Our Two Little Big Joys

They're four! And they're over the moon! And so are we...

Jean-Philippe took the day off yesterday, and we spent the afternoon at le Vaisseau (a children's science museum, of sorts), where we had a fabulous time all around (and despite we parents' being awfully sick). Forgot the camera, unfortunately. But here's a wee anecdote:

As we left le Vaisseau, the boys asked if they could each buy two of the teeny-tiny packets of gummy bears the museum shop offers. We said yes, gave them each one of the two packets, and promised them the second one when we got to the tram. But we hadn't anticipated the long way to the tram that we'd picked (because we hadn't yet been on this part of the new line), and so there was this hilarious exchange, wherein the boys claimed that there was no tram "this way," and we bet them the second packet of gummies that there was, and they lost, but we were "nice" about it, and by this time we were walking along the tram line, but it was still a ways to go to the next stop, and Leo couldn't take it any longer, so he slumped his shoulders and refused to move any further, and I walked back to him, smiling slyly and dangling the bag with the gummies, and his head sunk further into his shoulders as his smile spread, and when I got to him, he said (indicating that he understood that he could only eat them once he'd got himself to the tram stop), "But I can hold them, okay?" I willingly gave in. And he held them carefully in front of him in their little white paper sack - as though they were small, precious jewels in a velvet bag - until we'd all got to the tram.

I went to get the groceries necessary for their now-traditional birthday meal (lasagne, which we had this year with fresh-from-the-farm, amazing roquette salad. You don't even need dressing with these leaves! Mmmm...), while Jean-Philippe took the boys to pick out their birthday dessert: chocolate eclairs (their current dessert-y fave). We met up again along the way home, and I began dinner preparations while Jean-Philippe and the boys settled down to watch Spider-Man and get hungry.

After dinner, there was the usual, traditional fanfare (though the cake was decidedly un-trad, but what can you do? We've been so sick these past couple of weeks, and the thought of making birthday cake three times this week just didn't give un any more energy than the little we already didn't exactly have):


And the boys' gift wishes were more than a little satisfied:


A funny moment: Just as the boys began digging into their prezzies (starting with the talking superhero cards from Gramma & Grampa), Leo realised he needed to go to the toilet. Tomi opened his as we waited, and was absolutely delighted. He (and I) kept urging Leo to finish up and get back to the table to open his, but Leo's system wasn't having any of it. After a while, Leo called out to Tomi that he could open the other card for him. Tomi was kind enough, though, to take the card in to Leo and let him do the honours himself. A really funny family bathroom scene followed. I'll try to get one of the mini films up in the next few days...

Before they went to bed, Leo asked us to remove his cape. I carefully laid it over the guard rail, but he smiled, slipped his hands out from under his covers and pulled it back under with him, saying, "I don't want to leave it there, because the monsters can get it." Have I mentioned the scenario that Monsters & Co. has put in their heads? They refer to the idea in mostly amusing ways, but still...

This morning, the boys' usual first words ("Mommy, you can make us some breakfast?" or "Papa, tu peux nous faire du 'breakfast' ?") were replaced by squeals of glee, as they rushed into the living room to take a gander at the loot from the night before. Leo walked into our bedroom, asking, "Je peux regarder le Tomi film ?"* and concentrating his gaze on the Cars DVD in his hands. The answer, of course, was, "No, it's time to get ready for school!" We had to work to get the Bat Boys into their Normal Kid clothes, but it was pretty humorous work, and well worth it.

Well... to sum up a lot of thoughts, etcetera, on the subject(s), and at the risk of sounding like nearly every other mom in the world: 

Our little ones become more and more delightful with each passing day. And every night, as I re-check on them before I lay my head down on my own pillow, the butterflies flutter a bit in my tum and I think, "What beauty. What joy." And this, even on the Very Tired Mom days. Or perhaps even especially on those days...

* "Can I watch Tomi's film?" Tomi had opened up Cars, and Leo had opened up Peter Pan, so even though we explained that they were both both of theirs, well...

It's Snowing (and Spiderman) Again

Before I sit down to some illustrating, today, I feel bound to blog (yet again) about the weather.

It's been snowing in little flurry-bursts for almost 24 hours, now.

Yesterday, after a morning spent at some friends' house (the boys and ours - a swank family, met through a common interest and social obligation: the schooling of children), we walked back the short way home, through the wet drippings from the cold, grey sky. It was strangely lovely.

We passed a parked car with Belgian license plates. Hunks of snow still clung to the bumper. The boys and I saw it at the same time; Leo pointed and cried, "It's snow!" and Tomi called out, hopefully, "It's going to be Christmas-time, Mommy?!" I remarked to myself that the weatherman had been spot-on for days, now - perhaps the longest stretch, ever.

Back at home, we had a light lunch and were pottering around, when - lo and behold! - the raindrops began magically transforming themselves into snowdrops. And then... snowflakes! The boys were thrilled. Tomi asked again, with hope ever present in his little voice, "There's going to be presents, now?!" If you haven't noticed, our boys have recently become keenly aware of the gift-giving that certain "special days" entail.

Speaking of which: their birthday is coming up quickly - though not quickly enough for them, it would seem.

My boys (especially Tomi) have gone utterly over the top about Spider-Man (which is how we're forced to spell it, now). When we asked them what they'd like for their birthday, Tomi blurted out, "SPIDER-MAN! An' black Spider-man an' red Spider-Man an' Spider-Man car an'..." Somewhere in the litany, Leo joined in with, "LOTS OF! Spider-Man things!"* And so on...

So. The other night, Tomi was softly but insistently crying in his bed (Leo had already fallen asleep). I thought he was saying, "I want sump-ting (to) eat," but when I went in to investigate, he was saying, "I want my birt-day (to) be here!" He was so excited about the prospect of getting a Spider-Man thing, that it was driving him to tears! We had a long, quiet talk, and things seemed to calm down. He got to sleep, anyway. But then, there were Spider-Man-obsessive sketches all last weekend, too (some were REALLY funny)... And Bat Man. But especially Spider-Man. Oh-yé!
Oh, and two days ago, Tomi came into the kitchen (where I was preparing dinner, which is when the boys have ample time to get into all of the things that they can't when I'm in the living-etc-room with them) sporting my boa-like scarf and black leather gloves, smiling slyly and saying, "Mommy, look! I'm Bat Cat! I have griffes!" (Bat Cat is their name for Cat Woman and 'griffes' is French for claws.)

*Leo is also really into Spider- and Bat Man everything. But he's got an obsession all his own, which stems almost certainly from his love of theatrics. To wit: princess things. Every time they go to Felix and Eliza's house, Tomi makes a bee-line for the superhero outfits; and although he's more than happy to participate in all of that, Leo waits until Eliza's princess accoutrements have been shed... and then he surreptitiously dons it all himself.

p.s. Felix and Eliza recently moved house. The Spider-Man pictures are from just before the move, and the Princess pictures are from a few days after the move. There are many other really cute pictures (of kids and adults alike) from both gatherings of friends, but since work is calling, I'm going to have to post them later...

Ich bin... erstaunt.

Above: the boys on their first day of school (two months ago -- I know, I know. This post was actually begun on the 6th of September ( !! )). In the first picture, they are blocking our way out the front door. I chose the second picture, not because it was the best of the four, but because the two together show two sides of the boys' elfish-ness. & the word "elfish" is one that characterizes my boys perfectly...

This year, the boys are in the French-German bilingual section of their pre-school. At the parent-teacher meeting at the end of last year, the director and the teachers gave us lots of information about how things work, etcetera, including this mini-warning: "DO NOT expect your kids to come home spouting German right off the bat. Some kids won't speak a word of German in front of their parents for several years, even. There is no reason to be worried about their progress until a teacher has a word with (the parents) about it..." Since our boys never told us any more than that they'd "eated," "played" and "painted" at school last year, we weren't expecting anything like instant results. So you can imagine our shock when, at dinner after the third day of school, THIS conversation took place:

Papa: So, guys, what did you do at school today?
Leo: Umm... I painted!
Papa: What did you paint?
Leo: Monsters!
Tomi: Yeah, me too! An' a rabbit!
Papa: Did you learn any German today? (He looked across the table at Leo and said) For instance, "Ich heiße Leo?"
Leo: ...
Tomi: Ich heiße Tomi!
Mom & Papa : (Exchange shocked expressions)

A couple of evenings later, again at table, having been asked a similar question, Tomi smiled, looked sweetly over at us, and said, "Ich bin eine Mädchen!" We laughed and laughed and asked if he didn't mean 'ein Junge,' to which he replied, "Non, eine Mädchen!" And then the boys began laughing uncontrollably, yelling, "Mädchen, Mädchen! Eine Mädchen!" and so on...