Zaylee Fun Facts

Lately, you have been so full of personality.  I guess you always have been, but it's so fun to watch you interact and think you are a grown up with your sassy strut and independent way about you.  Last week we were at a conference in Annecy, and in the mornings you went to the nursery with three or four other babies all within a couple months of one another.  The girls watching you babies were constantly remarking on your "i-can-do-it-myself" attitude when it came to just about everything, your quick, steady feet, the way you know exactly what you want and how you want it, and how you seemed so much older than the other girls in the nursery.  We, of course, would just laugh and say, "Sounds about right!"  I remember when you were a day old dealing with a screaming baby because the milk didn't come out as fast as you wanted.  The nurse came in and tricked you with one drop of formula to make you think it was my milk, and away you went sucking and all was well.  The lactation consultant told us the next morning we saw a glimpse of a little girl who knows what she wants and when she wants it, and I'd say she was right on the money! :)  All that to say, you make us laugh everyday and constantly shock us with all you seem to "know" about life in your short 17 months of life so far. 

Things we love about YOU our sweet Zaylee Jean:

•  If you see someone cry, get hurt, look frustrated, or see a picture in one of your books with a sad baby in it, you feel for them and often get tears in your eyes and a deeply concerned, sad look on your sweet little face.  We have to reassure you over and over that, whatever the case may be, all is well or "c'est pas grave" as we say here in France.  You are full of compassion and it is extremely endearing for me to see as your mother!
• You are one tough little girl.  You fall a LOT as you are always running around the yard, picking up things that are too heavy for your little body to carry, always trying to do things that require adult assistance, and taking risks without fear.  You don't dry, unless it is REALLY bad, and it always amazes us.  You can have blood running down your leg, and you are more concerned with the blood and pointing at the "owah" (as you say) then actually crying from the pain that accompanies the scrape.  Most of the time, we don't even realize there is blood until we spot it on one of our shirts (not my favorite!).   I guess this comes from dad always rough housing with you, and the fact that we don't pay much mind unless you hit your head or you let out a real scream.  
  
• You find it hilarious when Dad and I sing together.   We have always sang to you, but lately if we sing a song together, you start laughing and find it so amusing.  It has no effect if we sing separately, but if we chime in while the other is singing you can't handle it :) 
• Dancing is becoming much more entertaining for us to watch these days.  I like to refer to you as Elaine from Seinfeld as you tend to be a bit all over the place with your body movements, and have even flipped your self over a time or two while feeling the beat a bit to literally.  It is hysterical.  Aunt Anna is your favorite dance buddy, and the two of you are full of amazing moves of all kinds.  You have always loved music, and for this I am glad!  
• You love throwing things in the garbage, and we appreciate this very much.  This will prove to come in handy once your little brother arrives!  
• You can sit and read books with Mamie for much longer than I have ever been able to hold your attention.  It is the sweetest thing watching you huddle together on the couch while listening to the exciting shrieks come from you, as you point to the pictures and get fully involved in whatever it is Mamie is saying! 

  

  You still love finding a good spot to sit! :)

• You have the best curls, and I can only hope they stay that way!  At times they are completely out of control, and we love them all the more. 
• Every time  you see or walk past a car or motorcycle you let out the cutest, "Vroom!" sound.  We still aren't sure where you learned that, but it's adorable.  
• You love all things grain.  Couscous, quinoa, cracked wheat, rice, ect.  This makes your father very proud, along with your love for fish and pretty much every type of meat!  If we have chorizo pizza, you pick off each piece of meat until there is none left for anyone else.   Any dish with lardon's in it, will quickly be without any lardon's in sight after your little fingers get to picking.  Learning your eating habits has taken awhile, but we are getting there and you are growing, although still our little peanut at just about 20lbs! 
• When we pray, you think we are all closing our eyes for you.  You sit there with this silly grin on your face clenching onto dad's or my arm, as if waiting for us to all open our eyes and say "boo!" simultaneously.  It's hilarious.  
• You have started to play shy.  If you are doing something and we all look your way, you fuss and turn away from us as if to say, "stop looking at me!"  We can't look at you when you are trying to do something, otherwise you have a little meltdown until we look away and let you continue on with your task.  
• You are independent, but also know when to ask for help.  I will never grow tired of you putting our your hand to me, and wanting me to come along with you on your little adventures.  
  
• Kisses are so very special to me, and you save them for me and daddy always.  When we ask, you always give and we love it.  You only kiss us on the lips, and every one else gets a sweet cheek graze with a "muwah" sound on occasion.  
• If you have something in your hand you don't want you say over and over, "Mom, mom, mom," while handing me whatever it is you have in your hand!  And when you are in your carseat with you Nuk and Bunny (both you call Mawney and we aren't sure why!?), and decide you want milk or a snack, you are adamant to first hand me both your lovie's before you will take the milk cup! :)  You have very specific OCD like tendencies my dear!  
• At random moments, you will stop what you are doing outside and lay down in the grass and just smile, sometimes even let out your fake giggle, while looking up at the sky.  It is the sweetest thing.  
  
• You love picking flowers, and Mamie has taught you to always bring me one, even if it is just a pretty weed!  
• You get extremely frustrated if you can't do something the way you want the first time.  I am trying to teach you to try again and be patient, but sadly my darling I'm afraid you may have received that trait from me!  It is entertaining for us to watch, but we hope you will grow to learn that its ok to try things a few times before it works the way you imagined, and sometimes it might not work out at all! 
  
• You no longer sit in a high chair, but rather a big girl seat at the table, and refuse to be fed by any hands but your own!  Since you were six months old or so, your dad has given you drinks from a big cup, and you love holding a cup with your own little hands while gulping down some water.  It is quite impressive to watch, and absolutely adorable!
• You love the dirt, but hate being dirty.  You tend to freak out a bit when you notice something on you whether it be grass, food, dirt, or something unknown to us all! :) 

  

  Pointing to the dirt on your knee!

• Along with dancing, you love to sing.  As of lately, your favorite song is "Bateau sur l'eau" and you are known for randomly singing out over and over, "bateau....bateau!"  

•  You have the fake laugh down, and constantly make us laugh when you pull it out of no where.  Mamie Suzanne thinks it is hilarious, and I love watching you two laugh together!  

Well, I could go on and on and on about how much you fill us with joy, but I will stop there for now!  Just know, little love, that you are well loved by so many and bless us all with your vibrant self.  Love you through and through!

Potty Time!

The last two weeks, you have been very interested in the potty.  Dad and I are always amazed by how much you actually understand, and you are constantly proving to know much more than we give you credit for!  Three times now you have pulled at your pants and walked towards the bathroom pointing and asking to go in.  We follow your lead and put you on the toilet where you push and grunt and usually let out some gas, but haven't down anything of any substance.  You are young, so we aren't trying to potty train you by any means, just letting  you know that is where you go when the time comes.  I haven't read anything on potty training, but Grandma D says between 20-24 months is the prime time to train.  Your little brother is coming right at 20 months, so I am thinking that may be a shock to your system so the thought of starting before that worries me as you may backslide with all the new adjustments.  Although, you seem pretty eager to take part in this and truly seem to understand.  Mamie Jeannie always gets you a little something when she goes to the store, and last week she brought home a training potty.  All the kids in France seem to have one around the house, and she feels its a good way to get you acquainted with it and feel comfortable with the potty.  I would have to say, she is definitely on to something!  You love your potty and carry it around everywhere with you, taking little rest stops to sit and chat with us along your merry way.  Yesterday you were sitting in the living room, and Uncle Marc, Daddy and I started saying, "Zaylee push that poopy out.  That's your potty chair, push it out!"  And sure enough you DID IT!!!  You pooped on your potty!  You had your diaper on of course, but you understood and you did it with such pride.  When you were finished you stood up and pointed at your diaper, and we all applauded you and said how proud we were of you.  It was a fun moment that we didn't expect to happen (and even caught on camera!!!), and aren't completely naive to think it will happen again anytime soon, but fun nonetheless.  In your own time, it will happen, and we will just continue to explain and explore and let you discover it for yourself!  Love you sweet girl, and am so happy to be your Mama!! 

Zaylee says....

A few days ago, we were out shopping for a new car seat for you and you decided you wanted to be cute and cooperate for me in front of the camera.  The usual scenario consists of you being super cute and funny one minute, and the second you see the camera you shy away and I miss out on the moment, both for the camera's sake and my own in the real-time-moment!  Yesterday, dad kindly asked me to put the camera down and said, "Just be here!"  I guess it is true, but sometimes I just want to be able to show you and tell you all about the special moments and hold on to the memories through snippets of time saved in a frame.  All that to say, here is a little shot of you saying a few of your words.

You are saying more words everyday and it is so fun to see you learn and want to mimic everything we say!  When we sing with you now, you even make up sounds to sing along with us.  It is the sweetest thing.

Sidenote:  While we were out shopping, I learned something about store etiquette, or rather expectation, here in France.  The store employees are not very fond of little, curious, fast, one year old's running around wanting to touch everything they see, even if it is a BABY store.  We were followed by a few women, but we kindly said sorry and I scooped you up and quickly took note not to let you down again.  Thankfully the woman helping us was very kind, and thought you were sweet and didn't mind your curiosity.  We found you a good, solid seat and feel much more confident driving you around now.  It was more of an investment then planned, but this way we will have it for your future brothers and sisters when we come back for visits after we return to the states, and for cousins down the road!

Our Family Hikes

Growing up, I always wanted to believe I was adventurous and daring, but as I have grown up I realize more and more that I am actually kind of a wimp and a bit fearful of new things.  I think a lot of the "fear" comes more from my hate for being bad at things, and therefore I don't like trying something in front of others unless I know I will be at least decent at whatever it may be.  This obviously takes the adventurous out of the adventure, clearly showing I am not adventurous after all.  I do however like being active, and always enjoyed playing sports that weren't organized but more about just having fun and sometimes included knocking people over.  (Ask me about Aussie ball and Milk Jug Lacrosse when you are older and I will tell you my stories!)  I like comfort and familiarity, but moving across the ocean to a town I have only known for a total of 20 days before I called it my "home" has changed any form of that other than the family that surrounds me.  I have to say it's my biggest adventure in life so far, and in our first month it has proved to be so very wonderful and full of exciting new things.

Hiking is something I have found I really enjoy, especially living in the beautiful French Alps.  This past week we have gone on two hikes as a family, and you my dear girl, seem to like it too!  It is extremely HOT here right now, but as we go higher up the mountain the air gets cooler and we are hidden from the scorching sun under a beautiful canopy of trees easing the heat enough to enjoy the outdoors!  On our first hike, I tried to put you in our faux ergo backpack style, and quickly realized I am not superwoman after making it up the steepest part of the hike with you on my back and nearly 27 weeks pregnant to boot!  Your dad  (as he had before we started but my stubborn wannabe superwoman self resisted) insisted he take you for the rest of the walk.  You weren't a fan of the backpack anyway, so on his shoulders you gleefully rode as we walked our way up to a 1,000 year old castle that is half crumbled to the ground, but still shows all its original beauty.  Chateau de Montfort is right behind our house here in Crolles, and was a simple hike to get us acquainted with what to expect with you, little love, along for the ride.  It was hot, and wiped us all out for an afternoon nap, but something we all enjoyed and vowed to make a weekly event throughout the summer.  Our hope is to find different local spots and explore as much as we can together, before dad lands a job and leaves us to make a living for us.  Have I mentioned he is the best? :)

Yesterday we headed out about 10-15 minutes down the road to Cascade d'Alloix, a waterfall with a crystal clear stream making its way down the mountain and creating countless little play areas for you to cool off in the water along the hike.  It was beautiful and a pretty easy hike, but having you on your dad's shoulder made me a bit less than calm at moments.  I prayed out loud a few times as we made our way up, up, up with only about two feet, if that, to walk before falling off the edge.  He did at least take you off his shoulders for the steep climbing portions of the hike!  Dad kept assuring me he was fine and not to forget that I too was carrying his child.  I did have to think about my steps a few times as I wasn't trusting my own balance, but we survived and now I know not to worry for next time!  I will, however, always walk IN FRONT of you and your father so that I don't have to watch  and worry all the more :)  We hiked up about 30 minutes, but only made it to the first, smaller of the two, waterfalls.  You were over due for sleep and wore your self out jumping and splashing in the water.  We stopped many times to enjoy the refreshing cold water, and we were amazed how you had no fear just jumping in and walking around the rocks.  We spent about two hours there, and made a pact to go back at least a few more times before summer ends, if not once a week.  It is the perfect spot to go for an afternoon picnic and refresher in this hot weather. 

Somehow we managed to let  you sneak your bunny our of the car, and due to it being nap time we couldn't hide it towards the end of the hike.  You are kind of spoiled my love! :)

I'm excited for all the possibilities of the future, and feel confident following the Lord's leading where ever that may be.  At this time, I'm so happy to be where we are and am anxious to see all the He has planned to show us and teach us through this adventure and journey in our young families life.

P.S. We need a new camera.  Correction we have needed a new camera for some time now, but well we don't do so well with spending money on things (other than for entertainment), so I'm sure someday we will get one! :)  The quality isn't what matters though Zaylee girl, right?  Right!

French for Life (warning: random, run-on thoughts!)

On our wedding day, Aunt Jenny sang us a song she wrote entitled, "French for Life".  It is arguably her best song yet (I'm biased!), and everyone had the catchy tune in their head for weeks after our special day!  Dad has lived in the states now for nearly 11 years, but still very much appreciates his roots in Grenoble.  It is where he learned all about life, and where he considers home to be.  After all he is French for life, and now so is his wife (me!).  One thing I have always appreciated about your dad is the time he takes to help me understand things, whether it be something silly or something as complex as family dynamics other than my own.  It has been such a blessing to learn from him about your Tabailloux side, and has given me such a strong relationship with each of your Aunts and Uncles, and especially your Mamie and Papi, thanks to your Dad's thoughtful consideration of "letting me in" to all the inner workings.  It's easy to just think every family is like your own and get hurt, confused, lost when you realize in fact that is not the case at all.  Dad makes sure that doesn't happen.  You will understand some day, just how wonderful your dad truly is and all the times I have said it will all make sense in your mind when you grow to know it for yourself.  What I am really trying to say is, France is home to your father, and now it is home to us for this time in our life, and I plan to take full advantage of this opportunity to get acquainted with the area in which your dad was raised and build deeper relationships with the family that surrounds us.  We are excited to see what this year has in store for us, and I couldn't be happier to be spending it in your father's home town with you sweet girl by my side.

People say a lot of negative things about the French, and as much as some of those things may be true, I refuse to listen to any of them and instead enjoy each minute we are here and learn things on my own.  I have already soaked in a lot of knowledge on giving birth here in France from all the young moms I have met in my short three weeks here, and feel a bit more prepared and educated on what to expect and how to deal with certain things that may or may not happen in my stay at the hospital.   I had been reading a "French Mama" site started by an American woman who moved to France, got pregnant, had a baby, and is now raising her children in the south.  Seemed perfect and fitting for my current situation, but as much as it is a fun read, I have already found by talking to real women, in the flesh, from their own experiences here in Grenoble, that not every bit of information I had gathered from this one woman's experience holds true to the practices here in this area of France.  Just as in the states, France has many different regions, many different sub-cultures, and just different ways of life all together depending on where it is you live.  From this point on, I will listen and learn from the relationships I build and will do my best to form my own opinions on situation I am faced with.

So far all have been great experiences and filled with kind people that reach out to the silly American that can't put a full sentence in French together :)  Even a sweet old man in the store that couldn't take his eyes off you, after I politely told him in my shaky French that I didn't understand what he was saying, spoke a few words in English to tell you that you were a pretty little girl with a beautiful smile.  It made my day!  You seem to make everyone smile here, just as you did at home, when we are out shopping.  We are working on getting you to say "bonjour", but for now you continue to say, quite loudly and on repeat, "Hi, Hi, HI, HIII!!!" to all those that we pass by.  You make life so much fun sweet girl!  We feel honored that we get to be your parents.

It's been a great first three weeks here in Crolles.  Other than Marc being home the first two weeks, we have had the house to ourselves.  It has been great to be able to settle in with no real agenda or plan, and has made for good times as just our family of three.  We are soaking in this time with dad before he goes back to work, and we are loving it.  He has been getting up with you every morning and allowing me to take my time to get out of bed.  It has been absolutely wonderful!! :)  Our mornings are lazy, and it is perfect that way.  Since arriving in France, we have transitioned you to one long nap a day, which has been good and sufficient most days.  On occasion, you still need a second, but you are getting used to the new routine.  You sleep in every morning until between 8-9, and that is with your shutters open, as we don't want you to get thrown off by the darkness having them closed.  We all seem to sleep well here, and we are so thankful for that fact.  The first thing you want to do when you wake up is open the curtains to look at the mountains.  You point and exclaim, "oohhhhh!" and when you spot a Para-glider you wave frantically while yelling, "HIII!"  It is the cutest thing.

We spend most of our time outside watching you dig with your little red shovel, transferring rocks from one bucket to the next while dad and I play Rummikub on the front porch.  You are having so much fun here with so much room to roam and explore.  Mamie Suzanne joked yesterday that I will never have the chance to get fat, as you will never let me stop moving with all your energy.  She loves having you over, and you seem to adore her, giving her plenty of snuggles and kisses.  It has been so nice spending time with family with out the rush of only being here for a week or two at a time.  Everyone is so patient with me, and makes sure I am included in the conversation.  They all try to speak bits of English with me, and always teach me new words in French.  It's a lot of fun, and I'm eager to learn more!  We've had a few family dinners with the cousins, and have enjoyed our time with each of them.  You are particularly fond of Aunt Christine, Amandine, Jacqueline (Mamie Suzanne's niece and sister-in-law, ha!), and persuade them to take you out places when I don't feel like moving :)  Andre (Papi Marcel's brother) refers to you as the queen, and finds it amusing how you can steal everyone's attention and get them to follow you.  He is very sweet and makes me wish I had known your Great-grandfather.  Along with family time, we have made our first friend here in France, Annalou.  The two of you play well together in the dirt and rocks, and yesterday we even had a little playdate at her house where you two played for hours in the kiddie pool splashing and laughing uncontrollably.  It was so fun to watch you two together.

Life has been so good these past few weeks, and we are getting used to the way of life here.  We have shopped at every store to compare food prices and quality, and have had fun figuring out things I (the picky one) will enjoy.  It's no surprise, but you my dear girl LOVE chocolate croissants.  You always eat a full one, and aren't a fan of sharing.  I don't blame you though, they are incredibly delicious.  I on the other hand, have been craving cheeses that I normally wouldn't be a fan of, but always make sure they are at least pasteurized.  Your brother must know we are in France :)  There is a bakery a few towns over that makes a delicious goat cheese quiche, and it is SO good and always on my mind.  Since my second trimester began with your brother, I have been craving salads and fruits which is a good thing since we eat a salad at every meal here.  Mamie taught me how to make the perfect mustard vinaigrette, and I always have fun making it.  It's tricky here when it comes to shopping as I am a last minute shopper a lot of the time, and all the stores close by 7:30 and aren't open on Sundays.  Also, you have to bring your own bags as they don't have bags for you, unless you want to pay for each one, and in order to get a cart you have to have a 50 cent coin or a Euro to release it from the rest of the carts.  You do get it back when you return the cart, but it is still something we often forget!  Most businesses close every day from noon to 1:30 for lunch, and bakery's are closed on Monday's and some on Thursday's as well.  Life moves to a different beat here, and I have to say so far I like it.  Things seem much simpler here, and people seem to embrace life more.  Families are always outside, eating, playing games, and just enjoying life other than being inside in the air conditioning neglecting the beauty that surrounds them.  It may be the fact that there is no air conditioning here, but I like to think it's because they look at the importance of the small things a bit more.

Zaylee girl, I am so excited for this time in our lives, and pray we be richly blessed by this experience in every way possible.  You seem to be loving it so far, and I pray that you continue to enjoy yourself and learn and grow from all that is being taken in around you.