So You Think You Can Dance

Spencer doesn't need any music to get his groove on. He dances to his own beat and makes up his own songs as he grooves along. We'll be waiting when Apple comes calling to cast their next Ipod commercial. Just remember you saw the magic here first.

Batter Up

With Spencer on the mend, we headed out to the backyard today to play ball. Spencer gamely stood holding the foam bat as I tossed the ball his direction. Thunk. The ball bounced off the bat. "Swing," I said. "Remember to watch the ball." His will is strong; his coordination however needs work. Again and again we tried, his enthusiasm never flagging. The foam bat grew heavy in his little hands. We switched to catch. "Hurray, I caught it," he exclaimed. When Daddy came home, Spencer was ready to play some more. Daddy had the bright idea of being a human tee, balancing the ball on his outstretched fist for Spencer to hit. Spencer swung, hitting Daddy in the arm a few times before managing to connect. Today our backyard. Next stop, Dodger Stadium?

There Were Three in the Bed

And the little one says, "My throat hurts." So they all rolled over and tried to go back to sleep. When we did wake up this morning, Spencer sounded like he'd been a pack a day smoker since birth. His voice grew more and more faint as the day progressed. I had to resort to borrowing a bunch of children's videos (Mr. Roger's Neighborhood, Wallace & Gromit, Sesame Street) from the library in a semi-successful attempt to entice him to rest his vocal cords. At least he's no longer feverish. He drifted right to sleep tonight and hopefully will awake tomorrow renewed and feeling much, much better.

In Sickness

The bambino awoke coughing this morning at 5:15am. When a drink of water didn't stop the coughs from coming, he seemed confused and upset. Spencer kept asking, teary-eyed, for help to make them go away, as if the coughs would disappear momentarily with the appearance of his mommy and daddy. It's heartbreaking as a parent not to be able to magically make the situation all better, to be a healing, omnipotent presence in your child's life. The reality was that all we could offer was comfort now that cold medication has been declared off limits for the very young. It probably would not have done much any way; we avoid it even for ourselves.

All day long Spencer has been lethargic, slightly feverish, crying periodically whenever he coughs which is only every half hour or so. There's such a difference in mood when he's not feeling well. He just wants to be close to me and have his back rubbed. We all want our mothers when we're sick.

At the Car Wash

Spencer and Daddy washed both our cars today. It's a toss-up what Spencer enjoyed most: spraying the cars with water, sudsing the outside or drying the exterior with towels. He had so much fun that we may skip the expensive neighborhood car wash altogether and wash our cars at home from now on. Thanks Spencer!

Mother's Day

We celebrated Mother's Day with Nana, Aunt Bobbi and Ika at Pinot Provence in Orange County. I sipped mango mimosa and devoured my eggs Benedict. Believe it or not, Spencer is "smiling" for the camera!

Old MacDonald had a Farm

Forty miles north of Los Angeles lies Underwood Family Farms, our destination for the day. We went to learn about how the farm works and to pick our own strawberries. The road trip took much less time than I anticipated meaning for once we arrived early. While we waited for the tour to begin, Spencer fearlessly climbed to the top of a tall stack of hay bales. When it was time for our tour, he listened patiently for about ten minutes to the description of the life cycle of fruits and vegetables before becoming interested in climbing atop the benches in the outdoor classroom.



At last it was time for the ride out to the strawberry fields. A tractor pulled our wagon along. Spencer enthusiastically picked the red strawberries from the plants, quickly filling his basket. The strawberries were the freshest and most flavorful I had ever tasted. There is something very satisfying about gathering your own food. It made me wish I had the patience to grow my own. Perhaps one day I will, starting with something small like an herb garden.

After a picnic lunch, we watched a presentation about the animals on the farm. Spencer loved petting the baby bunny and laughed delightedly at the lambs who jumped and ran around in circles. We skipped the last of the presentation and went to feed the goats through a long tube. Spencer's favorite experience may have been watching water from an elevated water tower running down descending gutters to a trough at Spencer's height. He dipped his hands in the water. When I finally was able to tear him away, we headed home with our prized strawberries, happy with our memories of our visit to the farm.

Spencer Spencer Quite Contrary

No matter what it is these days, Spencer wants to do it himself or doesn't want to do it at all, at least not for the first five minutes. Today for instance, he absolutely wanted to climb down the stairs and open the garage door himself. He did not, however, want to go to the park. Except that he really did want to go to the park. At nap time, he was not tired. He insisted that he was wide awake. When I explained that it was time to rest, he protested but still went down in the crib and ended up dozing for three hours. It's hard to know what you want when you're two.

Birthday Hugs

Yesterday was Mike's birthday. Spencer bestowed Daddy with birthday hugs through out the day. Mike's birthday wish was an afternoon outing to "Iron Man." When Spencer awoke from his nap to discover that Daddy was not home, he sulked in his crib for five minutes or so before he was ready to play once again. When Mike returned home, he brought with him lemon meringue pie, the very same pie Amelia Bedelia makes to save the day. You can guess Spencer's reaction. "More lemon meringue" became the refrain of the evening.

Amelia Bedelia

Curious George may have a rival for Spencer's affections, namely Amelia Bedelia. I bought Amelia Bedelia as a last minute book to read Spencer on the plane. At first, he seemed not to grasp the humor of the story but as we explained how silly the character was acting by taking everything so literally, he quickly began to ask to hear the story over and over. Today we picked out two more Amelia Bedelia stories from the library. A new passion may be in the making.

Jet Lag-o-rama

The lack of sleep is beginning to catch up with our bambino. This morning at Emerson, Spencer fell asleep while on the playground, standing up no less. One of the teachers noticed that he was crying which she remarked was unusual for him since he loves playing outside. She sat on a bench with Spencer leaning back against her knees. Eventually, his head dropped forward and she realized that he had fallen asleep. That's the position in which I discovered him when I came outside. I gingerly carried him to the car but he awoke while I was strapping him into the car seat. Considering how tired he was, I thought he would go straight back to sleep but he stayed awake for the entire car ride home and ended up napping for only 45 minutes once in his crib. Anna and Damian invited us over for dinner tonight. Then it was time to head home for bath and bed. Sleep well my prince!

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggedy Jig

We're all exhausted but happy to be sleeping in our own beds at last. Now if only Spencer would sleep past 5am. . .

Adventures at Charles de Gaulle

(Tuesday and Wednesday, April 29 and 30) - Our return to Paris was an adventure. After successfully retrieving our luggage in Rouen, Mike dropped me off at the train station where I quickly bought a ticket and ran to catch my train. I spent the next four hours on a train, the metro, the RER and waiting 45 minutes for a shuttle to our hotel. Luckily I had brought along The Kite Runner to read during my long journey. Mike, Spencer, Grandma and Grandpa drove the rental car through pouring rain back to our airport hotel. We read This is Paris one last time to Spencer before bed.

The next morning, we ate our last European buffet breakfast before heading to the airport. The folks at Air Canada were kind enough to spare us the long ticketing line and expedite our check-in because we were traveling with a toddler. Before we could get to our gate, part of the airport was closed off in order to explode an unattended package. The flight to Toronto was fairly uneventful. No screens in the seat backs but Spencer had Grandma and Grandpa and new toys to entertain him. He fell asleep the moment the plane started rolling away from the gate on our flight to Los Angeles and slept the whole way home.

Bayeux Part Deux

One of the highlights of our visit to Normandy was our stay at le Manoir d'Herouville, a charming 18th century stone manorhouse located southwest of Bayeux. Our spacious rooms included throughly modern amenities such as terry robes and comfortable four-poster beds with down comforters and exquisite bathrooms with deep-soaking tubs, towel-heaters and glass-enclosed showers. The delightful owners, two sisters and their husbands, prepared the most delicious breakfasts for us each morning and even gave us a tour of the property. They were extremely welcoming and thoughtful towards Spencer laying out a duvet in his port-a-crib and providing us with a baby monitor in the evening so we could read downstairs by the fire. We wished we could have stayed even longer.


Ozzy, who hails from Austrailia, is one of the fixtures of the property. We'd never seen a rooster quite like him. His feet even have feathers. Ozzy is rather bold, coming right up to us and attempting to peck our shoes. He seems captivated with his reflection in the photo above.


Over Grandma's shoulder, take a look at the working water wheel in the town center of Bayeux.

Have you ever seen a brochette presented like this?

Mont St Michel

(Monday, April 29) The impact of Mont-Saint-Michel can not fully be appreciated without seeing it for oneself. It's clear why UNESCO selected the medieval abbey as a World Heritage Site. We braved the rainy weather to climb the narrow cobblestone path lined with restaurants and souvenir shops up, up, up to the monastery at the top. It's hard to imagine what it must have taken to build such a monument atop granite rock in place that was surrounded by water at high tide. The abbey proved impregnable, resisting all assaults by the English during the Hundred Years War.

The church itself reflects the principles of the Benedictine monks who settled in the 10th century in the lack of ornamentation through out. The monks took a vow of silence and dedicated themselves to prayer and work. Spencer, on the other hand, is far from taking a vow of silence. In fact, he resists all requests to be quiet. All he wants to do is run and climb stairs. We gave him the opportunity to expend some energy in this outdoor courtyard.

Bayeux

(Sunday, April 27) Mike traveled up from Paris today for the next leg of our journey. Arranging and rearranging the trunk of our Renault Laguna proved an exercise in frustration - our luggage simply would not fit. Luckily, we were able to leave a suitcase behind at our hotel for retrieval later. Problem solved, we piled into the car for the trip to Bayeux. From the car windows, we admired the fields of bright yellow flowers passing us by. French highways are so much more civilized than those in the States. No billboards. No wires overhead. No five lane highways. Drivers respect the passing laws with slower drivers staying to the right. We did have to pay multiple tolls along the way however as well as high prices at the pump.

Once we arrived in Bayeux, we ate a late lunch of French onion soup at La Fringale before heading to the Musee du Debarquement in Arromanches. Strollers were barred so Mike held Spencer on his back in the carrier provided. When Spencer tired of the novelty, they headed outside to the merry-go-round. Some people were playing in the sand and even dipping in the bay which must have been freezing. The remains of the floating port can be seen in the distance. From there we drove to the American cemetary, a beautifully designed and peaceful setting for soldiers who died during the Second World War. We would have liked to have more time in the museum but the cemetary was closing at 6pm.

Rouen

(Saturday, April 26) The first stop of our tour through Normandy was Rouen, a medieval city with many half-timbered houses. The city's cathedral, shown above, inspired several of Monet's paintings. We arrived by train, luggage in tow. Since Hertz, where we were renting a car for the remainder of our trip, was closed for two hours during lunch, we rolled our luggage down the main road and over a cobble-stoned street to our hotel. We passed the cross marking the spot where Joan of Arc was burned at the stake in the Place du Vieux Marche.

Picking up our rental car later that afternoon was an adventure in itself. It took several minutes just to figure out how to open the trunk of our Renault Laguna. Starting the ignition involved inserting the key, shaped like a credit card, into a slot and pushing the start button. Then we had to navigate our way through the narrow streets of Rouen back to our hotel avoiding pedestrians and cafe tables and chairs along the way. Once back at the hotel, we had to take the car in an elevator down to the underground parking garage. I was glad Grandpa was driving since it's been a long time since I've driven stick.


We ate dinner in a cafe overlooking the square. While we were waiting to order (dinner is not served before 7pm), Spencer took a ride on a this mini-merry-go-round.

Sacre Coeur

(Friday, April 25) Well before we arrived in Paris, Spencer, having heard about Sacre Coeur from the children's book This is Paris, vowed to climb the steps himself. Lo and behold if he didn't follow through on that goal, a little help from Grandma and Grandpa notwithstanding. The climb was worth it for the view it afforded of Paris below. We didn't stay long inside the church as Spencer protested having to stay quiet. Afterwards we rode a mini-train through the streets of Montmartre and Pigalle. Spencer fell asleep as soon as we transferred him to the stroller, dozing the entire ride down the hill top in the funicular.


Riding the metro to Les Halles, we walked around the Centre Pompidou admiring the wacky fountain before wandering into Le Marais where we ordered falafels from Chez Marianne for lunch. We brought our delicious falafel and eggplant pitas along to Place des Vosges where we ate our delicious lunch on a bench. The sunny afternoon brought out all of Paris. As much as we would have liked to sit and people watch a little longer, it was time to head back to tthe apartment for Spencer's nap. When he awoke, we visited St.-Germain-des-Pres, the oldest church in Paris, and strolled around Luxembourg Gardens, one of my favorite spots in the city, to watch children play with bateau and to see ducks swim around the pond. It was the perfect end to our last day in Paris.