Thursday, October 19, 2006

Life In France

Bathtime conversation today:

Madeleine: You be the king.
Lin: OK, then are you the queen?
Madeleine: No I'm the princess.
Lin: Then is Charlotte the queen?
Madeleine: No, she's the serf.

I didn't know serf was part of a 4 year old's vocabulary.

I got here Monday afternoon (after meandering my way through the RER B and A and a train to Bois Le Roi). Life in Samois s/Seine is much different than life in Paris, and I like it quite a bit. The entrance into Fontainebleau was really nice - and reminded me a bit of home in CT. It's nice to be surrounded by the forest. This is my first time to the house (the previous attempt with Theresa 2 years ago was a complete failure) and they've done some renovations that make it much more homey.

Hugh aka Hug
I've spent a lot of time with Wubby and Maddie and my arm is already sore from carrying Hug around - at 3 months he's a hefty 8 kilos (about 18 pounds). Charlotte is even cuter in person than she is in the pictures. Maddie has learned to play with other people nicely and I've met some of her school mates (Sofia and Izzy). My sister basically cooks for me and I help her look after the kids - which is really just playing with them full time. I've pushed them on the swing set, helped them climb the ladder and hang from the rings, ride their tricycles around the back, showed them how to jump rope (still too complex a move for them to do), do air jumps, help them use the potty, walked them to school and today we did drawings. Maddie did a really nice one of her and Charlotte sleeping in bed with Baby Bunny. "Baaaaby Bunny" is Charlotte's favorite stuffed animal that she asked for throughout the day whenever she is tired, excited, or in a time of transition.

grumpy and shy Charlotte aka Wubby
After our naps, Charlotte came up the stairs without any pants on.

Lin: Charlotte, where are your pants?!
Charlotte: (silence, she can be a bit grumpy when she wakes up, as in the picture from when I first arrived)
Lin: Maddie, where did Charlotte's pants go?
Maddie: Don't call them that - you should say "trousers".

She also says 'book' with a British accent.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Those are the funniest conversations!! Your niece--the mini-dictator--is primed to take over the world!

Lin said...

Well, I don't know if she's all that interested in politics. Despite everyone encouraging her otherwise, she loves pink and tiaras and is more interested in being a princess and finding a prince and getting married in a beautiful dress.