We Love Cloth Diapering!

Our bumGenius stack (it is missing a few that were in the wash)! Show me yours!

What Ever Happened To My Great Sleeper?!

How do you tell such cute face “not your bed! mine!”?

Sixtine used to be a great sleeper. As soon as she turned 2 months, I decided that it was time for her to sleep in her own room. It only took about three days, and perseverance and consistency! Then we went to France for four months and shared the same bedroom. I would go to sleep long after she would but I am pretty sure she was laughing inside knowing exactly what was going on! I am sleeping with Mama! Yay!  Now that we are back, Sixtine is almost 9 months, she is teething (her two front upper teeth are piercing through), she is learning a million new tricks everyday and she is facing separation anxiety. Plus, this is a new environment for her, Paris was loud, busy, and the house was filled of laughter, a barking chiwawa dog, aunties and Nana. Here, it is just me and her. And it is as quiet as quiet can be. You may have guessed by now:

She won’t sleep alone! Every time I put her in bed, she screams for me to come back. And she is not pretending, she is really upset, you should see her. It is heart-breaking. I have been rocking her to sleep, cuddling her to sleep, and even lying down in bed with her for two weeks now. She usually sleeps in our bed after she first wakes up in the middle of the night. She sleeps so peacefully when she is with us.

I can’t blame her – she is being such a trooper. She is probably missing what she thought was her home, her aunties, grandmother and all the little things that make you feel come home. She is showing interest in my own little thing that I used to sleep with ( I am using the past here, but really, it is a lie. I still sleep with it.), I think it has my smells and that it comforts her somehow.

I am hoping that it is just a phase and that it will pass. I want her to feel happy in her own bed again.

I Am Ready To Conquer The World

Four months ago, I left Prince Edward Island, Canada, with my daughter and two huge suitcases a little unexpectedly. My husband and I decided I needed to go for a family cure. I was extremely homesick, sad and tired. We didn’t want it to affect the baby and thought it would be the best for everyone on the long run. We left PEI on a stormy day and arrived in sunny France the following day. I felt better almost instantly.  After a month, I did feel that I felt good enough to go but my husband had planned to come for a two-week visit later in June so we stayed in France with my family.

It feels like we had been gone for a year. Or that we lived here in another life.It is still the same yet things have changed. I feel different…Sixtine is not the tiny baby she used to be. She is a very active little girl and I am a happy Mama. It was heart-breaking to leave my husband and be separated for so long but I am so glad I went to France. We had a wonderful time there and 3000 pictures later, I can say: “I am ready to conquer the world”.

Father’s Day Craft: Grass Head Family!

We will be celebrating Father’s Day for the first time this year, and I have planned a couple surprises for my husband. Just before I gave birth, my mother offered him a shirt that said ” I am Sixtine’s dad” and he wore it at the hospital. He still loves this shirt and it has a very sentimental value to us.

I decided to have a one done for Sixtine. I bought a bright pink long-sleeved onesie from Petit Bateau and went to L’Antisèche to have it printed. I asked them to write “I am Jason’s girl” on it and it looks really cute. I am sure that he will love it.

But that wasn’t it, I also decided to make our family into Grass Head Guys, idea I got from Family Fun magazine.

Materials

• 2 tablespoons grass seed
• Nylon stocking foot
• 1 cup potting soil
• Plastic yogurt container
• Water

• 2 googly eyes
• Permanent marker
• Double-sided tape
• Card stock, craft foam, and so on, for clothing

Instructions

1. Spoon the grass seed into the stocking foot, and the potting soil on top of the seed. Tie a knot in the stocking, leaving the excess fabric hanging. Fill a yogurt container halfway with water and place the stocking head on top with the nylon tail in the water to serve as a wick. Attach googly eyes to the head and draw on a mouth with permanent marker. To decorate the yogurt container, tape on clothing made from card stock or other materials.Next time I make those, I will draw the mouth BEFORE putting it in the water as it makes it really hard when it is wet.I didn’t use yoghurt containers but plastic cups instead, if you do so, make sure that your guy’s head is big enough! It usually takes between 3 to 5 days before the hair starts growing! 

Tips:

Be sure to check the water level in the yogurt container every day, keeping it at least half full.

Finally, I decided to paint a wooden tray with Sixtine handprints to hold those three little guys!

How will you celebrate Father’s day today? Did you make or get anything nice? Have fun everyone!

9 Months On, 9 Months Off? Oh, Oh…

Baby Sissi eating mashed sweet potato like a big girl!

Sixtine will turn 8 months this sunday. Which means that I have one month left to get back in shape. At least, if you follow the saying “9 months on, 9 months off”. In which case, I should hurry up a storm.

The thing is, in my case, it was more the opposite. I started by losing quite a bit of weight at the beginning of my pregnancy (remember, I suffered from severe sickness), and ended up not gaining much and lost it pretty fast. As soon as I gave birth, the sickness stopped and I decided to celebrate in eating anything I couldn’t eat while I was pregnant (pretty much EVERYTHING if you ask me). So instead and losing quite nicely, I stayed rather the same.

Hips don’t lie (do you know this song by Shakira?) and it is true. I had hips (which wasn’t always the case) and stretch marks (and bigger boobies but that, I don’t mind ) It really saddened me. The first thing I thought was: “I will never, ever, wear a bikini ever again”. I realized it wasn’t just about the weight, but more about the fact that my body had tremendously changed and would, well, never be the same again.

I think it is the hardest part…I should have appreciated my body the way it was before, instead of complaining about it all the time, when really, it was a great body. Yes, I said it: I was fairly lean.

Now, my husband says that my stretch marks are a tribute to our daughter, which makes it so beautiful. I was so lucky to be able to conceive and give birth to a healthy baby that it really helps me see things differently.

And you know what, I went from hating them to be ok with them. And yesterday, as I was lying in bed, I realized they were so much lighter than they used to be. I even thought: “I might be able to wear a bikini again”…

I think I should lose about ten pounds to feel great again but right now, I have absolutely no interest. I think I don’t look that bad and that the weight will come off someday somehow. I think I should enjoy the time I have left in Paris with my husband and make the most of it!

My question is: how did/do you feel about your body during pregnancy, after, and nine months later? 

ps: another 4 comments, and I will be at 1000 comments! Thank you everyone !

16 Things I Have Missed About My Husband

Today, next week, I will be reunited with my husband, after over three months of being apart. Having met in Iceland, you would think I’d be used to it…I am absolutely not, to be quite honest, I don’t know how I could live without him.    We both agreed on my going to France so that I could be with my family and get better, but we both know it was a very decision to make. I left with a tiny baby, and I am going home with a little girl who has her own personality, has two teeth, eats, laughs, tricks, crawls, sits, drinks from Mama’s glass and even pulls herself up! It breaks my heart that he had to miss all this…she is just not the same baby! It was really hard for him to see her on Skype but I am sure the excitement she would express whenever she’d hear the computer ring was priceless! She just knew it was him. And it made us happy. In about a week, we will be reunited as a family.

1. His love. His arms. His support.
2. Parenting as a couple.
3. Talking his ears off until 3am after drinking Red Bull. He’d say “Deb, we are not getting you Red Bull anymore. Ever.”
4. Sleeping in on the weekends while he looks after the baby and serves me breakfast in bed. He makes the best pancakes!
5. Tickling him. He hates it and I love to annoy him.
6. Our talks about our dreams and hopes for the future.
7. Watching our favorite shows together.
8. I missed cooking for him. I can’t believe I am saying that because before him, I didn’t know how and I was interested in any ways.
9. His smile. He and Sixtine share the same dimple cheeks, it is absolutely adorable.
10. Bedtime. There is something about the night that makes you want that special someone was there.
11. Bottle washing. I really don’t like washing them…and he probably doesn’t love it either but does it out of love!
12. His interaction with the baby. I just love seeing them together, there is so much love between them.
13. His family. I love his family with all my heart.
14. I missed not being able to enjoy my friends, my family and the things I love with him. It was like being at a great party without your best friend.
15. His optimism.
16. The little things he does everyday that say ”I love you”

What are the things you love or would miss the most you had to be separated from your husband/partner for three months?

Giveaway! Enter to win a cute pure cotton Petit Bateau onesie for baby!

If you have been reading Sixtine and The Little Things for a bit, you know that I love children fashion, especially French fashion!  To celebrate the start of the summer, I am running our first giveaway competition with my favorite French brand Petit Bateau!

For over a century, France’s beloved brand Petit Bateau has favored comfort and quality for its cotton knit clothing and underclothing.

You will win a white baby chemise bodysuit from Petit Bateau, pure cotton, great for the summer (up to 12 month or a toddler/kid sized white chemise)!

To enter, please:

• Suscribe to Sixtine and The Little Things by entering your email address in the “Suscribe and don’t miss out section”
• Follow me on Facebook and share the giveaway!
• Follow me on Twitter and tweet about the giveaway
• Write about the giveaway on your blog  if you have one

And leave a separate comment under this post to let me know you did so for each entry. The more entries, the better chance you get!

Make sure to mention size required in your comment! Feel free to participate for your friends, pregnant friends or nieces and nephews!

The giveaway starts today (Monday, June 4th) and will end on Sunday, June 24th! I will announce the name of the winner on , Monday, June 25th .

Giveaway closed. The lucky winner is: Jana! Congratulations.

Good luck everyone and thank you in advance for participating!

 

How To Get Over A Bad Day

1. Put something comfy on.
2. Close the curtains.
3. Take your baby to bed with you.
4. Snuggle.
5. Snuggle a little more.
6. Appreciate your baby as s/he squeals with excitement. What a fun treat!
7. Say: “We don’t need anything but each other. You are my best friend and I love you”.
8. It should feel better.

I Survived Being Away From Baby

I won’t bore you with the details of my awesome weekend in London (Japanese restaurant near Hammersmith/clubbing in Leicester Square/brunch in Russel Square/shopping in Marble Arch/Camden Town/Hammersmith) but I survived my trip away from baby. My heart was so heavy to say goodbye to Sixtine. I felt bad because I knew she wouldn’t realize I was gone until after a few hours…but I had such a great time ! It felt so good dancing and enjoying myself as a woman and not just a mother. I thought my old self was gone forever but she is still there and that makes me happy.

I phoned and texted my mother during the weekend and she said Sixtine was doing all right. She didn’t want to tell me that she had been a little difficult and cried and whined more than ever. I was able to talk to her though and I know they took very good care of her.

Going back home, I felt like running to get closer to baby as soon as possible. I opened the door with excitement, washed my hands (yucky métro you know…), and walked towards my little one. She was playing on her mat with a crocheted wooden teether and I said: “Sissi, Baby…!” and she gave me the most beautiful smile…she laughed, she smiled, she talked and kissed with open mouth…It was the best feeling in the world.

10 Little Things That Made My Heart Sang This Week

Because it is important to keep track.

1. The big smile on my daughter’s face when she wakes up in the morning.  But that is not it, she also does a little Elvis-like dance that is absolutely adorable. It is everyday of the week, every week but you can’t beat that.
2. Becoming a Permanent Resident Of Canada. Duh !
3. Laughing as there was no tomorrow with my husband on Skype.
4. Winning the book “French Kids Eat Everything” by Karen Le Billon on Sweet Potatoe Chronicle (blog giveaway).
5. Sending two packages (US and Singapore / Worldwide Cultural Exchange) to children I don’t know and think that it will make them happy.
6. Getting an almost unexpected little present in the mail for Sixtine.
7. Finding out that formula is 50% cheaper in France than in Canada.
8. Sixtine’s first tooth. Yes, my tiny little baby has a tooth.
9. Learning that my best friend’s first date went great.
10. Being a week away from my girlie shopping-clubbing weekend in London.
11. (I know I said ten but oh well…) I am making new friends.

Did your heart sing this week? 

Breaking news: one of my “followers” had a baby this week ! Congratulations Sabina ! Hope you and the baby are well.