *free* to all of you in the Lower Mainland, we'd get more phone calls.

26. Did you watch cartoons as a child? of course...Fat Albert, Alvin & the Chipmunks, Ducktails, Gummi Bears, Jem, The Littles, Scooby Doo, Transformers. ah, good memories.

27. How big is your local mall? ha ha ha. we have a post office though!

28. How many siblings do you have? two younger brothers (27 & 22) and one little sister (19).

29. Are you shy around the opposite sex? not usually.

30. What is your biggest regret? poor work habits (read:procrastination), among other things, leading to bad grades in university.

31. When was the last time you laughed so hard your sides hurt? last night we watch the last episode of Last Comic Standing. one comic thought he was going to be doing his routine for this really hot girl and then they switched her with a nun. hmm, that doesn't sound fun, but believe me, it was.

32. What movie(s) do you know every line to? The Little Mermaid, The Sound of Music, and The Princess Bride

33. Do you own any band t–shirts? Yes: U2!

34. When was your last plane ride? March 2007.

35. How many chairs are at your dining room table? five as Henri uses one for his "desk".

36. Do you read for fun? of course (thank you Bookmooch!)

37. Can you speak any languages other than English? my French is coming along nicely. i know a bit of Russian and am currently learning bit of Italian.

38. Do you do your own dishes? yes, i do the big stuff by hand and the piddly rest of the stuff goes into the dishwasher.

39. What color is your bedroom painted? white, like every other wall in our apartment. we're boring. but our house in Surrey has great colors on all the walls. i kind of miss that little house. i sure hope our tenant hasn't started growing pot or something in it.

40. Have you ever cried in public? sure.

41. Do you have a desktop computer or a laptop? i have the desktop and Henri is right next to me with his laptop.

42. Which do you make, wishes or plans? i'm the wisher, Henri's the planner.

43. Are you always trying to learn new things? yes. got to keep the old brain working...i've got a history of Alzheimer's in the fam.

44. Do you shower on a daily basis? hmm, i'd like to say yes, but some days it just doesn't get done. at least Ayva has a bath every night!

45. Are you currently wanting any piercings or tattoos? no, not really. every so often i think it would be interesting to have a tattoo, but then the thought of the pain scares me away. plus, i really can't think of anything that significant that i would want it inked onto my body forever.

46. Do you believe that the guy should pay on the first date? i think whoever (whomever?) does the asking out should pay.

47. Can you skip rocks? oh yeah baby. i have great childhood memories of skipping rocks with my dad on the Columbia River.

48. Have you ever been to Jamaica? No.

49. What to snack on at the movie theaters? Dr. Pepper and Reese's Pieces.

50. Who was your favorite teacher? Mr. Grossman, my 8th grade history teacher. i might had a teensy crush on him too. 

51. Have you ever dated someone out of your race? does American vs. Canadian count? ha. um, no.

52. What is the weather like? right now? it's actually a little on the cool side which is nice for a change.

53. Would you ever date someone covered in tattoos? uh, no, i don't think so.

54. Do you have an online journal? is this a trick question?

55. What was your favorite class in high school? history!

56. Do you enjoy traveling via airplanes? yes, although it certainly does change when you throw a baby into the mix.

57. What personality trait is a must–have in your preferred gender? i know this is the cheesy answer all women say, but a sense of humor really is a must-have.

58. Have you ever been attracted to someone physically unattractive? i didn't think Henri was that attractive until i fell in love with him. he just wasn't the type of guy i usually liked.

59. When was the last time you slept on the floor? good question. i think last August when we went camping for one night. camping at 7 months pregnant is not the most comfortable of options. also waking up to wild cows roaming through your camping site really early in the morning is also a deterrent.

60. What is your favorite alcoholic drink? gin and tonic.

61. Does your closest Starbucks have a drive–thru? oh don't tease me like this. i can barely get my local cafes to make me an iced latte. they think i am disgusting for asking for it, not to mention the fact that i have to patiently explain to them what i want several times. it's just plain strange to them.

62. Do you like your living arrangement? yes, our apartment really does suit our current needs quite well. i am truly thankful for it after living in a stuffy shoebox for over a year.

63. What is your mother’s hometown? Corvallis, Oregon.

64. How many hours of sleep do you need to function? as many ask i can get.

65. Do you eat breakfast daily? i always have a glass of orange juice while breastfeeding Ayva and i try to have some fruit too.

66. What was the last thing to scare you? when Ayva hurt her arm at the end of June (i know, i know...i need to get caught up on her monthly newsletters).

67. Are your days full and fast–paced? hardly.

68. Did you ever get in trouble for talking in class? all.the.time.

69. What is your favorite fruit? nectarines

70. Do you pay attention to calories on the back of packages? no, but judging at my current size maybe i should start.

71. How old will you be turning on your next birthday? 31 (ew, an odd year)

72. Are you picky about spelling and grammar? yes, more than i should be because i am not perfect either. but when mistakes are really glaring, i do sometimes find it irritating.

73. Do you believe in life on other planets? no, but i suppose you can't rule it out entirely.

74. Have you ever been to Six Flags? yes, in Valencia, California and i love it there! great, great memories. i loved how my brother would stand in line with us (my dad and i) for hours only to chicken out right at the last minute.

75. Who was the last person to piss you off? my husband on our anniversary dinner out. don't worry we made up later.

76. Do you believe that God has a gender? no

77. What was the last thing you ate? barbecued chicken.

78. Do you get along better with the same or opposite sex? i think i get along with both equally. i can do girly and i can do the jock thing very well too.

79. What did you dress up as for your first Halloween? a ghost and my mom painted my face white. i think i was probably 3 years old.

80. How did your parents pick your name? i believe they found Cara in a name book. i would have been one of a million Jasons if i had been a boy.

81. Do you like mustard? yes, but not enough to eat it plain or anything. i sure use a lot more Dijon mustard since moving to France. go figure.

82. What do you tell yourself when times get hard? the sun will come out tomorrow, tomorrow. ha ha. just kidding, i hate that song. but really i am an optimist, so i probably say stuff like that only in a Cara-version.

83. Would you ever sky dive? yes, i think so.

84. Do you sleep on your side, tummy, or back? mostly on my sides now. before i had Ayva i was all of those, but mostly a tummy sleeper. now i don't find it that comfortable after not having slept that way for several months. i miss it though.

85. What character from a movie most reminds you of yourself? Ariel from The Little Mermaid. i look hot in a shell bikini.

86. Have you ever bid for something on ebay? yes.

87. Do you enjoy giving hugs? Yes, and i really miss giving them here in the land of no hugging.

88. Would you consider yourself to be fashionable? fashionable for here in Corsica? no, thank goodness. i wish, wish, wish i could take pictures of some of the hideous creations i have seen women wear around here.

89. Do you own a digital camera? yes, but it severely needs to be replaced.

90. If someone you had no interest in dating expressed interest in dating you, how would you feel? before i met Henri this happened to me all. the. time.  i suppose it's better than the other way around, but it sure is frustrating.

91. What celebrities have you been compared to? while i am often mistaken (at least in North America) for someone else, it was never for a celebrity.

92. Who is your favorite Star Wars character? Han Solo.

93. Does it annoy you when someone says they’ll call but never do? it used to, but not anymore.

94. What books, if any, have made you cry? 'The Kite Runner' 'Power of One' lots more that i can't think of.

95. Do you think you’re attractive? i think everyone is in their own special way. i suppose some ways are harder to find than others.

96. What are you allergic to? some years i have seasonal allergies, other years i don't. it's a mystery. amoxycillin penicillin.

97. Are you a jealous person? yes, i can be.

98. What’s your opinion on sex without emotional commitment? i'm against it.

99. Do you ever feel guilty after eating meat? No.

100. If you were born the opposite sex, what would your name have been? i already answered this above, but it would have been Jason after one of my dad's buddies.

101. Is it lunch time yet? no, it's getting close to bedtime though.

dix ans

it's really hard to put into words how proud i am that Henri and i have made it to our 10th wedding anniversary. we have been on more ups and downs than the average couple, but we survived the ride and are off and running to hop onto the next one.

tonight we have a babysitter booked and are going to have a nice dinner together in St. Florent. 

but come October 28th baby, we will be partying it up on a seven-day Mediterranean cruise, ending with three days in Rome!

thankfully there are no chipmunks in corsica

it's stories like these that make me so thankful my next big holiday is going to be a on a cruise ship!

read here about my friend Joel's aromatic and annoying camping trip. can anyone else beat his horror story?