Princess

Samedi

12.00 Elle mange avec nous.

12.30 Elle va dormir. On va lui expliquer avant que nous partons jusqu’a demain soir et que vous allez etre là.

vers 15.30/16.00 Elle va se reveiller. Elle doit etre changée. Vous pouvez lui offrir une tartine (pain et confiture/chocolat) et/ou un biberon. Si vous sortez avec elle, la poussette est
dans le couloir en bas et il y a des langes dans le sac a dos dedans. On vous conseille vivement de porter un biberon et aussi des galettes de riz avec vous a chaque sortie.

18.30 Elle prend son dîner. Il y a du poisson dans le frigo. Aussi des carottes et des pommes de terre. Il y a aussi des groseilles pour dessert et un biscuit.

On va telephoner vers 19.15 pour lui (et vous!) souhaiter une bonne nuit.

19.30/20.00 Elle prend son bain. Normalement elle aime bien son bain mais en ce moment elle est un peu nerveuse. Elle
adore se laver les dents et s’assessoir sur son petit pot. On lui met un lange et son pyjama et on la met dans son sac a couchage. On lui donne son chien-chien et on la porte dans la chambre où elle dort. On lui lit un histoire et on lui donne un biberon.

Normalement (!) elle est contente d’aller au lit et elle dort la nuit.
Dimanche

vers 7.30 Elle va se reveiller. Elle prend un biberon. Pour son petit dejeuner, elle prend du muesli ou, si elle veut pas, vous pouvez essayez des Rice Krispies. Des fois elle aime un peu du toast. On la change et habille que apres son petit
dejeuner.  Si vous sortez avec elle le matin on vous conseille vivement de porter un biberon avec vous et aussi des
galettes de riz.

12.00/12.30 Elle prend son dejeuner. Il y a des saucisses dans le frigo et elle aime normalement des haricots verts et les pommes de terre. On a acheté aussi des saucisses pour vous, donc vous pouvez manger ensemble, si vous voulez…

12.30/13.00 Elle va dormir dans son sac a couchage avec son chien-chien. On la change avant.

vers 15.30/16.00 Elle va se reveiller. Elle doit etre changée. Vous pouvez lui offrir une tartine (pain et confiture/chocolat) et/ou un biberon.

vers 18.00 (notre train arrive a 17.20) Nous rentrons et vous etes libre! Merci beaucoup!

Si jamais il faut nous contacter, vous avez notre numero portable.  Si vous avez besoin de contacter quelqu’un a Bxls, vous pouvez appeller nos amis sur le numero qu’on vous laisse.

Aren’t full time parents absolutely fantastic?

I would like to point out that this was (a) untrue and (b) even if it were true, not the kind of thing I would choose to share with fellow bathroom users.

We get a great kick out of chatting to our little girl now that she talks.  It worries me mildly that she only talks in French other than to say “open this” and “yes please” but it is fun to hear my child do a French r.

The other day we were out on the tram and I explained to her how the tram ran on tracks. She wanted to walk on the tracks but I said no, they were for the tram so she called out to the man crossing the road “Non, monsieur, c’est pour le tram!”

She likes to give instructions and inform. For example, this morning, I was lying prone in bed and she said “Debout Maman”.  I protested feebly. “Non, je suis pas d’accord” said she.  I protested feebly some more. “Non Maman, il faut t’habiller!”. This from a girl whom we have to chase round the house to dress.  At the weekend we visited a farm and having spoken to her father about the eating habits of chickens she turned to me and told me “Maman, les poules ne mangent pas de l’herbe, ils mangent du maïs”. When crossing the road
she turns to me and says “Attention Maman, il y a des voitures!”

A big favourite at the moment is doing things herself. She has just learnt to take on and off her trousers and no one could be more pleased “Regarde, Maman!”. We just can’t wait for her to start trying it out in public. However, there are some things she can’t do herself and this leads to deep unhappiness and frustration “Can Mama help you?” “Non, non, c’est moi!”�

She has taken to my make-up bag in a big way and goes through the contents regularly. The other day doggy had a makeover involving application of mascara and perfume, behind his ears and on his paws, and a certain amount
of fur combing.  When the task was complete the Princess picked him up and took him away “where are you going, sweetheart?”
“Doggy look in the mirror”.

She has a song for every occasion. They seem to learn hundreds in the creche and she picks up the ones we teach her really fast. Frankly, you haven’t lived until you’ve heard your 2 year old lisp “Day-o, day-o, daylight come and me wan go home”. Obviously, she is a musical genius.
Her recent birthday celebrations have made a deep and lasting impression on her. In quiet moments we catch her crooning “happy birthday” to herself. Yesterday, we met some friends of Mr. Waffle’s who very kindly brought her a present. When we were leaving she said “bye, bye” and strolled away. I said “wait there’s a present for you” and with indecent haste she came skidding back to the munificent donors “birthday present for me!”

She is learning to run and she loves it. She insists that we run with her “Cours, Papa, cours!”. Her loving father jogs along slowly bent double to get down to her level and I notice that now when she runs, she tends to bend over in imitation.

She is fascinated by video material taken on the camera (which, alas, sustained some damage at the weekend – I’d really rather not talk about our poor record on digital cameras). She peers at herself and repeats whatever she has said on video giggling uproariously the while. Then she pushes the replay button. This can go on for hours.

When I read books to her, she knows some of the words so if I say “And that Zelf up on the shelf”� she goes on “I have talked to him myself”. I read to her sitting on the beanbag in one corner of the room and she trots off round the corner to the bookshelf to pick out her book of choice, but just as she gets around the corner, she turns around and says to
me anxiously “ça va, Maman?” Poor mite, her Mama has been out of action a lot recently. As I lay moaning weakly on my sick bed (hey, morning sickness, rash, migraine – is it any wonder I’ve taken to my bed a lot recently?), I would hear her saying to her father outside the bedroom door “Maman est malade, Maman se repose”.

This is enough smugness for today.