Sunday, November 22, 2009

Laetitia and Loïc's first visit to Disneyland Paris

After all these years living in Paris, we decided that it is time to bring Laetitia to Disneyland. We felt that now, at the age of three and a half, she should be able to appreciate and enjoy the park. Of course, even though little Loïc will not benefit very much from it, we brought him along to save on the cost of having a sitter watch him. Well, looking back, we should have done that instead as it probably would have been more enjoyable for him and us if he had stayed home.

We met up with our friend, Lydia, who was going to bring us in for free at noon and from there, we started by walking along Main Street and stopping to feed Loïc his lunch. That was followed by going to pick up some fastpass from the Buzz Lightyears ride. After that, we were off to the Merry go round. I went on that ride with Laetitia while Etienne waited with Loïc. After that was one of the great highlights of our visit. Laetitia and I got our faces painted.


Once we were both looking pretty, we went to watch a Winnie the Pooh show. Laetitia was able to sit through the entire show although at some point, she was a little freaked by the characters coming down from the stage towards the audience. We then went off to Autopia (Laetitia's favourite ride) and Buzz Lightyears ride. Etienne went on both of the rides with her while I watched Loïc.
By the time we did all that, it was close to 5:30pm. To finish off the day, we got Laetitia a Minnie Mouse balloon which she said was the best part of the trip for her. So, here's the happy girl with her balloon when we got home.

Monday, November 16, 2009

H1N1 Vaccination.

So, it's decision making time. France has started it's H1N1 vaccination schedule and our kids will soon be due to receive their letterS to go for the jabs. It is not obligatory but encouraged. After a lot of thinking, we have decided not to vaccinate the kids. Etienne and I will probably go for it just to decrease the chances of us bringing the virus back but through a lot of reading and analytical thoughts, I feel that the risk of the kids catching it AND getting complications from it vs the risk of issues arising from the vaccination itself is lower. That is my personal conclusion, not a medical view. Our doctor sees the swine flu as a mild disease. Yes, it spreads fast but in his words, not a scary illness, not too serious. Apparently the manifestation of the virus here in Europe is benign than its counterparts in America.

Of course the bad press regarding the vaccination is influencing our decision, the two death in China, the case of Guillain-Barré syndrome in France and the US etc. So, unless there are more reassurance, I do not see my kids getting the shots.

On my part to increase the immune system of the two little ones, I am continuing to breastfeed Loïc and Laetitia gets some vitamins/probotics supplement daily (I am trying to remember to give it to her every morning but on and off I'll forget. BAD MUMMY). Other than that, of course pray that God will keep them both healthy and safe. :-)

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Laetitia's petite section class photo

Laetitia's school had a photographer come in to take a class photo and individual photos of the children.

This is the photo of Laetitia that we were given (or rather we bought).
She looks like such a big girl. Where did my baby go to?