Far From a Winter Wonderland #gettingoutandaboutagain

Paris has been basking in unbelievably mild temperatures...such as...12 degrees shock horror. The mornings are generally passed in blazing sunshine before clouds come in, the wind picks up, the temperature drops and everyone rushes home to hot chocolate...or for those with children, certainly something stronger.

We wandered around the Tuileries Gardens with about half of Paris, enjoying being able to eat our lunch in the sun and protect Small Fry from the blinding rays that threatened to overheat him in his impossibly cute gruffalo outfit.

We continued on to the rather bling bling expo on Van Cleef & Arpels jewels - the name behind Charlene of Monaco's 'Océan' tiara that she wore on her wedding day (and as a necklace just over a month later) - while SF just kept on sleeping, thank the Lord.

Boxing Day #Wheneverythingcatchesupwithyou

The previous three days for me have centred on fever, chills, exhaustion, feeding and trying to figure out how to do all that while being a guest...and at Christmas. I have been sick sick sick but thankfully Small Fry is pulling through and hopefully I can follow.

And a partridge in a pear tree #totallyspoiledbaby

Merry Christmas! #everybodywantstoholdthebaby

The Day We Encountered French Bureaucracy #Fail

Today we had a list of things to accomplish that would require interacting with French bureaucracy. They were:

- obtain a new passport for El Puma

- obtain a medical card for Small Fry

- open a bank account

- visit the pediatrician

We carefully consulted the various websites and amassed the paperwork required before setting off, fairly confident that we could be successful.

First fail: El Puma required not just a marriage certificate, but one issued less than three months previously in order to apply for a passport.

Second fail: Small Fry required not just a birth certificate, but the offical translation of his British birth certificate into French.

Third fail: Forms of ID and proof of address were insufficient to open a bank account. El Puma had to make a new appointment in order to turn up with a very particular form of proof of address.

Fourth Fail: Well, not so much of a fail as we did find a pediatrician, make an appointment, SF got the French ok (after getting the British one last Monday) and then...received a prescription list of nine items that apparently babies in France need (aside from the vaccination prescription list):

- nasal cleaning spray

- ear cleaning lotion

- face cleaning mousse

- nappy cream

- body lotion

- non-drying soap for the bath

- vitamin K supplements

- vitamin D supplements

- Anti-colic supplement

- anti-blemish spray (for his milk spots)

I have a beautiful, perfect little baby and throughout my pregnancy and his early days I have been making special efforts to keep him free from impurities and nasties, but the French system sees things quite differently. At least I still get the final say and have decided not to hand in the prescription...unlike my poor friend who told me last night that she only found out after several days that her baby had been given a donor mother's milk directly after birth without her consultation or consent for no reason other than 'he seemed hungry'.

New Life

In case you are not on facebook, it's been an eventful week since I submitted the PhD. In order to catch you up, we:

made christmas cards

 went to a christmas party

 tried out my new sling

 found a gruffalo

 lost a 'who's the heaviest?' competition

 celebrated a kelling christmas

 slept through a skype call with aunty christina

 pondered the meaning of life

 and moved to paris....where we met daddy...who flew the day before us as there were no seats left on our flight...er, right El Puma?!

Submitted!

Silly Mummy

Silly mummy went into town to open a bank account for small fry and forgot a copy of the birth certificate. Nothing else for it but to....

First Day of University

Handy doorstop:

This is what three copies plus four title pages looks like:

Almost Famous

Stirling Castle's graveyard featuring in TIME Magazine!

Change of Pace

You know you're the mother of a newborn when: doing the Sainsburys shop feels like a break.

You know you're the mother of a newborn when: you panic the whole time imagining your baby at home crying, while doing the Sainsburys shop.

Projectiles

Achievements thus far:

Top End: 50 cm
Bottom End: 1.5 m

Outcomes regardless: lots of cleaning and a load of washing

Baby's First Snow

Yeah....not so interesting without a picture of baby actually with the snow, but the grandparents only managed about 10 mins with the pram before they rushed back, afraid baby was frozen.

Annual Reunion Plus One

The Revamped Meadowpark Hotel, Bridge of Allan

1 week anniversary

Time for the first passport photo!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Spellbound

Flamenco:

 The Thinker:

Enchanted

Could it be magic?

Merlin Gonzales-Kelling

17.11.12 @ 10h55

8lb 9oz / 3.9 kg

 Right before my funny turn so looking a bit pale...more on that later.

9 Months

Some high jinks and tomfoolery before the final (non-gestational) push:

Crossing the bridge:

 Bump inspection pause:

Hill walk when the weather cleared, but I could only manage to the trees and back:

 The tomfoolery and high jinks part (with "the Mo"):

A race to the finish

Baby stuff is ready:

But so are chapters 1-7 of the thesis with final revisions on chapter 8 due tomorrow.

Place your bets now...

How do you know when Christmas is just around the corner?

Gunpowder, Treason and Plot

One of THE best British festivals rolled around again: Guy Fawkes Night. And it just keeps getting better and better. 

Mandatory Freezing Cold Night: tick

Shuffling with thousands of others towards the nearest muddy park: tick

Everyone warpped up in hats, scarves, gloves: tick

Listen to the classic Relight my Fire (Take That) over the tannoy: tick

Avoid queues for Haggis, Neeps & Tatties: tick

Enormous bonfire: tick

Sticking out belly and getting right up to the barriers: tick

Cheering when the bonfire is lit: tick

Ducking the bonfire smoke: tick

Cooking your face one minute, turning, freezing your face the next whenever you are not facing the bonfire: tick

Ahh when the first fireworks go off: tick

Neck crick: tick

Pointing out all the new fireworks they've created since last year: tick

Matching the music to the display: tick

Frozen toes: tick

Sparklers: Er...no tick....AGAIN.

Queuing to get out the car park: tick
One hour to thaw out at home: Also tick

Brilliant night!

Laterne Basteln

This time two years ago I was staying with a German couple in Bangladesh and last year I was actually living in Germany, so it seemed a good idea this year to join the local German group for a Sunday afternoon activity of 'Laterne Basteln'...essentially making lanterns for the Feast of St Martin, which falls on 11 November. It marks the end of field work and the beginning of winter in the agricultural calendar (think 'Thanksgiving' in America). After the feast, the Church traditionally began 40 days of fasting, which eventually was shortened to 'Advent'. St Martin's Day is still celebrated by...well, everyone else in Europe except for the Brits who mark the date as Remembrance Day.

On St Martin's Day, children go through the streets with lanterns and candles singing songs about St Martin. So today we joined German families (so many blondes) living locally in order to make lanterns for the parade. The group was welcoming and friendly (two aquaculture PhDs in their midst!) and it was fun to be part of a German tradition...plus I was rather pleased with my result :).

November is Movember

Hallowe'en

For the nieces and nephews:

(apparently skills related to pumpkin carving are also passed down through the generations. Thanks Oma!)

For me: Pumpkin soup

Pumpkin pie

IAM

I passed my advanced driver test this morning - think of those programmes you've seen with folk driving around giving commentary and a police officer sat beside them marking them. This one seemed to go better than my original driving test 16 years ago, and I certainly enjoyed it more (helps to know that you can still drive afterwards even if you fail!). 

I was originally looking for a winter driving course (how to correct skids etc) but in the end, this was the only one offered locally. Gets me cheaper car insurance and hopefully makes me a better driver. So that's another box ticked before the baby comes.

Blooming et Belle

These are some of the cuteish ways the bump has been referred to:

"Here you go, as clearly there are two of you"

"Hold tight here, I can see you are not travelling alone"

"Looks like you've got a passenger on board"

"I assume that's not just a big breakfast"

"Looks like you have some happy news"

"Here's one for you and one for the bump"

More recently it's veered towards:

"Twins? No? Really?"

"Wow"

"It's hard to believe you still have a month to go"

"Are you SURE it's not twins?"

The irony is that I am measuring bang on Ms. Average Bump Size, according to the nice little NHS chart, so I am no bigger than the majority of people at my stage. So why the daily comments? I am well, baby is well, and it's not like I have any control over the size of my belly. In any case it feels pretty crammed in there judging by the freaky bumps and dips of my tummy when baby moves so either it's a fat little thing, or I just stick out. I've been lucky enough to stay slim elsewhere so maybe it's just the contrast. But why is small so beautiful? Obviously these folks haven't seen my pregnancy yoga class participants or maybe women hide away in their final month??

Bus Stop Grammar

Shouldn't it be 'were'?