Carnaval 2012

Last year Coline was in my womb instead of out in the world and so our first proper carnival in Ouro Preto happened this year Feb 16th-21st. Actually, last year's carnival was quite wet and that is rather the reason why this year's was enjoyed more thoroughly not only by us but by the whole town and its visitors, which included family from France! What a delight to share this with them.

Last year I had the impression that Carnival here was a lot less about fancy dressing than it is in Europe, and so I did not prepare myself for it. Luckily my friend Michelle came with bags full of wigs, clothes, confetti and more, and mamie-Claire had brought into our house Leila's most favorite accessories: face paint crayons. And of course I could not resist the temptation to dress up a little. Cristiano was not impressed when he saw me in his clothes. The worst however was Leila's face when I showed up at her school (parents were invited but just that once I think she wished I had stayed home). It did not put me off, though.

We followed the "blocos" on joyful "marchinha" music and watched the children play in the park near our house where they got barbapapa (algodao doce / candy floss?!) for free and slid down the grassy slopes. Coline was hooked on walking up and down all over town, and collecting beer cans and caps while we were not watching ,and yet we thought we were. At night we heard from our house the chilled samba of Candoguero playing in the distance, reminding us that we do live in a "pais tropical" and I even got to enjoy it live once for one early night out with my cousin (thank you, the daddies!). Carnival 2012 was fun, it made me like it here.

Coline has no fear

Coline has been extremely busy lately. She is a happy, cheerful and easy going little girl, and quite a handful too. Coline loves dogs, "tchin-tchin" of course but all and every one that she sees or hears, and she has no fear.

She also loves cellphones and handbags. She has this new habit of grabing a handbag, putting it on her arm and heading for the stairs for us to take her for a walk, any time of the day, be it before breakfast and without a nappy. As I said she has no fear.

She has no fear but luckily she is cautious, what a great combination!

Summer holiday

I was surprised to find out that it was perfectly do-able to spend two months with Leila on holiday, at home, and in spite of a very rainy season. It seems that Leila says yes to most activities from painting, cooking, reading to playing on the "pirate boat" with daddy and she also comes up with a variety of her own. I thoroughly enjoyed Cristiano's ability to follow her games, whereas he found himself a lot more tired than usual during the holiday.

In spite of January's heavy rains and related landslides Mamie-Claire reached us with a suitcase full of presents, a bicycle for Leila, and enough energy to carry Leila up and down the streets of Ouro Preto and entertain her until she would crash into bed.

It is not easy to learn to ride a bike in Ouro Preto given the cobbled streets and absence of a flat surface and so we turned our house into a highway.

We spent a magical moment at the Cirque du Soleil in Belo Horizonte and Leila and I started rehearsing for the next show (until I realized that I had hurt my back and could hardly walk for a week - yet still had to carry Coline).

Les deux complices, in the making of one in a series of "Petits gateaux de Noel", so yummy!

Now that I see these pics I realize that Leila stopped wearing anything else than a dress since last December, preferably pink and sleeveless (just like her mum).

December pics 2

Coline started swimming in December. She and Leila are two happy swimmers and even though I do not get a chance to actually swim I find it relaxing. Let's say that it has a strong positive effect on Leila's mood for hours before and after, and that is priceless.

Leila spent 3 days decorating our paper Christmas tree (on the table on the picture below) and was glad to find out that a tiny Christmas tree does not necessarily mean tiny presents. Note that she is wearing pink and blue and seems to be equally fond of her blue dress, her pink sleepers and her white and orange ballerina skirt, which I made as a Christmas present for her (and I am very proud of having made it, even though it was late at night and I just wanted to crash in bed. There is something to homemade gifts).

We spent Christmas day in Ponte Nova at Cristiano's grandpa's house. It was extremely hot there and so the girls (that includes me) played with water most of the time. Coline apparently cannot see a bucket full of water without wanting to swim in it. She also cannot see stairs without wanting to climb them up. The one that goes up from our kitchen to the terrace and is a ladder rather than stairs has already given us a couple of fright but we all enjoy a little adrenalin rush.

Leila has been painting cats lately. Is this a sign or premonition that our family is about to expand a little more?