Perfectly Happy Mum

Vlog: 18 months and says "thank you"! Here's the proof!

The French bit is me saying to Victor "What do we say?" when I hand him the plate and then praises for being such an advanced genius!  

Wordless Wednesday: Shopping on a snowy day

Do you think they left us ?  

 

No there they are! 

Come back here NOW! Do you think it is funny? I tell you what is funny keeping you awake all night is funny. Ruining your life with chicken pox for a period spread over 3 weeks IS FUNNY!! 

THIS IS NOT FUNNY!

 

Happy New Year!!

Thank you to all of you who follow the adventures of the Perfectly Happy Family. We can't be more grateful for your constant support and for those shared moments. Thank you for laughing with us and lending a friendly ear when needed. 

2009 has been an amazing year partly due to joining this generous bunch of people that you are! 

Let's make 2010 a brilliant year! Wishing you all a year of dreams fulfilled, of special moments that become cherished memories forever and lots of love and happiness! 

Song: Favourite Adventure by K's Choice

Here's to the best Christmas ever!

Apart from the great disappointment of my mum not being able to travel on the Eurostar and bring the long waited for Foie Gras, we managed to have our best Christmas ever!

Totally stress free, food fueled and so chilled it almost didn't feel like Christmas at all...

Of course I did have my little stress injection when I found myself wandering around busy shop aisles, way before the sun even bothered coming out. How did this happen? If you had told me just a couple of years ago that I would, one frosty morning, wake up at the crack of dawn, get dressed, have the STRONGEST COFFEE and head for Sainsbury's, I would have answered : "Yeah Dude... and if that ever happens make sure you dial the psychiatrist emergencies promptly because something has gone HORRIBLY WRONG!!".

Starbucks wasn't even open by the time I got there, and I could see desperate people pressing their faces at the door probably in desperate need of caffeine.

Did you know that by 8 AM, the week before Christmas, it looks like a full on Saturday afternoon shopping! That's just plain shocking!

When I got out of the shop it was about 9 AM and it was like coming out into a different world. You go in it is dark, you come out it is bright daylight. Not the way it should be at all.

Anyway once that was done, Christmas could begin!

Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without lots of baking and cooking and Craig decided to bake us out of the house. We had cardamom swirls, panetone, pate (to make up for the foie gras), smoked haddocks mousse, pane cottas, roast beef, roast lamb, ALL the trimmings... I managed to claim some time, sparsely allocated to make my chocolate mousse... it wasn't easy...

On Christmas eve, Elliott decided to show is entertainment skills at the family mass. The whole congregation was offered a special performance of break dancing with "Silent Night" as musical background. Shoes and socks came off, trousers were rolled to the knees and dancing on the head started... some laughed, some looked offended "OH MY WORD that kid is showing so much disrespect to GOD!"... I did what I now do best: ignored him and pretended he wasn't my son... OK not really, I stopped him when the tee shirt was about to fly off into the hands of an old lady about to scream "You ROCK kiddo!". He stopped his performance with a bow and decided to hate us for the rest of the mass...

Back home there was just time to put the shoes at the bottom of the tree and they were asleep. We forgot the carrot, mince pies and Brandy for Santa and Rudolph (sorry Santa, come back next year, you'll get double!), but hey, peace was restored and that's a result!

Christmas day went like a breeze. The upside of being just your own little family that day, is that you do just what you want!

The boys woke up at the usual time. When Elliott was quizzed about what special event was taking place that night he replied "nothing", so we said "Santa is coming to give you some presents" and he replied "NOOOOOOO!!!!" to which I replied "Are you sure you are my son and not some weird alien having impersonated him, in the hope of extinguishing the Christmas fun??!!"

In the morning that's when it hit home: Presents GROW at the bottom of the tree!
"No honey, Santa brings them"
"NOOOOOO!!"
"OK... weirdo!"

Presents were opened all day and in between each one of them lots of playing was done. Santa was very generous. He brought lots of new DVDs because he knows that Mummy and Daddy are sort of bored of watching "The Polar Express". Brilliant film the first couple of times, quite boring after 122 viewings.

The garage set and ALL the cars are great fun, and all the helicopters, the puzzles, books, planes, ambulances all top awesome.
So why was "The Polar Express" still favourite and the old train set the only toy we wanted out?

In between the presents we watched lots of TV and ate lots of chocolate. Just how Christmas should be.

One little thing Santa though... Did you really need to drop chicken pox as you visited? Was it in an attempt to make us pay for so much fun? If so well done! We haven't slept in 3 days, so you know what, maybe next year there won't be any Brandy for you afterall...

What are your favourite things?

We are officially in December and WOW, how did this happen??!!

I mean wasn't it yesterday that I was wondering how I was going to finish my pouches for the Christening in July?
Or if we were going to give the evil dummies to the Easter Bunny (which we didn't in the end)??
Or when we bumped into the Metropolitan Mum Family on the Ile de Re? Not just randomly sitting at the terrace of a cafe to discover from a far that they were at the same cafe. No! I mean going up and down the Marina spotting the place we'd prefer. Coming back to the first cafe we'd seen. Walking through the terrace holding approximately 100 tables, and deciding to go to the far right corner and sitting RIGHT NEXT to Metropolitan Mum! Now dude, I officially believe in syncronicity.

Time goes too quickly. Far too quickly.

I couldn't have a clearer memory of when we visited our house for the first time. What it looked like and what we loved about it. The plans we had for it.

Or finding out I was pregnant for the first time. And the second.

Or being told Craig's Uncle has passed away while we were on honeymoon, when he was full of life and having a great time at our wedding just a couple of weeks before.

Life is full of tricks. One minute you are here, the next you or your loved ones could be gone.

Is it worth dwelling on what is not right in our life? Spending too much time and energy worrying about the chocolate stains on the sofa that even wipes won't make disappear. Or that lovely drawing on the wall THAT SHOULDN'T BE THERE!!!

Let's think of our favourite things today. Mine are :

• Watching the boys laugh and play together
• Cuddling the boys when they are tired. That special moment when they just abandon themself to me, their mummy and know that I am here to love and protect them. When they can feel this love pouring out of my body and filling theirs.
• Spending a special quiet moment with Craig at the end of a busy day, especially on a Saturday night.
• Being the 4 of us against the rest of the world.
• Dipping into a hot bath with a good book.
• Drinking my first coffee in the morning.
• Getting together with my girlfriends for a laugh or a cry.
• Spending one hour on the phone with my sister just to laugh at the most random things.
• Walking on a crisp sunny morning.
• Drinking an Eggnog Latte from Starbucks.
• Going on holiday.

So how about you? What are your favourite things?

Photo credit SnoShuu

A family, a visit to Winter Wonderland and a cheesy song

I love Christmas.

I am one of these people who can play over and over Christmas songs while baking gingerbread men and who drinks enough Eggnog lattes from Starbucks to sustain the whole industry!

Christmas is by far my favourite time of the year and it has always been. When I think of it, I think of cold winter's nights watching TV with the tree lights flashing at the corner of my eyes. I taste oranges and chocolate and I love decorating the house or write Christmas cards.

This year for the first year, Elliott is learning all about the fun of Christmas, so when we received an invitation to attend the press preview of Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park, I jumped up and down, did a little dance and sent a message back saying "You bet we'll be there!!".

Mistake #1: DO NOT under any circumstances tell a toddler, not 3 yet, that he will go and see Father Christmas in London in a few days. Toddler does not understand what few days mean. Toddler will throw a tantrum right there and then and hate you for raising his expectations and not going through with it.

The day finally arrived and off we went on the train to London Victoria. The boys were very excited and the train journey would have probably been sufficient to feed their curiosity and excitement.

Mistake #2: Never think that traveling on a train with 2 children under 3 will be a piece of cake.

...Hang on let me pause and laugh at your naivety... Ok I have composed myself.

Right 2 children under 3 on a train is as close as a nightmare situation can be. First the buggy weighs nearly 50 kgs with both of them in, the weight of the buggy itself and all the extra stuff. So you just about avoid a situation where the guard helping you suffers from work related injuries for life.

Then the 2 toddlers decide that out of the buggy, life is much more fun. You risk it and you end up in hell! One is trying to get out at all stations and while you are busy keeping an eye on him the other one is screaming because he wants to run free. So you finally decide to strap the younger one to the buggy which is when he makes sure you understand how unhappy he is, as well as all the other passengers in the same breath.

All you can do then is pretend you are on your own and avoid looking at whoever else is around you or you can just go and sit as far as possible from the buggy and ignore them when they call you mummy...

We finally arrived at Victoria to meet reinforcement troop! Craig was there waiting ready to take his share of responsibilities.

We made our way to Hyde Park and the amazement was really intense. Elliott's eyes were not big enough and is mouth couldn't close anymore. Victor was shrieking with excitement and waving at the reindeer at reception singing cheesy songs (the reindeer, not Victor). 

We have been to Winter Wonderland before and I can say that this year is far far better than a couple of years ago! It is amazing and so much bigger.

The Circus is the first attraction we went to. The boys adored it and it was their first time in a circus. Victor was fascinated with one hand in the popcorn and his eyes transfixed to the stage!

Mistake #3: DO NOT offer salty popcorn to children thinking they won't like it. Children DO like it and will not share with you! Victor probably had more salt in one hour than he has ever had in his whole life! Very bad parenting practice I agree, but we did not want to attract too much attention by removing his hand out of the box. We were sitting right at the front and do you know what these clowns do to people they pick on?!

It was a fabulous evening and god yeah I recommend this place! The entrance is free, but in every places like this one food and entertainment are very pricey. But you can also decide to just wonder around, buy sweets and let the Christmas spirit fills you.

One song that kept playing over and over again was this one, and it is full of this spirit. Cheesy as hell and you've guessed it, one of my all time favourite...

Photo Credit Brockvicky

 

Victor is no longer a baby

Life in the Perfectly Happy House has been somehow different lately. I reassure you nothing drastic, my little tigers didn't turn into sweet little angels overnight.
No, nothing like this unfortunately.

My little tigers are still little tigers but the baby one has turned into a toddler one.

Victor is no longer a little baby!! SHOCK! I know everyone else noticed but me. In fact he is now at the age Elliott was when Victor was born! How did this happen?!

You see, no matter how much you try and be objective, you always miss the fact that the younger ones do not stay babies forever. All in sudden they start saying things or attempt it anyway. Victor is practicing a few things, for example "niiiiccce" when he takes a gulp of fresh milk or "yummy" when taking a bite of something rather, well I guess "yummy".

On the other hand he is way past the practicing stage with "Mama" "Papa" "NON" (he is very good at the "non" which is "no" in French!). Nala our dog is "Lala" and Elliott is "yoyot".

Victor is a little sunshine who enters a room. He has the loveliest grin and serves it to whoever looks at him. He knows it is often all it takes to get attention. And he loves attention. In fact "Attention Lover" should have been his middle name.

Some days it is exhausting, draining and a good reason to write a letter of resignation.

"Dear Sir,
Please accept this letter as my resignation on the grounds that I HAVE HAD ENOUGH!!! You get on my nerves and I am only staying polite because... well because I love you and of course I am only kidding... sort of."

Victor is a clown. If he catches you laughing at one of his jokes, he replays it over and over again with loud giggles. And the more he giggles, the more you giggle.

In the last 2 months we have witnessed a complete change. The little boy who used to follow us in whatever activities his older brother was doing now wants to take part in everything. You can read the frustration on his face when he realises he can't do something his brother does, or you can hear it in his screams!

Victor is a dancer and a singer and his taste in music ranges from Twinkle Twinkle to Cheryl Cole "Fight for this love".

He is a cheeky curly bunny, with 2 little curls on each side.

He is a cuddly little boy who loves giving kisses.

Victor is obsessed with dummies and can harvest a whole room of all the dunmmies contained in it, in no time at all.

Victor is no longer my little baby.

Victor is now my adorable little boy, who I love with all my heart and even more...

 

 

Wordless Wednesdays: It all happened on a dark Halloween night...

 

First Halloween Trick or Treat

Thank you The Great Toy Guide and ASDA for these lovely Halloween Costumes!

 
 

They don't tell you this when you are expecting...

Or is it just me they didn't tell?

Having kids physically hurt! I hear you laughing. I am not talking about the burning stinging pain of giving birth, I am talking about what follows after the birth.

Jeez, since having 2 children I haven't had a pain free day:

• My feet request that I wear shoes or slippers (with hard soles) at all times when walking around the house. They are fed up of the excruciating pain caused by all these tiny toys parts scattered around the house.
• My back forgot what it feels like to walk straight. I am constantly bending midway to either pick up a child or pick up the tiny toys making my feet's life a misery. Come bath time and bedtime and I need an assistant to help wrestling with Elliott and Victor.
• My legs and butt do not believe in justice anymore. If justice existed they would be considerably slimmer and firmer for going up and down the stairs hundreds of times a day. No matter how well prepared I am I ALWAYS forget something upstairs.
• My arms ache for carrying someone all the time.
• My whole head and face hurts for regularly being punched or headbutted when trying to contain a wriggling toddler while dressing him or simply when I need to restrain him in one place.
• I am lucky I still have teeth following a couple of close calls during recent wrestling sessions when trying to put socks on Elliott.
• My ear lobes almost saw the end of them not so long ago when a lovely new pair of dangling earings attracted Victor's tiny hands.
• My hair has never been pulled so much. Again I am lucky for not having bald patches.

Why don't they tell you that? The least NCT classes should do is teach you self defense techniques under a toddler attack or how to dodge the punches and headbuts!

Photo credit (Note the Drama Queen effect) Mac(3) Flikr 

Cry me a river... Victor!

 Just recently, well I say that but it has probably been going on for the last 4 weeks, Victor cries and cries from the moment he rises from nap time until he has dinner.
I feel I have tried everything and I have checked everything.

At first we blamed it on the teeth. Where the hell are they, these flipping teeth??!! If that's teething, they must be coming from the bottom of his toes for not making a quicker appearance! If we decide to rule out the teeth, there is the possibility that he might be hungry. Don't be fooled by that. I doubt that he is hungry after a fruit pot, a biscuit and a beaker of milk, or at least not just after. So hunger is sort of ruled out too, especially if you consider that he manages to cry in between mouth fulls.

Then there is the possibility of pain maybe. We had a doctor appointment, two in fact in the last couple of weeks and they all ended up with the doctor looking at me wondering "why are you here weirdo? You are filling the space of someone who could genuinely be ill?".

So what am I suppose to do? I suspect greatly that it is attention seeking. I tell you why, simply because he cries and cries. He rolls around the whole lengh of the house. Then he encounters a toy, my bag, something fun on TV or the dog and suddenly the tears stop. It seems that someone just turned the tap off and the volume down. For as long as our eyes don't meet he plays and even laugh or chat to himself.

BUT suddenly I look at him. The second I do that I catch myself thinking "WHY DID I DO THAT??!!". That's when he starts again. His face creases everywhere and he wails as loud as he can. Then he walks to me arm out streched and he begs me to take him in my arms. And I do, of course I do. I am his mummy! And I can't possibly leave him smear snot all over the rug or the sofa, I much prefer it on my shoulder, much much easier to clean!

The minute I pick him up, it stops. The silence returns and then it is on his terms. He points in the direction of the computer "No darling, not the computer" of he starts again "wahwaaaahhh". So ok the computer if you like, but for crying out loud (no play on words here, promise) just ZIP IT! Then that's enough, he wants to go back to the floor. It is very immense pleasure that I put him back on the floor, but then here we go AGAIN!!!

This lasts until Craig comes home EVERY SINGLE EVENING!!

What shall I do?!!!