Perfect Moment Monday: big boy

M. Sensible, now almost 4 years old, sometimes doesn't seem to want to be a big boy. It probably has to do with having a little brother around and the feeling that the baby gets more cuddles and attention than he does. It took him forever to want to drink his morning chocolate milk from a mug instead of a bottle (he finally agreed when I bought him a special mug that said "chocolate" on the side and he can choose which color straw to use). He even wanted to sleep in a baby sleep sack one time (it still fit, although really snugly and after that one nap he never asked for it again, so it must not have been too comfortable). His most persistent trick to get mommy's attention regression - that started about two months ago, around the time M. Gourmand learned to walk - is to flat-out refuse to go to the toilet when we ask him to and to wet his pants numerous times a day (only with us, not at preschool). So I'm trying not to let my frustration show, just change him into something clean, do laundry non-stop, and praise him for everything he does well in order to try to change this behavior (not much luck so far though).
Another thing he refused was trying to bike without his training wheels. He already was a pro on his balance bike (without pedals) and on the other one the training wheels seemed to get in the way (he sometimes almost tipped over because of them) but any suggestion to remove them was returned with a "no". But then, two weeks ago, we went to the park and there was a classmate from preschool, riding his bike without training wheels! M. Sensible wanted to try, and once he figured out that he needed to keep pedaling if he didn't want to fall, he took up speed and made one turn around the park after the other. Hubby and I took turns running next to / behind him and both cheered and cheered. The look of pride and freedom on his face was priceless. A true perfect moment for both him and me.

A few days later we took his own bike out of the shed. He initially refused to let us take off the training wheels, but after one round he came back to us and asked if we could please take them off. The bike is still a bit big, so getting on and off it by himself is still a challenge, but once he's gotten the little push he's off like a rocket. Even M. Gourmand is impressed and applauds him from his stroller. M. Sensible is still beaming with pride and tells everyone he meets that he can now ride his bike without the training wheels, just like a big boy!
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Perfect Moment Monday is hosted by Lori at Lavenderluz.com. It is about noticing a perfect moment rather than creating one. Perfect moments can be momentous or ordinary or somewhere in between.

On the last Monday of each month we engage in mindfulness about something that is right with our world. Everyone is welcome to join.

Perfect Moment Monday: on the bike

Spring is cautiously starting here and I 'm taking advantage of the milder temperatures to bring the kids to school/sitter by bike again (to see what that looks like, go here - and then add a few centimeters and kilos for both kids).

One day during the recent school holidays I had to work, so M. Sensible was at day camp and M. Gourmand at the sitter. It was around 5 pm and I had just picked up M. Gourmand and we were on our way to pick up M. Sensible. I had made a bit of a judgement error with regard to the route to take, so instead of being on one of the quiet streets, we were biking on the main road through the area, which at that time of day is very busy with traffic.

disclaimer: I did not take this picture while cycling on the busy road,
but took it a few days later when he repeated the gesture on our way to the sitter
(and yes, I had come to a full stop when taking the shot).

Suddenly M. Gourmand's left hand shifted a bit towards my hand on the handlebar and he wrapped his fingers around one of mine. "Just like when he was a newborn" I thought and this feeling of utter happiness came over me. I gave him a kiss on his helmet as we cycled on, safe in our own little cocoon on the busy street. Our Perfect Moment.

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Perfect Moment Monday is hosted by Lori at Lavenderluz.com. It is about noticing a perfect moment rather than creating one. Perfect moments can be momentous or ordinary or somewhere in between.

On the last Monday of each month we engage in mindfulness about something that is right with our world. Everyone is welcome to join.

Perfect Moment Monday (on Tuesday): mission impossible

If you've been reading my two most recent Winter Shed posts, you know that the last few weeks have been absolutely crazy work-wise. Last week Monday I had to start a project that was way too big, with a deadline way too close - a real mission impossible. I had a commitment to the client, so I jumped and started swimming, but I had no idea if I would reach the shore or drown.

Two days later, at the end of a long workday (allowed by my dad and his girlfriend who took care of M. Sensible all day and picked up M. Gourmand from the sitter at 5 pm), I knew that I would reach the shore, and that it would be in time (luckily the deadline had been extended too). Suddenly the utter chaos that marked this project in the beginning was gone, and despite still having a lot of work, it had become manageable, and from that point on was even enjoyable. As I closed my laptop and gathered my stuff to go home, I was happy. It was a small perfect moment, and I'm glad I noticed it.

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Perfect Moment Monday is hosted by Lori at Lavenderluz.com. It is about noticing a perfect moment rather than creating one. Perfect moments can be momentous or ordinary or somewhere in between.

On the last Monday of each month we engage in mindfulness about something that is right with our world. Everyone is welcome to join.

Perfect Moment Monday: Baristas

My husband likes a good coffee. A very good coffee. He has a kick-ass espresso machine, a grinder, and even a coffee roaster (and green beans), because, of course, fresh roasted coffee is the best. He will not walk into a Starbucks for a coffee. Because ever since they changed from real espresso machines to the full-automatic ones and their personnel are no longer fully trained baristas, but just people who can push a button and burn the milk (his words). He does however miss the great coffee shop with real baristas (who would win barista championships) that we had in the US city where we used to live. He finds the coffee in most French cafés and restaurants too bitter...

At home, he used to be alone in his coffee passion. I like to drink tea...

But since about a year and a half, he has found a new partner in crime: our 3.5 year old son is being trained to be the new barista world champion (and truth be told, if hubby is not around and someone would come over and would like a coffee, I think my son would make a better cup than me!).

The coffee-making usually only happens on the weekends, and the Perfect Moment came to me on a recent Sunday. I had just put our youngest son down for his morning nap and was in the bathroom about to enjoy a long shower, when I heard my husband and son in the kitchen, preparing to make some coffee. Our son asked lots of (sometimes even technical) questions, and hubby explained everything patiently. It was such a joy to listen to these two guys, enjoying their weekend morning ritual of making a good cup of coffee together.

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Perfect Moment Monday is about noticing a perfect moment rather than creating one. Perfect moments can be momentous or ordinary or somewhere in between.

On the last Monday of each month we engage in mindfulness about something that is right with our world. Everyone is welcome to join.

Perfect Moment Monday - skiing with my son

Before Lori closes the list for the December 31st Perfect Moment Monday later today, here's my entry - still on a Monday, only two weeks too late...

I consulted the notes app on my phone to check which moment I'd choose to be my most perfect moment of the month (since last month I forgot what I actually wanted to write about and thus had to think of something else I decided I would make a note as soon as I'd notice a perfect moment). There were four moments I'd written down, all great, but the one I really want to write about I didn't note, but I didn't forget it either...

The first week of the Christmas break we went to the mountains for a week of skiing and other snow fun. I'd signed up our 3-year old for a 6-day initiation ski-class, every morning from 9:15 until 11:30. We had talked about it and he was excited, although he kept saying he wanted to go skiing with me. I explained that we could do that in the afternoons, but that he would have to learn how to ski from a real ski instructor. The first morning we were both nervous, the festive atmosphere of anticipation in the car and at the ski rental place quickly changed when he was signed in for class, was told to stand in line behind the other kids and realized that mommy and daddy were not going to stay. He started crying and screaming - I let the instructors deal with it first, but they quickly gave up and just left him standing, while taking the next kid in line. So I went in and tried to calm him down. Almost impossible. After about half an hour we left anyway, hoping he would calm down and join the other kids. So with heavy hearts we went for a coffee and came back about 45 minutes later, only to see that he had indeed calmed down, but had taken off his skis and was just playing by himself in the snow. The instructors only talked to him when we was throwing snow balls at them or the other kids... So cursing the instructors under my breath for not being a bit more persistent in trying to get him to join the others, plus not trying to give him some self confidence (once they'd signed him in they just told him to get in line. Not one of the instructors introduced him-/herself to the kids, nor did they explain to them what they were going to do), I stepped in again, got his skis on, and took him by the hand, up the little hill (on a sort of carpet), and then hands on the knees going down. It went OK, he smiled again, and was willing to do another round. The head instructor told me to get out. I did. Our son later started crying again because he wanted to take the little rope lift but he was not allowed. Luckily the class was over five minutes later...

I wondered if should cancel the ski class and just teach him myself, but I also remember that I never liked skiing lessons when I was a kid, but now I love skiing, so we probably just had to go through it. Luckily the rest of the week went much better (we also learned to just give him a big kiss and take off immediately, even though I would have loved to watch him in class, it was better not to stay) and he did learn the very first skiing basics. We went skiing together two afternoons - first I took him between my legs, holding him under his arms, but that was too easy for him: he would just hang in my arms and not stand on his skis at all... So we changed it to having him next to me and both holding on to one of my ski poles. This worked perfectly! Of course we only took very easy slopes, but even then we sometimes picked up a little speed. He would talk to me and it would go something like this (of course not in English, but in Dutch and/or French): "go faster mommy! Oh I'm scared! Yay that was fun! Hahaha! Again!". There are people who complain that when going on a ski vacation with young kids will not allow you to really ski yourself, so they try to get there kids in ski class + daycare at the ski resort. I don't judge that, I sneaked out one afternoon as well to go skiing with a friend while hubby watched the (napping) kids, but the giggles I heard next to me when skiing with my son were equally, if not more rewarding than a perfect adrenaline-filled downhill run. I feel blessed that I now have children I can share my love for skiing with and think back with fond memories of the times I went skiing with my dad (my mom was afraid of heights and stayed away from the slopes, she preferred cross country skiing). It was a true Perfect Moment of which I hope there will be a few more this winter and the years to come.

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Perfect Moment Monday is about noticing a perfect moment rather than creating one. Perfect moments can be momentous or ordinary or somewhere in between.

On the last Monday of each month we engage in mindfulness about something that is right with our world. Everyone is welcome to join.

Perfect Moment Monday - when all is quiet

Yay, I finally managed to write another PMM post! Not that I haven't experienced perfect moments in the past few months... I would have loved to write about our son's third birthday at the beach in Holland - or how after a week-long challenging camping trip in the very hot south of France, our baby started enthusiastically kicking his legs and gave me the biggest smile when we opened our front door and he realized we were back home - or our eldest son's first (pre-)school day, how he was almost running to school, that's how excited he was.

The following Perfect Moment is however not the Perfect Moment I intended to write about. Two days ago I remembered a moment and I thought that would be my November Perfect Moment. I should have made a note though. Because when I wanted to write about it yesterday, I had no idea what it was I wanted to write about anymore! I remembered another pretty perfect moment, but I wanted to write about the first one... so I didn't write one yesterday.

But then after I'd put our 3-year old to bed and sat in the semi-dark bedroom, hearing him softly getting comfortable under the covers, and watching the baby sleeping in his crib across from my chair, I knew that it didn't matter that I forgot the other moment, I had to write about this one.

This Perfect Moment I am experiencing every night, no matter if I've had a good or a bad day, if I'm tired (most of the time) or still full of energy (very very rarely these days). Even if I just (almost) lost my patience with all the things my son tried again that evening to delay bedtime - when I'm in that chair (which is very comfy btw), and all is quiet, and I look at my two sons - one asleep, curled up in his crib, the other one still rotating his lovey like a helicopter above his duvet before Mr Sandman takes over - I am filled with immense joy and gratitude, for these two boys, for being their mother. Sometimes I feel like staying there with them the entire night, just watching them sleep...


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On the 4th Monday of each month we engage in mindfulness about something that is right with our world. Everyone is welcome to join. Perfect Moment Monday is about noticing a perfect moment rather than creating one. Perfect moments can be momentous or ordinary or somewhere in between. What Perfect Moment have you recently been aware of? Visit Write Mind Open Heart and share your comment love.

Perfect Moment Monday - Mont Blanc

Is it still Monday somewhere in the world? Hawaii maybe? I do have a few excuses though for being late: we're on vacation so kids are with me 100% of the time; hubby left his laptop at home so he used mine in order to try to avert too much work crises (yep, hubby doesn't have much of a vacation...). His laptop arrived by courier yesterday evening, so now I can blog again while the baby sleeps and the toddler plays.

One of the things I absolutely love about the city we live in is that on a clear day you can see the alps from the edge of our neighborhood. It always puts a smile on my face and I feel lighter, as if I can't just see those beautiful snow-capped mountains, but also breathe in the fresh mountain air. This only happens a few days a year, and on even less occasions it is clear enough that you can also see the Mont Blanc, Europe's highest mountain.

A few weeks ago it was a bright and sunny day, but it felt a bit hazy. So you can imagine my surprise when I arrived at the lookout point and not only saw the mountain range but also the Mont Blanc. It wasn't super clear, and many people probably missed it that day, but the faint outline was definitely there.

Seeing the Mont Blanc from the city is always very special to me. People might say that it is difficult to know which one is the Mont Blanc if you have never seen it before. But it isn't. Hubby and I like to compare seeing the Mont Blanc to meeting your life partner. Even if you've never seen it / met him/her before, you know it the moment you do. If you're not sure, it's not the Mont Blanc.

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On the 4th Monday of each month we engage in mindfulness about something that is right with our world. Everyone is welcome to join. Perfect Moment Monday is about noticing a perfect moment rather than creating one. Perfect moments can be momentous or ordinary or somewhere in between. What Perfect Moment have you recently been aware of? Visit Write Mind Open Heart and share your comment love. 

Perfect Moment Monday - Rich

Another Perfect Moment about my children... 

After hitting publish on my previous post I realized I would have liked to add how extremely happy and grateful I am for my two boys, and that I don't take having them for granted at any moment.

We went back home to Holland over the Easter holiday (although there isn't really a home there anymore, my parents' condo is up for sale, my dad now lives more at his girlfriend's place and cleaned out a lot of stuff - we stayed there and had lots of room, but it felt cold and empty) - mainly so my two grandmothers would have a chance to see our youngest son and of course to see other family members and friends - and to stock up on all the Dutch goodies we love some much and can't get here in France (peanut butter, chocolate sprinkles, licorice, etc).

It was a full and busy week. The kids were often not in bed before 10 pm because of travel or dinner with friends, etc. The 11-hour drive back home was with a fully packed car (I even bought a new bike!) and even though the boys were champs, it was pretty tiring for everyone. So the next day we took it easy at home (except for hubby, who had to go to work again). When I'd put the toddler down for his afternoon nap, the baby and I went to sleep as well. An hour later the toddler came into our room, climbed into the big bed, snuggled up with me, and promptly fell asleep again. The baby stirred a bit in his co-sleeper, so I put a hand on his stomach to keep him calm and so he wouldn't fully wake up. I suddenly felt so incredibly rich with my two boys at my side, sound asleep in the comfort of their mommy's presence. I didn't mind at all that I was now wide awake, I was so happy. I savored that moment, nothing else mattered.

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On the 4th Monday of each month we engage in mindfulness about something that is right with our world. Everyone is welcome to join. Perfect Moment Monday is about noticing a perfect moment rather than creating one. Perfect moments can be momentous or ordinary or somewhere in between. What Perfect Moment have you recently been aware of? Visit Write Mind Open Heart and share your comment love. The next Perfect Moment Monday event will be on May 28.

Perfect Moment Monday - bedtime

Evenings in our household have become quite a challenge lately as our toddler has decided it is the best moment to get some alone time with mommy and daddy. Usually around dinner time the baby's witching hour will start. So often I nurse while eating (and trying not to spill anything on him) and urging our toddler to eat something too - which if it's not lasagna, risotto, sausages or french fries is more or less impossible. Then when dinner is done, it's time to prepare the toddler for bed (while the baby is still/again screaming). Hubby (when he's not away for business) usually takes charge of getting him into his PJs, brushing his teeth etc. but I have to do story time. At that point he will have told us at least five times already that he doesn't want to go to bed - "Je veux pas dormir mamam" has become his new mantra.

Once we've read one or two stories, I have to sing him a song, at least twice. Then he wants me to remain seated on the sofa next to his bed. When I get up after five minutes and leave the room, he will either start crying or get out of bed too. This is repeated several times… (and I've tried different techniques and they don't make much difference, the only thing is that if I get angry, he just laughs at me) and usually it takes an hour before he finally goes to sleep [I assume this is just a phase and is all due to the arrival of the baby, before that the toddler's bedtime routine was very easy].

Then I have to put the baby to bed, which compared to the routine described  above, is quite simple - change diaper, put him in PJs (usually that's already done), nurse, burp, swaddle, put him down in co-sleeper.

One day last week I was dead tired, had lost patience a few times with the toddler, before he had finally given in and went to sleep, and I was craving a little me-time before I would crash and go to sleep myself. The baby, whom I'd put down already, was crying, so I went to our bedroom to give him back his pacifier. I wanted to leave the room again, but he spit the paci out, looked at me (the way only babies can) and started 'talking'. It was just the two of us, the craziness of the previous hours gone and he completely calmed me down. After a few minutes he just closed his eyes and went to sleep.

Despite my fatigue I went to bed smiling that evening. It was my Perfect Moment.

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On the 4th Monday of each month we engage in mindfulness about something that is right with our world. Everyone is welcome to join. Perfect Moment Monday is about noticing a perfect moment rather than creating one. Perfect moments can be momentous or ordinary or somewhere in between. What Perfect Moment have you recently been aware of? Visit Write Mind Open Heart and share your comment love. The next Perfect Moment Monday event will be on April 23.

Perfect Moment Monday - Kisses

I've been a bad blogger lately, even a worse commenter. Life has been taken up by baby, sleep (or lack thereof) and to-do lists getting longer. But I want to look into PAIL, keep being part of the Thoughtful Thursday Intelligentsia, get inspiration for a limerick to enter the Limerick Chick Contest before it's too late (only two days to go, jikes!), and of course continue my 2012 resolution of partaking in Perfect Moment Monday.

This weekend we drove to the mountains to meet up with a woman who was my BFF from kindergarten through elementary school. Then our lives took different turns and we last saw each other about 16 years ago. Last year we connected again through FB and when she said she would be 'only' 2.5 hr drive away for a short skiing holiday this weekend, we decided to meet up. It would also be a nice opportunity to give our toddler a bit fun in the snow.

That opportunity came on Sunday morning, when I put the toddler and myself on skis and did two runs on the baby lift with him. Of course there was hardly any control on his side - hanging in his mother's arms instead of standing on his feet, especially in the lift - but he did enjoy the speed. Then hubby took him for two runs on the sled, and then he'd had enough. I was ready for a break too as pulling toddler up while trying not to fall out of the lift is quite some work!

I picked my son up, asked if he had enjoyed it. He nodded and then showered me with kisses. A perfect moment, which made the whole trip worthwhile.

What Perfect Moment have you recently been aware of? Visit Write Mind Open Heart and share your comment love.

Perfect Moment Monday - hey mommy

The moment when he opened his eyes and looked at me like "hey, I know that voice, that's my mommy". In love for the rest of my life.

Our second son and little FET miracle, born today at 14:54 (2:54 pm) CET. Birth story to follow soon.