October 31th, 2010

A few photos taken over the last couple months. We went to BC for Thanksgiving earlier this month so there are some good family shots. I like the ones with all the cousins. Luca is talking up a storm. He is constantly repeating words here and there when he hears us speaking. He has a bunch of French words but mostly speaks in English. A lot of mixed sentences - "I wanna bateau (boat)" "I wanna feu (fire)". He is very interested in our fireplace and gives it a lot of respect. He's also still obsessed with owl's and can spot one in a book from miles away! He carries his stuffed owl around all over the place and often speaks his own needs through the owl - "Owl go ca ca" or "Owl doo doo (sleep)". He was an owl for Halloween this year too, though my craftmanship of the costume was pretty pathetic!

September 8th, 2010

We had a great trip to France. We spent a week in the south where we rented a car and visited Cassis, Marseilles, Monaco, Avignon, Aix-en Provence, and another beach that I don't know the name! It was very hot and we needed the beaches to keep Luca cool, otherwise we were in the pool at Danielle and Denis' house.

After the south we went to Paris and stayed with Fab's mother, Gina, at her husbands appartment which was beautiful. It was full of amazing antiques and art. We visited Paris, spent an hour in the Louvre, and a few shops! Then we headed to Normandy for a night. It was beautiful there.

Luca is a blast these days. He has tons of words, many of which we can't decipher! He can run and is learning how to jump. He loves sausage and he loves to fake laugh!

In Velaux. Luca was there long enough for me to laugh for a while, and then find my camera to take this picture!

The day before we left for France. Luca is practicing his "French frown"!

In Cassis, about half an hour from Velaux. This is the Mediterranean, I wasn't a big fan of swimming in it. This beach had rocks about the size of my hand that made the most amazing sound when the waves washed over them.

Luca loved the beach!

Velaux, where Fabien's family live.

I think this is Italy. We accidentally missed the exit to Monaco and had to do a little turn around in Italy! Crazy to have all those countries so close to each other!

A typical Monaco street.

The Casino of Monte Carlo!!!

The boys just after lunch in Avignon

Where the Pope used to live before the Vatican.

Really cool sculpture. It was close to 40 degrees in Avignon that day and we were melting. There was no dancing on the bridge!

The view from the house in Velaux.

A little beach about 1/2 and hour from Velaux.

Luca and his Grand-mere Danielle by the pool.

Luca's uncle Gregoire's bike! Luca's favourite word is "Moto" and he can spot one from about 3 km away!

Cyril and Luca in somewhere in Normandy! I've forgotten the names of the places we visited. I think this was Honfleur.

Normandy was beautiful. I really enjoyed it. The temperature was around 20 degrees which was a pretty sharp contrast compared to the south.

The family by the beach in Normandy. I love this picture.

I didn't take much video in France because I forgot! Sorry! Hope you enjoy what I have! The trampoline is in Velaux, the Piano is Raymond's house in Paris, and the beach is in Normandy.

August 15th, 2010

I took this picture this morning!

Has anyone seen this kind of mushroom before? I had the same one about a month ago in a different plant. They only last about a day.

Before haircut . . . (it was so hard to get those curls cut but he had a couple dread locks and was constantly being called a girl - I finally got just a little trim!)

During haircut . . .

After haircut! (First haircut ever!)

This wading pool is a couple blocks from our house. The boys love it!

Luca is 19 months old now. He's had all his vaccines until he's 4 years old. He seems to have colds often and of course we get them too. This week's cold is a tough one. He has several words - moto, up, down, ado (attends - wait), avion (plane), camion (truck), and several Iranian words that we're still trying to figure out!

Next week we go to France to visit all Fab's family! We're super excited. It'll be Luca's first international trip.

This video includes some time at Lake Champlain where we spent a night with out friends Amy Jo and Oli and their daughter Francesca who's a month older than Luca. I probably could have edited this video a little better - sorry if it's long at times!

Saturday, July 3rd, 2010

Luca finds a puddle.

My first trip to Ottawa to visit our good friend Karin. Just Luca and I went. Ottawa is only 2 hours from Montreal - door to door (in good traffic). This picture is just outside the parliament buildings in front of the British Columbia plaque.

Luca in a shoe.

First shaving lesson.

Fabien, Luca and I went to Ottawa for Canada day. It was wonderful. Our good friend Karin put us up for the two nights (thanks again!) and lives about 2 blocks from the Parliament buildings so we were in the heart of it all. We "saw" the Queen, or more the top of the Mounties that around her car but I'm told she was wearing white! Ottawa on Canada day is a must do. It's full of fun things to do for all ages.

Looking over the Ottawa River, between Ottawa, Ontario and Gatineau, Quebec, July 2nd.

Luca being patriotic on Canada Day in Ottawa in front of the Parliament buildings!

There's the parliament buildings and the band stand where the Bare Naked Ladies played (we left before though, there were too many people!)

I nice man let Luca sit on his beautiful Motorbike! Luca loves Motorcycles and Vespa's more than anything else in the world (except anything else with wheels!)

The opening night of the Fifa world cup at our friend Tarik's house. Luca and Loic are playing with a sliding door. The France uniform turned out to be a big waste of money! Cute none the less though!

Luca is turning into a monkey, more and more everyday! He climbs everything. We are always turning around to find him scaling something he shouldn't be! His language skills are progressing and his potty training skills are regressing (sigh) as he becomes more and more attached to his diapers. Can't wait to be free of those! He seems to be getting more teeth which will bring the count up to somewhere between 15 and 20. Kids his age are only supposed to get 20. He's been a little whiny from time to time but mostly is a pleasure to be around - constant entertainment. On July 6th he'll be 18 months old.

We've been watching Fifa as much as possible. I have started the second half of my French class at Concordia University. The next 6 weeks of summer are going to be crazy busy before we head to France for 2 weeks to visit the family there. Fabien has quit smoking (!!!!) and replaced cigarettes with running. I have put a child seat on my bike and we all go up the mountain together. Luca enjoys the bike ride - especially patting my behind to make me go faster (which doesn't usually work when I'm going up hill!)

This video has some of Fabien and Luca playing together. You can see the new water park just a few blocks from our house. It's wonderful. Fab and I foresee many a' hour playing there in the summers! Luca, Steph, Julian (our neighbours whom we're lucky enough to see all the time) are playing on the bed and you can hear Luca's favourite word "Cow" which means car! I give a tour of our reno's (which are finally done!!!) but the battery on the camera cuts out. You can get the gist of the work that was done though, please excuse the messy house. I can never seem to get on top of it! I didn't get any footage of our semi-basement but it looks better than ever!