Happy 3rd Birthday Laetitia!

My little girl is three today! We had a weekend of celebration for her. Yesterday we went to Koony Parc with our friends Ivana and Kevin and their little girl, Isabelle. Both the little ones had such a great time and I suppose the parents too. Laetitia is now able to go on the big structure all by herself. At one point we even lost her inside! Well, not really lost lost but rather we could not figure out which part of the structure she was at. Here's some action shots.

Up inside the big structure.


Coming down the slide with Isabelle and Uncle Kevin.


And this morning, right after she got up, it was time to open her presents. First off, the card and present from her grandparents.


Next papa's present.

Tati Manu's presents.

We kept my present for her for tea time as we felt she was overwhelmed with gifts. I got her some puzzles.

And then there is cake time!


Tonight we are having dinner at Jean's as it is also Jacqueline's birthday and tomorrow, she will have another party at the daycare.

A little celebration in the daycare.

Laetitia had a little celebration for her birthday in the daycare. As they only allowed packaged cakes with the detail ingredient labels I bought three boxes of brownies from the supermarket. And hoping to include something healthy, I bought some little "petite suisse" (soft cheese desserts that is hugely popular with children here). I gave them together with some party plates, napkins and my camera to the caregivers.

Here's some photos from the afternoon.

Happy 2nd Birthday Laetitia!
The entire gang that day.
And here comes the present.... She was given a little stuff chicken by the daycare.
After all the cakes and sweets, it's time to work some fine motor skills by lacing some wooden beads.

Happy 2nd Birthday Laetitia!

Wow, what a day of celebration my little darling had today. In fact today is the latest Laetitia has ever gone to bed. At almost 11:30pm!!! Her normal bedtime is before 9pm. Well, today is a celebration for her and of her. I shall warn you first that this post is probably the most picture heavy of all the post so far. Well, let's get started shall we?

It started right in the morning after she woke up. She was allowed to open her first set of presents, from her mamou and papou (grandparents).
DVDs and a CD!
Thanking them over the phone for her presents. She was absolutely delighted.
Here she is opening her birthday card from her grandparents. She looks oh so cute in the pose.
Then she's off to have breakfast and watch her Little Einsteins DVD. After breakfast, it's time for to open another present. This time, a present from Tatie Manu (her aunt, Etienne's sister).
It's a cleaning unit with a vacuum cleaner! She had so much fun with it.
Check out this photo. I love it. She is working hard together with her papa. I think we have a good helper around the house.
And just before I took her out for a little walk to the grocery store, she decided to open more presents. She picked the presents from Auntie Eileen this time without any prompting from either of us. And what did she get?
An umbrella! (And a world map too but I did not open the map up for fears that she would tear it just as she had been tearing at the wrappers).
Once she had the umbrella, she refused to leave it behind when we were going out. So, even though it was a bright and sunny day outside, she was walking around with her umbrella. It was sweet though.

After that we came home, she had lunch and it was time for her nap. While she took her nap, I took the opportunity to finish up the decoration on her cake. I had to make the icing from scratch and create a castle from the two cake bases I made the day before. Finally as I was putting the final touches to the cake, she woke up. Since it was another half an hour before Pierre, Caroline and Arik are to be here, I decided she should take the time to open another of her presents, the present from us.
Here it is, the play kitchen.
I have to admit I was a little disappointed that it is SO small. I was expecting something bigger. Well, this will do for the time being. :-) More importantly, she loves it. She had so much fun playing with it and was trying to cook some pasta for me.

Finally our friends came and it was time for cake! I happily presented my darling with her cake. Here she is blowing out her candle and looking all happy.

A close up of the cake
She also received a present from Pierre and Caroline. It was a lovely CD in a book which had English children songs and the equivalent in French. Here is Laetitia and our friends.
The two kids had so much fun playing but somehow, I just forgot all about taking photos of them. I even forgot to take any photo of me and my darling! Or any of Etienne and Laetitia except that funny picture of them vacuuming at the same time. Sigh. The two of them had lots of fun playing with the tent, the kitchen etc. I was very proud of my little girl as she was able to share her toys and would be gracious about it. During the afternoon, Laetitia also opened a few more little presents from us (wooden beads for stringing, doll's clothes etc).
And in the evening, we went off to Jacqueline's apartment. Jacqueline is Etienne's granddad companion and she shares the same birthday as Laetitia. We were invited to dinner. Jacqueline's two nieces were also there.
Laetitia received a book each from Jacqueline and her nieces. And we had a srumptious dinner. Check it out. Huge lobsters for starters.

And finally a birthday cake for the two birthday girls.


And that ends our day. It was almost 11pm and we called a cab, got home just before 11:30pm and put Laetitia straight to bed. What a day. Happy Birthday my darling. I hope you thoroughly enjoyed yourself today. I love you.

A letter to my 18 months old!

My most dearest darling,

OMG! You are 18 months old, one and a half year old. I am at a lost for words (momentarily). It is both a scary and wonderful feeling. It amazes me how much you have grown and at the same time, fills me with some uneasiness on how time just seems to be slipping by and before I know it, you'll be a teenager or an adult. From a helpless baby, you are now a babbling toddler who could almost count 1-10 in English and French, go through your alphabets and express your views with "don't want", "No", "please Mummy" (usually said with a BIG smile) and have little conversations with me. You are also become a fabulous dancer and singer.

The last 18 months have been a roller coaster ride but with much more ups than downs. Aside from becoming a first time mummy, I also had to cope with being in a strange new place (not unlike you) and learning a new language (again I'm sure you are experienced in this too). At times I worry if I am a good enough mum or I question myself in reference to my "lack" of motherly instincts considering that I started leaving you in the daycare from the tender age of 6 months old. Did I put you through much trauma in letting you cry either in the arms of "strangers" while I walked away to enjoy my afternoons by myself or when I leave you in the cot to sleep? Was I being an alpha "kiasu" mum when I started showing you flash cards when you were less than a year old?

All these insecurities I have are eradicated when I see what a joyous and happy little girl you are. People are constantly telling me how you are always smiling and seems to be a delightful child. I am so proud of you, of your cheerful personality, of all your milestones and the simple fact that you are such fun to be with. I enjoy telling people how you would say "Bravo Mummy" when I finish singing you a song or finish saying the alphabets! I am smiling from ear to ear when people tell me just how adorable you are. I love it when you try to kiss me on the lips (though I am pretending to look disgusted and give you my cheeks instead) or when you refuse a kiss from me. I enjoy our current game where you would run into my open arms and I would lift you off the ground. As much as I complain about you going "Mummy's here" in the middle of the night when you are woken up from your sleep, I am secretly smiling to myself and feeling all important.

I enjoy the last 18 months we spent together at home and I am apprehensive that it is going to change. Though it does seems timely that I should start a new full time job on Monday I know for a fact that I want to strike a balance between working and spending time with you. I love the conversations (though somewhat limited right now) we have, the laughters that we share, the games we play, the books we read together, all the moments we spend with each other and as a family. I want to continue to build this wonderful relationship we have.

I want you to know that I love you very much and so does your papa. You are our little darling and always will be.

Love always,
Mummy

Early birthday celebration

Laetitia is turning ONE this coming Thursday but since by the time her papa comes home from work in the evening, it's time for bed, I decided to have a little celebration at home with papa today. We had a little cake from Picard and sang her "Happy Birthday", let her taste some chocolate mousse and of course take the customary photos.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY DARLING!"

"Hmmm.... what is this strange tasting brown mushy thing?"

Over the last couple of days, I also allowed her to open up her presents and play with them. She loves the toys. We had such fun playing with them. She particularly enjoys taking the "little people" out of the bus and throwing them. If she is playing with it in her cot, she would take the "little people" out one by one and throw them overboard (out of the cot). I think she has a little mean streak to her character! :p

"Heehee.... let me take these people out of the bus."

"Oh, a musical set! The noise I am going to make!"

And here's some cute pics of my little meanie with her oh so cool sunglasses on top of her head (a la mummy).
"Yo! Whatcha looking at?"