Tree Time

We had felt for a while like our front yard needed something more, but deciding what kind of tree to plant took a lot longer than we thought. The ground is sandy here, and the front yard is exposed to both full sun in the afternoon and wind quite often during the year. We also don't have a huge yard, and so didn't want to plant something that will grow to be too big. More than once, we thought we had found the perfect tree only to realize that it hates the wind or normally grows to 20m high or doesn't like sandy ground. Finally, we found a tree we liked, and Carlos planted it earlier this week.

Looking across the street

Corner of our house + tree

It's a maple, and surprisingly it fits all of our criteria. Apparently, it is often grown in pots or in small spaces, so it will be great in our front yard. Though it doesn't look like much now, it's supposed to grow nice green leaves that turn yellow in the fall. It won't be quite the same as the trees back home, but it will be nice to have an érable here in the south of France.

In other news, I was cleaning some spillage off the side of the island in the kitchen with the sponge when Aimy came up to me and started gesturing and whining. I knew she wanted to touch the sponge so I held it out to her and let her grab it from me. To my surprise, she started immediately to rub the board with it where I had been cleaning, and ended up helping me finish. What a sweetheart.

Helping mama

I can do it too!

Spring time

Sorry for not updating lately - I caught a nasty cold at the end of last weekend and ended up with no voice, which was not very fun. Fortunately, neither Aimy nor Carlos got sick, and both of them were really good at looking after me. Aimy found it fun to imitate me when I coughed, even going so far as to cover her mouth. Getting good habits already?

Someone wants the camera!

It was Carlos's first week back at work after the holidays this week, and the start of the end of Term 2 meetings, so he has been pretty busy. Fortunately, his most important meeting was this Thursday and though his evenings will be busy for another week or so, he just has to participate in the enxt meetings instead of running them.

The weather has been beautiful lately too - getting close to 20°C at the end of this week. I've been doing lots of laundry and hanging it out to dry, and it's been so nice to finally go for walks again. And just in time for Spring!

She loves having something around her head :)

On the Aimy side of things, she has been trying lots of new food lately - raisins, curry, egg salad on toast - and liking almost everything. She is pretty cautious though. She'll take a bite of something or lick it and let it sit in her mouth for a little while, and then watch the food cautiously for a while until she decides to try a bit more. And Carlos recently taught her how to say Ah! in satisfaction after taking a drink, and she does it so happily that we both can't help but laugh. She also says hi to me every time I go to pick her up from her crib, and will kiss her Lamby goodbye and hold it out to me so I can take it before she asks me to pick her up. It's so much fun to see the progress she makes every day!

Otherwise, I have updated my crafting blog with a few things, if you're interested in taking a look. Hopefully I  will have the time to update more here and there in the next little while.

Hubby on Holiday

Today marks the end of Carlos's first week of winter holidays... though with the nice weather we've been having, it hasn't felt much like winter. Temperatures have been around 18°C, with it reaching 20 at least once since he has been off. We've been taking advantage of the warmth and sunshine to go on walks and to hang lots of laundry outside to dry!

We visited Carlos's family from Thursday to Saturday and aside from one afternoon and evening of rain, the weather was really nice there too. We went for a walk Friday through the area where they make Jurançon wine, and we had a gorgeous view of the Pyrenées.

Vines with the mountains behind

One of the many châteaux along the road

Samantha, Carlos and Aimy

Horses across the valley

More mountains and vines

Pic du Midi d'Ossau - where we went hiking last summer

At her grandparents' house, Aimy had fun being the centre of attention, as usual. Carlos and I both got involved in projects while we were there - he helped his brother and his father install a shower kit in the downstairs bedroom, and Carlos's mom and I hemmed curtains that will soon separate our office from the dining room.

Playing with the drum kit

Nice smile for me while pushing the stroller

Samantha in the olive tree

Let's hope this second week of holidays will be even more productive!

Little Imitator

Usually when Carlos isn't home in the morning, I bring Aimy into the bathroom with me while I get ready in the morning.  I have been bringing her in with me since she was very small, so she is used to the routine and knows what it means when I turn on the shower and will even wave goodbye when I go in and get excited when I turn the water off. Aimy also loves to try out all of my things - whenever I get out my brush, for example, she immediately wants me to pass it to her, and she'll try to use it to brush her hair. She even loves getting her teeth brushed and will point at her toothbrush if I show it to her.

The other day when I wanted to wash my face, I decided to put on a headband to keep the hair out of my eyes. Well, little miss immediately started squirming around and waving her hands in the air and 'asking' for my headband, so I got her one of her own and put it on her head. The smile she gave me in return was beautiful. I managed to snap a few pictures of her before she pulled it off (though the moment she figured out what she had done, she held it out for me to put it back on her head... what a funny girl.)

A new fashion statement.

Too cute!