Friendsgiving in France

We have a lot to be Thankful for this year - living abroad as a family is an amazing experience, both getting to know life in France, and also having access to travel to new places often and easily.  Even so, it's of course hard to be so far away from our family and friends back home, especially during the holidays.  I feel really lucky that I have made some close friends in Versailles who have kids Lilah's age.  Jess and Nancy make me laugh a lot, are excellent sounding boards for all of Lilah's ailments and cheerleaders for her excitements, and have awesome kids who are Lilah's best friends.  I don't know what I'd do without them, seriously.  Since we're all American (well, the Moms are - Chris is the only American Dad), we decided to celebrate Thanksgiving all together.  It was as delicious as it was fun, and almost (almost) made me forget I wasn't with my family.

Happy Thanksgiving!  Nancy and Jess, I'm very Thankful for you!

Nancy, Fred & Thomas; Stephen, Jessica & Arielle; Kimmy, Chris & Lilah

The Bird.  Fresh from the farm.

The guys carving the turkey

The spread

Melted Cheese. And a visit with Ann & Mart.

While Chris traveled to Portland, Oregon for a conference, Lilah and I traveled to Zurich, Switzerland to spend some time with our friends Ann & Mart (and their dog Huxley).  Last time Chris went to the US for a conference, Lilah came down with some virus, so although I figured there was no way she would get sick again, I really didn't want to chance being alone with a sick baby for another week.  Well, I was proven wrong that she wouldn't get sick again, and right that I should have left town.  Thank goodness for my wonderful friends who kept me sane, cooked for me, and cleaned up after a very sick baby girl for 2 days.  

Luckily we had some fun before Lilah got sick!  We toured all over Zurich, which is a beautiful town on a lake, with views of the Alps.  We ate so much melted cheese (in the forms of fondue and raclette), along with lots of amazing chocolate.  Lilah and Huxley developed a friendship that consists of Lilah feeding Huxley treats, throwing him a ball, eating out of his kong, and playing in his water bowl (hmm...maybe this is how she got sick...).

Me, Ann, and Zurich

Mart and Ann

Lilah and Huxley, friends forever.

Fondue. Why eat anything else, ever?

First break

There are many attributes I would love to pass on to my daughter; however my clumsy self with easily breakable bones is certainly not one of them.  I hope for Lilah (and for all of us), that this first broken bone is also the last, and not a blip on the long line of times we go to the emergency room.

Lilah fractured her left wrist while we were in Paris taking some family photos.  She was walking around a park picking up chestnuts that had fallen on the ground and carrying them with her.  She fell while holding a chestnut and must have broken her fall awkwardly because of the nut.  She cried a little more than normal for a typical fall, but was consoled within a few minutes. Her wrist never bruised, swelled, or showed any physical signs that there was a problem.  We only knew it was hurt because she wouldn't bear weight on her hand, so we took her in for an x-ray.  The x-ray showed a Torus Fracture, which is pretty common in toddlers.  Their bones are very malleable, so instead of actually breaking, they bow out slightly.

The fracture is the little piece of bone that bows out on the inner part of the bigger bone in her wrist (yes, that is the medical definition).

Close up

Little L and her little cast.  She was a really good sport for the most part.

Of course she still had a few meltdowns.

The cast came off after 20 days, and she went straight into the tub.  Bathing a toddler with a plastic bag on one arm is not easy!  We were both pretty happy to get her back in the tub where she could splash around.