Se non e' zuppa...

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Facciamo l'appello

Come i miei lettori italiani - mamma, ci sei? - avranno notato, sto scrivendo sempre meno in lingua italiana. Me ne dispiaccio, ma ha volte con il poco tempo che riesco a dedicare al blog scrivere in due lingue mi sembra un'impresa impossibile e cosi' mi limito a scrivere in inglese, che e' la lingua parlata, o almeno capita, dalla maggior parte dei miei - tre? - lettori.

Detto questo, non attendo che una scusa per scrivere nella mia lingua madre. Quindi, italiani che leggete il blog - e non siete la mia mamma - per favore battete un colpo! O almeno lasciate un commento :)

Nonna was here

Appu is doing better, thank you for your concern. He still coughs and sneezes but the fever is gone. Today by the way he is absolutely unbearable, so your sympathies should go to the mom instead :) I just finished scrubbing a cushion on which he more or less intentionally poured a bowl of vegetable soup. Argh.

The dad has fallen sick too and is not too happy, but he will get over it. Says the mom who is still feeling fine - for now.

Anyway, my mother left yesterday and we hope she reached home without any problems. We had a nice time with her, in spite of all the sniffles.

At the end of my last post, we had plans to go to the Louvre. We went and it was quite nice, here are some pictures. I'm not big on taking posed pics in front of the main attractions, so no Monna Lisa, sorry, but you can see Rohan playing with his dad in the atrium of the museum.





I know, not your regular Louvre memory shot. How about this, then? No kids though, because they are both asleep in their carriers. Appu is under his dad's jacket, see the bump? Yeah, I know, not really. Sorry...




The next day we went to La Cite des Sciences et de l'Industrie (sorry for the missing accents, I have no patience to find out how to type them right now), where they have the Cite des Enfants, a really cool area for kids. It is supposedly an interactive science exhibition for kids aged two and up, but it really is a huge playground. They book 90 min visits with a limited number of spots, so it is not crowded and in the time of the visit you cannot run out of things to do. Appu had a blast, playing with gears, simple wooden machines, mirrors and the large pretend construction site. Too bad I hadn't charged my camera.

Other noteworthy moments of nonna Laura's visit involved lots of french food, a pasta with pesto, and some cuddling with the littlest one. It turns out that nonna and Rohan share a passion for sleep, warm beds and thick comforters.

A couple more pictures from just before nonna left - and please notice Appu in his favorite pose watching Dora in front of the laptop.

Rohan in the blanket...

..goes "purr purr purr"

Firt time EVER

Yesterday my little owl fell asleep listening to a story. Just to give you an idea of how sick and generally subdued he has been. He woke up almost right away, but I still want it to be noted, for posterity, that the book was "Picnic con gli amici", a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse book just arrived in nonna's suitcase.

Here we are, feverish in Paris

Actually only Appu for the moment, but it is only a matter of time before we are all coughing and sniffing and looking like boiled potatoes.

In spite of this, we are still going to the Louvre tonight. I promised we will be well covered and it is indoors anyway, so it seems harmless.

My mom has arrived yesterday night and Appu was quite happy. Now she has gone to the Musee d'Orsay and I am here in a dark apartment trying not to breath so the kids don't wake up. I need to get out!

For now, this is me and Rohan on a walk to the mall nearby in Place d'Italie - two evenings ago.

Tour Eiffel

For our first days in Paris we are keeping the evening for sightseeing, after S comes back from working with his collaborator Jan.

Yesterday we all went to meet Jan in the morning and then I left with the little ones to spend some time at a playground. Have I ever mentioned how much I love gated playgrounds, where you don't have to worry about the kids wondering off to the road? Ok, I am mentioning it now: go parcs parisiens!

After playing near a fountain for a while and leaning on the edge to retrieve some leaves from the water, Appu looked like he had been to war. He was also very tired, so we decided to head back to meet dad and we went towards the gate. There I attracted Appu's attention towards a "nice puppy" who immediately jumped on Appu and hit his hand with a paw. "Ouch" said Appu, looking very sad, and then we were on our way.

I am mentioning this incident because when we met dad Appu immediately said: "Cani, ouch" ("cani" is "dog"). It's the first time that he tells a story, he never before discussed something happened in the past like this. Mommy is very very impressed.

We had lunch with a few people at the institute and then Appu, Rohan and I went back to the flat where the kids enacted their personal version of "mom's hell". My ears are still whistling from two hours of screams and have I mentioned that I think Rohan is teething?

But. Dad came back around 5:30 and we went out. And it was cold and damp, but that's ok.



Note: this picture was only taken because Appu was falling asleep in the darkness of the Champ de Mars and I wanted to wake him up with the flash :)


Appu sinnging "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" looking up at the tower while we were in line for the tickets was the cutest thing!


Appu and Kunju, in their respective carriers, on our way up in the "choo choo" elevator (you have to see it understand why).


Appu wandering around on the Second Level. Is it just me or the slanted cap gives him a very French look?


Crepes on the go on the way home.