Family Update – October 2015

The past month has been incredibly busy. It has been full of fun, food, trips to London, new experiences, filming and building work.

Wriggly (1 year 4 months)

· You are growing up so quickly! Where has my tiny baby gone?
· You love pretending you are having a phone conversation and shouting, “Hello!”
· You are a climber. Window ledge, table, top bunk, attempts at going up the ladder… If it can be climbed, you will attempt it. Nothing is too high or intimidating for you. That scares the life out of me!
· You keep pointing at things and saying, “This!”
· Your sleeping pattern is all over the place! You have one very short nap during the day and although you tend to fall asleep quickly when we put you to bed around 7 p.m., you generally wake up about an hour later, not to fall asleep properly for hours. You also appear in our bed in the middle of the night. I am too tired to wake up when you cry, but your Daddy brings you to our bed.
· You are not ready to wave goodbye to breastfeeding yet.
· You have a mullet (the cutest kind of mullet).

Jumpy (2 years 11 months)

· You are a real fan of Harry Potter and whenever we watch a film together, it has to be one of Harry’s adventures.
· You are incredibly messy and whenever we ask you to tidy up, you look at us with your big green eyes and say, in your sweetest voice, “I con’t!”
· You have just started settling into preschool, where you will be going for a day and a half soon.
· You have the most gorgeous curls.
· You are not keen on compliments, and moan every time we tell you how beautiful you are.
· You had your bi-annual paediatrician appointment yesterday. I have to say I left the hospital feeling deflated. Granted, you are growing well and your weight is now reaching the 9th percentile, which is great, but I had high hopes for further food challenges. I was hoping you were growing out of some of your allergies, but your latest prick tests reveals higher sensitivity to wheat, egg and nuts than previously, with bumps twice the size they were the time before.

Beanie (5 years old)

· How can you be five years old already?
· At the end of your very first week at school, you earned the title of ‘learner of the week’ for your hard work and in particular for a story book you created about a hungry fat cat. You make me so proud!
· You: “Maman, do you know who’s my oldest bestest friend? YOU!” (Heart. Melted)
· On a less cute note, you have now decided to call me “Mother.” Can we go back to Maman, Mummy or even Mum, pretty please?
· One morning went like this: “Mummy, my poo’s bright blue!” After being puzzled for a few minutes, I remembered the Frozen cupcakes you had eaten at your friend’s birthday party. I guess her mum must have had a heavy hand with blue food colouring.
· You declared one afternoon that you wanted your teaching assistant to be your new mummy. I might have cried a little on the inside!

Crevette (7 years 2 months)

· You had a couple of friends at home for a sleepover, and as you were playing, you started talking about jobs. You declared, “I’m a blogger.” Your friend had no idea what you were talking about, so you added, “I take photos and I go on the computer, then I give cards to people and they like my blog on Instagram or Pinterest. It’s like Le Coin de Mel!” Aww, bless your heart, little man!
· You were awarded the title of worker of the week.
· You love reading and at the moment, you are reading a new chapter book every night after your sisters have fallen asleep.
· You are very excited about your future bedroom, which is starting to take shape above the bathroom.

Us

· The scaffolding went up outside our house four weeks ago exactly. It looks like we are going to have a lot more space!
· This month has been insanely busy for all of us.
· The foodie in me has been more than happy with filming for Jamie Oliver’s new series of Friday Night Feast, a pasta masterclass with Gennaro Contaldo, a day at River Cottage, Food Bloggers Connect and the Cake & Bake Show.
· The children and I were involved in a documentary on France 2 comparing giving birth in France and in England, with Sophie (Franglaise Mummy) and her family. I will not expand on it, but other than the fact our names were mixed up and what we wanted to say did not come up as it should have in the documentary, we had a great time and really enjoyed having a day together before Sophie’s move to the other end of the world.
· My father-in-law extraordinaire spent a few days with us, to everyone’s delight.
· Today is Hubby’s birthday. Happy birthday, Chéri!