Shoe shopping

I love love love shoes (and bags) and this has filtered into the way I shop for my kids. Recently I post on Facebook the shoes I bought for Laetitia and Loïc and one of my best friends asked me why Loïc needs three new pairs of shoes when he is not even walking yet. :p Well, those shoes I bought for him are pre-walking or early walking shoes. And in any case, even if he is not walking yet when he fits into them, they are too cute to be passed over. Well, so here are the three pairs of Robeez Tredz I got.



Are they not the cutest? Plus in this case, the shoes, though were shopped for by me, came from part of the budget that my parents-in-law gave to us as a present for Loïc's birth. The very generous gift has so far allowed us to get him a new stroller, a winter stroller muff and bath ring in addition to the shoes.

Well, back to shoes. I also got some pretty Agatha Ruiz de la Prada shoes for Laetitia too.

Cutting his first tooth and orientation at daycare.

My little boy is cutting his first tooth! Yikes! I am intending to breastfeed a little more but if the little one bites, hmmmm, I'll rethink about the whole thing.

He is quite the lovely little boy though, babbling all the time. Poor little one has a runny nose for the last week or so. I have been using a nasal spray and a mucus sucking device called a mouche bébé in french. He hates it but it works. His nose is not as blocked anymore and he seems to be on the road to recovery.

Onto another subject, yesterday we started the first day of orientation at the daycare. It's the same daycare Laetitia attended for the last three years. She started at around 6 months and stopped two months ago at the end of July. Now, it's Loïc turn at the daycare. All went well, we both stayed for an hour. The next session is on Monday where I will stay for half an hour with him and he will be by himself for the next half hour, followed by a session on Wednesday with me staying for half an hour and him by himself for one and a half hours. He will then progressively stay longer and longer by himself up to the intended 5 hours from 12:30pm to 5:30pm within the next 4 sessions. I think he will enjoy some interaction with other babies and I will also benefit from having a little time on my own. Other then that, Laetitia will also gain from having some time alone with me without her little brother in the picture every Wednesday when there is no school.

My little baby is growing up, not so little anymore. He's seven months old tomorrow!!!

Loïc says ma.....ma.....

My little boy is growing up so quickly. Since a couple of weeks ago, he started to "talk". He tries so hard and has so much to say. He can say ma..... and now pa..... very clearly now. He also enjoys engaging us in a little conversation. Of course I do not think that he is actually calling out to us but then, it is nice to know that he is on his way to doing it.

Here is just a little video of him being frustrated when I left the camera out of his reach and walked out of his sight. :p

And another one of him trying to crawl.

I really need to keep an eye on him when he is on the floor. Just today, I was busy cleaning Laetitia's hands after her afternoon tea and before I know it, he was under the chair!!!! And about to stuff something into his mouth. YUCKS! It was a good thing I got to him quickly and took him out.

Laetitia's first two days in school

In France, public school starts early at the age of three. This year, Laetitia starts pre-nursery, or what we call "petit section" in maternelle.

We prep her for it since a few months ago. She has been looking forward to it. The only thing she kept telling me was that she was not going to go alone. Of course she is not going to school all by herself! Crazy girl.

Anyways, we selected her clothes yesterday, packed a little bag with extra change and her lovey for her nap. School is from 8:30am to 4:30pm. She adapted very well right from the first day, no crying, no whinging, nothing. She was all happy and when I told her to have a good day and that I was leaving (there were still some parents around), she gave me a kiss and told me to have a nice day at home! I am so proud of my little girl. This is a class of 28 kids and there was NO ONE that she knew but she was all calm and excited about school.

At the end of the first two days, the teacher told me that she was very impressed with Laetitia. She mentioned that my little girl is very well behaved, eats well (she has her lunch there), sleeps well (she takes her nap in school after lunch), speaks well and listen well. I am SO PROUD of her.

Here are some obligatory photos!

This is the second day and Laetitia is the little one sitting by herself drawing away next to the window. Going to school in the rain. She was happy that it was raining though since it meant that she could use the new umbrella that I bought for her.
I am really glad that she enjoys school. Even though many people might think that 3 year olds are too young to be in such a huge classroom (28 kids with one teacher and one assistant), I think that it can really develop a child. In any case, the objectives of the year for the class is to help the children gain independence and socialization skills. The children are not expected to "study". They would only need to know to count from one to twenty and understand what 1, 2 and 3 means (e.g if someone says give me two pens, they know what two pens means). They are not expected to read or write. They will do lots of activities like painting, dancing, gym, playdoh and so forth. As you can see in the photo of the class, it is more of a play room than a classroom. I am very pleased with the whole structure. :-)