You know you have a strong willed 2 yr old when ..

your 4yr old's kinder teacher is helping you cope!

What a character- Tilda just know wha she wants. Last week at kinder i tried to help her blow out a candle and want bluntly told- "Mamma don't I do it myself". Our kinder teacher later noted that she hadn't met a 2 year so certain of herself.

Felix's Birth Story by Felix

After reading that some children remember aspects of being born reportedly up to the age of seven I decided to ask Felix what it was like for him. Here are a few things he said..

"It was tight and a short tunnel I needed to go through"
"When I came out I just wanted my mamma and call for her mamma mamma"
"it was warm inside"

I might ask him again another time before his memories disappear.

Birth choices

I had the wonderful privilege to attend a screening of orgasmic birth. I left the film feeling empowered and ready to open up a part of my life. With two very successful birth center births, no intervention, natural births it only feel natural to move this to another level, a home birth. It might be a bit strange to be talking, thinking and considering birth before I am even pregnant, but it feel like a journey that starts well before the conception of another child. Reflecting on the birth of Matilda and Felix the part I did not enjoy was getting into a car, thinking my contraction might slow down and stop and maybe needed to go home again. This did not happen either time- but the stress I felt did not have to occur either. In the case of Matilda we were at the hospital for 12 minutes before she was in my arms- I missed out on the opportunity to experience her moving down into my pelvis and virgina as I was concentrating on just getting to my room. I feel this rush to get there may have contributed to her outrageous crying for the first 20 minutes of life- it was all too fast for her. So now seeing a movie such as orgasmic birth, I feel that my options are really limited to birthing at home with my husband and children and all the things around me that make me relax. No car rides and no unnecessary intervention. It seem for once in my life I am doing my homework well before the final exam.

I am two and love chocolate

Today is Tilda's second birthday- when did that happen? My baby is two and today upon returning from our weekling grocery shop there was suddenly silent. More than two minutes of silence and I know something is up. I look out the back and see Felix happily playing in the sandpit-alone. Where is my Tilda? I call her name and no responce- so I look out the front and sitting at the front gate is Tilda with an entire block of chocolate in her hands. A bite is taken and as I casually stroll up the driveway Tilda jumps up and runs for the trees to hide...

Baguette Girl

Tilda and Felix are enjoying the fruits, or the breads, of France. Both wake each morning with a smile and ask excitedly are we getting croissants? This morning Tilda walked from the local bakery back to the tent tightly holding a prized baguette. When all backs were turned we could hear the delighted sounds of crunching and munching.

Lourdes

Michael took Felix and Matilda to a local zoo where Felix was able to feed Marmots and watch bears frolic in a swimming pool. Meanwhile I set off to be a tourist for the afternoon and heading to Lourdes. It is the Jubilee years of a image of Mary coinciding with a flow of a spring. Many people come to Lourdes to seek the healing qualities of the holy water from the spring. There were many people on pilgrimage to Lourdes. As I wanted toward the church I was stuck by how commercial it all was. You could purchase jerry cans to fill with Holy water. As we are rapidly reaching our luggage limits I decided that maybe next time I might get a Jerry can.

Saint Jeanette

We wake up to the warm buzz of summer. We are staying in a modern day cave in the hills high above Nice, France. Saint Jeanette is the home for Michael's Aunt Ginette and Uncle Joseph Milewski. We are instantly made to feel at home. We have fortunately timed our visit to meet with Paul, Ginette and Joseph's son, and his family. Felix is instantly playing Areanne (almost 5) and they are inseparable until exhaustion beckons then to bed each night. Each day we are spoil with local wine, cheese and fresh produces and spectacle view of Southern France.