remiandsteph

Papa

This week, Remi celebrated his 31st birthday. I thought it was time to give a little credit where credit is due. It’s his first year celebrating his birthday as a Papa, and our first time to celebrate what a good Papa he is. At the end of a long day full of mommy, Camille’s face just lights up when Remi walks in the door. She’s completely enamored with him, and believe me, it’s mutual. They are such a good match in so many ways. Here are some pictures from last Saturday when we celebrated Remi’s birthday (which was actually on Tuesday.) We went on a scavenger hunt through our neighborhood, looking for clues that led Remi back to our apartment, where his present was waiting. Then we went to an Oktoberfest and finished the day with an evening walk around the lake in Central Park. It was a great day, in celebration of a great Papa.

Aunt Chloé visits

We had a busy week! It was so great to host Rémi’s sister Chloé and her boyfriend, Quentin. They are the cutest couple, and they loved all over Camille. They also did a lot of tourism, visiting all the sights in the city. It was a whirlwind week for them. Camille stayed closer to home, but was able to spend a lot of time with her French Aunt nonetheless. Chloé helped feed her, went on walks with her, and helped put her pajamas on at night. Camille took to Chloé right away and by the end of the week they were best buds. She was hilariously more shy with Quentin at the beginning of the week, turning away when he would look at her and pretending to be very interested in her toys all of a sudden when he would try to talk to her. But he was patient and by the end of the week she was playing with him and letting him hold her, she warmed right up to him. We also went to the park for a picnic where Camille discovered the new love of her life, apples. Now mind you, she doesn’t care for apples at all when they’re pureed and in a baby food jar, but she LOVES them whole, when she can bite into them with her new little teeth. After the picnic, we stumbled upon a Hungarian street festival (only in New York! - Or Hungary, I guess). We had a great time, a great week.

Clap! Clap! Clap! Clap your hands!

Yep, she’s doing that. This is my favorite development yet, we walk around New York applauding everything and everyone we see. She claps on command, when I say “yay, bravo Camille!” or she claps when she likes something or when she is proud of herself. She’s learned how to turn off the light in our bathroom, it’s a sliding dimmer, and every time she does it she gives herself a round of applause. This week Remi’s sister Chloe is visiting with her boyfriend, so soon I’ll have some pictures of Camille with her other aunt, but for now here’s the girl clap clap clapping away.

At summer’s end.

This town is cooling off pretty fast. In the mornings now you can definitely feel fall’s first chilly breezes. We walk to the park in the morning, let the dog see some grass and play with some other dogs, then head home for a nap. After that we usually go out exploring again. One of Camille’s favorite places in the city is the Petrie European sculpture court at the Met. It’s bright and filled with people and stuff to pull up on, she could walk around there all day.

Finally after months of gum pain and excessive drooling, Camille’s first tooth broke through this morning. I guess she’s ready for the steak au poivre that goes with the baguette she gnawed on Saturday at the park. (See picture) Our little girl growing so fast!

Six months in the city

Unbelievably, our little girl is six months old. So much has happened in the last month, it feels overwhelming to try to bring the blog up to speed, but I’ll do my best. Camille and I have had a great time staying at my parents house in Atlanta. Jami’s wedding was so sweet and fun, and Camille got to see a lot of family and friends. She also got to meet her great grandfather, my mom’s dad, for the first time. We spent a week relaxing in Atlanta after that, then went up to New York to find an apartment. We found a great little spot in the upper east side of Manhattan, just three blocks from the Met and Central park. I think Camille is going to like her new neighborhood, even though I noticed the city is so much noisier than I remembered. I don’t think she’ll be riding the subway anytime soon! We celebrated her six month birthday by walking around our new neighborhood. We ate lunch at a yummy sidewalk cafe, then she fell asleep while Remi was carrying her in the baby bjorn. She is more interactive every day, and blabbing her head off. She is eating some solids and starting to drink from a sippy cup. Also, big news, she’s started to get up on her hands and knees like she is just about to crawl. She is beginning to be a bit shy with strangers and a bit clingy with Mommy, but on the whole she’s such a joyful girl. Here are some pictures of the last month or so…

Weeks 23-24 Playing catch-up

Even though we are currently in week 26 of Camille’s life, here are some pictures from the 23rd and 24th week. It has been crazy busy in the Dingreville household. Camille and I are currently living with my parents in Atlanta. We came a week ago to celebrate my little sisters’ wedding and are staying on while Remi is at a conference in Ohio. He will return to Albuquerque at the end of the week to finish up work and deal with the selling of our house. In other news, we sold our house! So Camille and I will stay in Atlanta until we move to NY in mid August. We’ll go next week to hunt for an apartment, I’ll put more pictures up then of Camille’s first visit to her new town. In the meantime, when I get some pictures of Jami’s wedding I’ll post those too. Camille was an honorary bridesmaid with her cousin, Julia. They were so cute.

These pictures are the last of our time in Albuquerque and in our adorable house. We’re so sad to leave, but excited about what’s to come.

Weeks 20-21 Garage Sales, Rice Cereal and Fathers’ Day

We had a massive Garage sale last weekend and cleaned up, literally. We couldn’t believe some of the things we were able to sell. (One man’s trash…) Camille had fun meeting all the people who came by. Later that weekend we introduced her to her first solid food, rice cereal. The first try wasn’t exactly a success, however since then she’s gotten used to the texture and now seems to really like it! She also tried bananas, which she’s taking a little longer to warm up to. We had a great Fathers’ Day, with breakfast on the patio and dinner with our friends Robert and Holly and their daughter Mira.

4 months and two weeks, Camille communicates

Camille has always been good at letting us know when she’s unhappy or when she doesn’t like something, but lately she has gotten pretty good at telling us she’s happy or excited too. If we walk into a room holding her, she’ll sometimes start kicking her legs and squealing, and blowing raspberries because she’s excited about something she sees. Usually this is something colorful or shiny, or the dog (she LOVES the dog), or something random like the coffee machine, hands down her favorite small appliance. She’s also begun making long, eloquent speeches, made up completely of vowels and punctuated with raspberries. She’s a hoot. She’s also very into the computer and especially the keyboard. She wanted to add her own message below, notice for the most important parts she utilized the caps lock. She also designated a tag for the post.

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WWWWWWW` c h78888888888888u88888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888

8888888888888888 88888888ty55555556yhn bvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv66666666666666fgggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggg

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Tags: E2A55555555GVUIKYH7NY8NNNNNNNNNNNNN

Week 18

How time is flying! It’s hard to believe we only have about a month left here in ABQ. We’re trying to enjoy all the great things the southwest has to offer while we still can. On Saturday we went out to breakfast at one of our favorite spots with a big patio to enjoy the Albuquerque sun, then we went on a hike with some friends in the Sandia foothills. Sunday we had another couple and their daughter over for brunch on our patio. While we didn’t check any items off our long to-do list, it was a great weekend nonetheless.

Camille is growing as fast as ever. New developments this week include a fascination with food and drinks, she lunges for just about anything we’re holding, and, inconveniently, a new interest in hair-pulling.

4 Months old

Today Camille is 4 months old! We are celebrating her incredible progress, how she is changing every day. We are also celebrating because it has been about a year since we learned we were pregnant with her. What a change in perspective we’ve experienced since that day. What a year! Here are some pictures of the girl.

In other big news, Remi has decided to accept a position as assistant professor at NYU. We are packing our bags and putting the house on the market, planning to move in August to the Big Town. (If anyone knows a good apartment broker, hook us up! Also, if anyone knows anyone looking for a beautiful 2 br/ 2 ba in the best neighborhood in ABQ, give them our number!) We’ll keep you posted on these new developments, and how Camille likes being a big city girl.