Zaylee at 26.5 months

At two years and two and a half months, life with you sweet girl is proving to be the very best yet!  Although there are days full of discipline, the good days far outweigh the hard ones.  You are full of life, imagination, joy, laughter, animation, adventure, determination, impatience, and we can't get over how fast you are growing and changing.  You are independent always saying, "Zaylee self do it," but yet you know when to ask for help.  You are brave and fearless but with reserve and discernment.  Your heart for others seems to be growing with you, and we often say you will one day be a nurse like your Grandma D and Mama.  We are continually amazed that you are ours, and love learning about life through your eyes and ever-growing mind. 

Here are a few of our favorite things you do and say as of lately:

• "Ooohhhh heavy!" While picking up things that are far to big for you to carry!  You love describing things, and have a very large vocabulary to do just that.  
• The weather is something you are always commenting on saying such things as, "YEAH sunshine!"  "Oh no, raining."  "Much winny!"(wind)  "No sun! (when it's in your eyes!)" "Hot day Maman"
• You absolutely love animals of every kind, no matter how big they might be!  Our favorite horse at the ranch, Treasure, is the biggest horse around, and you go right up to him kissing his nose, hugging him tight, and putting your hand up to gently stroke his face despite the fact that he nipped your finger drawing a small spot of blood and attempted to eat your ponytail when it was eating time at the farm.  Your love for animals (big ones in particular) terrifies your Papa, but I love watching you talk with them and gently caress them with your little hands. 
• You have been extremely sweet lately always hugging us tight, climbing up on the couch while asking me, "Nuggle Mama?"  I, of course, melt every time and have probably allowed far to much computer time lately in order to take full advantage of our snuggle sessions!  "I la lou, Mama/Papa/Mawcel/Horsie" is something you say without prompting these days, and it stops us in our tracks every time.  
• You taught yourself how to somersault, and are so proud of yourself every time.  You are still working on perfecting it, but it is so fun to watch you try and try again.  You LOVE jumping, and have started  your own version of skipping that is hilarious to witness.  You are extremely active, and we often wonder where you get so much energy to keep moving at the speed you like to go.  
• "Oh no, boys!"  "Ok boys"  "Hey boys!"  You are very interested in boys, and I can already see you giving your Papa many more gray hairs for this reason! 
• You love making Marcel laugh, and when you are successful (which is always!) you happily shout, "Mama Mawcel smile.  Laughing Mama! Oh, funny!"  When you see him you quickly say, "Oh hey Mawcel.  Pick a boo!"  It is our favorite thing watching the bond between the two of you grow with each passing day.   This morning you were playing with him on the floor when I heard you saying, "Bonjour Mawcel! Coucou" and when he reached a toy he was working hard to get you exclaimed while clapping, "Bravo Mawcel!"
•  We are working very hard on teaching you kindness and obedience, and for the most part you take well to the discipline involved in molding and shaping you.  You are very sensitive to discipline, and when done in a gentle way you seem to understand and respond positively.  If you overhear another boy or girl being scolded by their parents you quickly look at me and say while pointing towards the little one, "Mama, obey?! OBEY!"  When you disobey and we are talking it out with you, you are quick to tell us how you disobeyed and what you did, often repeating it and bring it up all throughout the day.  
• You speak your emotions a lot lately always telling us, "Zaylee happy!"  "Zaylee cared (scared)" "Zaylee cited (excited)"  "Zaylee hunry/tirsty" "Zaylee tired" "Zaylee sad."  You are extremely expressive and have the most animated hand gestures and facial expressions.  Drama is also something you shine in, and Papa worries for your teenage years already.  When we know you are fake crying we give you a silly look and you respond saying, "Oh Zaylee faker!" as you quickly change from a cry to a laugh.  
• Lately, we have been amazed by the amount of French you are picking up.  Every day you surprise us with a new word we weren't aware you knew how to say, and when we ready your French word books at night you can point to every picture when asked in French where they are.  It is amazing that you can decipher the two languages and always answer when asked how you say something in French.  Your newest additions to your vocab that we didn't necessarily teach you, but have heard you use the last week or so are, "comme ca" "viens" "tiens" "voila" "doudou" "escargot" "gentille Mama!" and other little phrases that are escaping my mind at the moment.  You use them all correctly and it is the sweetest thing to hear from your little mouth, American accent and all :)  
• Your sense of direction is truly impressive and you often tell us which way to turn in the car if we take a different route then normal, "No Papa, dis way!"  When we get close to home you automatically start yelling, "Yeah, back home!!"  You know when we reach the city, are on the street for the doctor, are by the grocery store, and are always paying attention to every detail.  
• The scrapes on your arms and legs continue to multiply as the days get warmer, and although you cry for a quick minute when it is a good fall you quickly exclaim, "Bobo better Maman!" and refuse to let us put a band-aid on it no matter the amount of blood.  When we ask you who made your bobo better you reply, "Jesus make it better!"  
• Numbers and letters are still things you love reciting all throughout the day counting, "one, two, six, seven, eight, tine" and singing along with me to the ABC's filling in when I leave a letter out.  You know Z is your letter and say, "Z Zaylee and Zebra!"  And when we ask you how old you are you proudly yell, "Two years.  Marcel 6 months!" You love pointing out shapes and colors.  
• If we go somewhere with a lot of people, you announce, "Oh no Mama, MUCH peoples!"  Your mouth takes on the most adorable form with words like much, church and yes, and I am often trying to get you to say them just to watch you when you speak.  
•  You always have your doll tucked under your arm or in her stroller, and are never without a bag on your shoulder.  You still love using anything and everything as your phone always telling the person on the other "line" that you love them and miss them.  The newest phone craze for you is "taking" pictures of things while saying, cheese!

I could go on and on as usual, but I think you get the point.  You are so much fun, and so full of life.  We want to soak it all in and never forget these moments, but sadly I am sure we will and for that I will keep writing down little tidbits to hold on to.  Love you my sweet girl, and truly love watching you grow up into a little lady.  

Family Vacation: Paris

After our stay in Normandy, we headed east towards Picardie to stay a few nights with my cousin Joy and her family.  It was really nice to be with family reminiscing and laughing about old family stories from our every other year childhood reunions in the south.  Refreshing, relaxing, and much needed for this slightly homesick mama.  You loved the fact that they had a dog and had a lot of fun following Lucas around making small talk with one another.  It was short but sweet and I was so thankful for it. 

Again not so stroller friendly :)

On Thursday morning, we headed out to the train station to make our way into Paris for the day.  In true Parisian fashion, the skies were grey, gloomy, and bursting with clouds ready to rain on our parade.  The rain held off for the first hour or so before, ever so gently, beginning with a slight trickle that would turn into a steady flow for most of the day.  It made for an interesting trek down the Champs Elysees with the two of you, and resulted in many hard glances from French moms thinking we were crazy for having you out in the cold rain without the proper winter clothing despite the fact that it was NOT winter at all! :)  Regardless of the looks, the four of us had too much fun walking down the Parisian version of the Magnificent Mile, your brother snuggled close to my chest, singing loud and proud the song we walked out of the church to the day we were married three years earlier:  "Aux Champs-Elysees, Aux Champs-Elysees, Au soleil, sous la pluie, A midi ou à minuit - Il why a tout ce que vous voulez aux Champs-Elysees."

We set out to see the Arc de Triomphe, Eiffel Tour, and Sacre-Coeur and low and behold we managed to hit up ever one, albeit quick stops, but stops nonetheless!  You my girl were in a crazy fun mood making all those around you laugh along with you as you bounced all around singing and dancing. You ooze joy my girl, and we love you more for it.  Your added craziness might have had something to do with the two suckers your Papa decided to get you to make up for the lack of park time due to the rain.  On top of the suckers, you also enjoyed two carousel rides, french fries, AND ice cream.  It was a day of treats and a whole lot of fun times.

I have now been to Paris twice, but both times were rushed and without time for paying attention to detail or leisure.  One day we will go back and spend more than an afternoon, leaving plenty of time for soaking in the beauty, life, and history poured into the city of love. 

Family Vacation: Mont St. Michel/St. Malo

On Monday morning, we headed out to Mont St. Michel.  It was another beautiful day and we were really excited about seeing and experiencing this place together for the first time.  It is an island commune just off the coast and is an absolutely beautiful sight from the shores of the mainland.  We went not knowing exactly what to expect, and came a bit unprepared.  The parking is about two kilometers away from the actual commune, and the visitors are shuttle in by bus or a horse drawn buggy.  We brought way more than we needed not knowing what to fully expect, and in doing so opted to bring the stroller which we quickly found out, although a bit too late, that Mont St. Michel is most definitely NOT stroller friendly.  The streets are small and to simply say over crowded would be a bit of an understatement.  This French landmark is one of the top tourist spots in France, and is flooded with visitors all year long.  Between the crowds and difficulties maneuvering the stroller while climbing stairs upon stairs, we had a quick lunch of a famous omelet beat to a specific rhythm and a quick walk around the lower level of the commune before grabbing an ice cream cone and a few souvenirs and heading back to the mainland.  It was a quick trip, but a good one and we were thankful to have been able to go despite the inconveniences.  We will go back again when you are older and explore a bit more!

Extremely fishy seafood soup that you couldn't get enough of...stinky!

Since we finished at Mont St. Michel by 3:30 and you both were ready for naps, we decided to keep driving west a bit for a quick stop in St. Malo.  St. Malo is a walled port city just over the border of Brittany.  We watched a Travel Channel food show about this little city and were so happy it worked out to go for a quick visit.  We walked the quiet streets inside the tall, stone walls, ate local foods, explored the boats on the port, and spent a warm evening playing in the sand on the beaches while the sun went down.  The people were so welcoming and kind and some day we will go back to see more of the lovely Brittany. 

It was a long day, but a very fun day.  You both were so well behaved and seemed to enjoy ever bit of our adventures.  We made it back to the house just before midnight and all slept in the next morning ready for more fun on the beaches of Normandy before heading off to Paris.