18 months

I turned 18 months today. This is unbelievable how much progress I make in all fields according to Mamma and Papa. I am so hungry for adventures and discoveries!

Sometimes I am a little hungry for cakes too. To celebrate this anniversary, Mamma made this Pooh cake for me, resembling my favorite friend. And because I am a naughty girl, I refused to eat a single bite of it. Too bad for me because Mamma and Papa really enjoyed it.

I am always willing to help: I have already shown my vaccuuming and gardening skills, but I can also mop the floor. I always help tidy my bedroom as well.

Kinderdijk

Since we had cycled for 2 days, worn wooden clogs and eaten stroopwafels already, only 2 more Dutch specialties were remaining for us to discover: tulips and windmills. And since the tulip season is over, and we could not really stay in the area until next spring, we only checked out windmills.
The most famous ones are in Kinderdijk: 19 windmills that were built around 1740 and became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997. They were only used to drain the polder, transforming wind energy into pumping energy. They were replaced by diesel and electric pumps later in the 20th century.

Duckies do not seem to be bothered too much by those windmills that are trying to remove the water they are swimming on.

5 windmills in a row. This is a very nice view. too bad they are not spinning anymore.

It was a very warm and sunny day: I am showing off my pretty baby body.

Onesie only, no more shoes. I had quite some fun watching the duckies below the bridge. Too bad we did not have any more bread to feed them.

Amsterdam

After Rotterdam, we headed a bit more North to Amsterdam and spent a day there. That's one other very pretty city: old buildings, canals, bicycles everywhere. I think other European cities shoud take the Netherlands as a model to solve traffic jams: do you imagine if everybody rode a bike in Paris? It would become the prettiestest city in the world (it is already the prettiest one).

So we rented more bikes and I made sure that I got again a seat in the front: I want to have the view and steer. It is a lot more exciting than being behing Mama or Papa and not be able to see anything but their butt. I even got a Bob the Builder horn on this one: pouett pouett!

A giant wooden clog: I could almost fit in it. Is there anybody in there?

We stopped for a it of a rest in a park (because I had fallen asleep on the bike again) and I got to play with all the leaves and branches... This is just a minute before I crawled into bird poop and had to switch my dirty red pants against my clean waterproof rain ones (a little warm for a sunny day). I'll be more careful next time.

Because there aren't that many cars in the city, everything is fairly quiet. Mama almost fell asleep in the park.

Cute houses from the 1600's. Some of them are super narrow, some of them super crooked and some are both!

Dutch architects are very imaginative. We saw dozens of very unusual daring buildings here and in Rotterdam. This one has a boat shape: and because it is by the harbor, it really looks like one.

Souvenir picture of our little family. It took me a while, but I finally understood how to use the Bob horn on the bike. too bad we had to give it back. Maybe Mama and Papa can get me a Pooh horn on my first little bike.

Rotterdam

One more 4-day week-end and one more cool trip. This time, we are heading North East to the Netherlands to meet all Mama's and Papa's friends from State College that emigrated there. Europe seems to be THE place to live these days. First stop, Rotterdam: Bea and Alex moved there about 2 years ago and Laure met them there after finishing her PhD in Colorado a few weeks ago. They are going to show us around the city.

Since we are in the Netherlands, guess what we are going to use to visit the city? Bicycles! Everything is super-flat, there are bike pathes everywhere and cars even have to yield to us. It would be awesome if it could be like this in Paris (except for the flat part, can't really change that now). Everybody had its bike and I was in control of the steering on Papa's bike: what a view on those front-mounted baby seats!

Second specialty of the Netherlands: wood clogs. Mama is trying a pair on: those Dutch people really have big feet.

The ride with Papa was so comfy that I managed to fall asleep before he got a chance to stop. But not an excuse to let go of the steering, I am still holding it.

After a good nap, we cycled some more and stopped in a park with a bunch of duckies. I really liked giving them ducks and I was not even scared when they were getting too close. One almost flew into Papa's head: they must have been starving: little kids don't give them bread?

A clog store: not really typical Dutch clogs and shoes (they are made in Boulder, Colorado, where Laure comes from) but they were so colorful and cute that I wanted to try them all.

Yey, the pink ones fit me perfectly, I am so happy. So much cooler than my old pair of shoes.

Posing for a group picture (with my new shoes, they even have a little Winnie the Pooh on them)just before leaving Rotterdam. Those 2 days were fantastic, it was so nice to see everyone again and be able to cycle around a big city without being scared of being run over by a car every second.

Enjoying warm summer days

The good thing about summer is that it is quite warm outside: so much more fun than being inside all the time. My nounou Sandrine brings us to the park almost everyday, I learn to play on the slide by myself, to drive cars, to push strollers and I also oviously pick flowers everytime I see one, pick pebbles on the ground one by one.

At home, we try to spend the longest possible time outside. Even for dinner, in pyjamas on a terrasse. So exciting, that changes from the usual dining room routine!

My sandbox doubles as a little swimming pool. Quite refreshing when it is too warm. The little duckies like it too, they have more romm to swim than in the bath tub.

Not everything is good outside: I stepped on something and it feels weird. Mamma, Papa, can you clean my feet?

Today Mamma went for a running race from Paris to Saint Germain, 18 km further. While waiting for her on the path somewhere halfway, Eva (in the stroller) and I went for a walk. Papa had a hard time keeping up with us, I was driving super fast.

Here comes Mamma. She is doing very good: allez allez allez!

Since it is very warm,I can wear all sorts of clothes: I am trying my Japanese kimono for the first time. Let's go Geisha style today.

Gardening

The good thing about summer is that I can stay outside all the time. And since we don;t live too much in the city, the countryside is not that far away. What about going to a farm? There is one very close from home where you can just come and pick your own stuff: vegetables, fruits... Nothing better than fresh products.

Handling such a big fork-thingy is not always so easy for a little girl like me. But I sure did not want Mamma and Papa to help me find potatoes. I can do all by myself (I just need a little time).
Potatoes make great mashed-potatoe dishes but it is a little boring to pick. Berries are a lot more fun. And I can even eat them on the spot. Those red currants are just the right size for me to pick with my little fingers. and they are everywhere. No need for big clumsy tools.

Our little garden is big enough to grow stuff too. I am helping Papa maw the lawn: he cuts the grass, I play with the rake.

Everyday there are a few little strawberries for me to pick and eat on the spot. They are just the right size for me. Miam miam. Sometimes I share but it is difficult: they are so red and sweet, I love them.

Claire and Nicolas Wedding

One more trip to a place I have never been before: Perros-Guirec in Brittany. Even Papa had never been to this area before. It is Claire and Nicolas' wedding, 2 of Papa's friends from school.

Everybody dressed up for the occasion, even my little doll Eva put on her best pink pyjamas. My little flower dress is so cute that I hope people won't think I am the bride.

Claire and Nicolas, the newlyweds standing outside the Town Hall just after the ceremony.

The view from the hotel where the reception took place and where we stayed for the night. Gorgeous bouldering area: all the rock is pink granite, super cute and awesome to climb on. Too bad we did not have time to give it a try.

After a long drive in the morning and running all over the place during the wedding ceremony, I was really tired and took a nap to recharge my batteries before the reception.

Still a little sleepy after the nap.

I found a friend my age during the reception: Eleanore. She was coming from Toulouse, far away from there, South of France.

The picture ritual. Not so easy to have everybody look at the same camera at the same time. And it's not my fault if I was really thirsty when they decided to take them!

Eleanore is a little older than me but she was also interested in poking little things. She even showed me how to walk up and down stairs. It is something I am not mastering yet.

10 hours of driving in just 2 days: not so much fun for a little girl like me but I tried to be the nicest I could. I played with all the toys, removed my shoes and did tricks with my toes, slept, sang... I was the best traveling little girl ever, did not want to make the trip too tiring for Mamma and Papa.