Now we're cooking with gas.

To start off, neither Rich or I have ever lived in a situation where we have had to cook with gas other than a gas grill. Rich has a very real fear of living with gas as a source of cooking and heating and when we looked for our current townhouse, he said he didn't want to really entertain any that had gas. Living with that for the last five years, now I have developed an uncertainty about gas as well....I am so nervous about it that I am afraid to even touch the gas grill. Rich has showed me a few times; explained which order to everything. I am so nervous I question if I remember the RIGHT order and have decided I just don't want to deal with it. Best case if I screw up; I lose my eyebrows. Worst case...no that IS the worst case. I would look weird without eyebrows.

Jump to last week when we moved Rich into his new apartment. Gas Stove. UGH. We didn't deal with it on the first day; we didn't have anything to cook. Sunday we went grocery shopping and decided to have quesadillas for lunch. So we get back to the apartment, put everything away and then I look at the stove. I inspected the knobs for a minute, picked one and then turned it on. Dialed through the ignite line, heard it click and then spun it to medium. Nothing...no flame. huh. So then I thought, maybe that one doesn't work? I turned it back to the left to turn it off and WOOSH..flames shooting out around the bottom of the pan and then off.

OHMYGODWHATHAVEIDONE? RRRIIIICCCCHHHH?

Next was a visit to the front desk to ask about it; in short we were told "You have a microwave, use that." Then I asked Rich to call his friend Joe upstairs and find out if he is familiar in the ways of gas stoves and can he give me a tutorial. Joe quickly came knocking on our door and saved the day. And now we know how to cook with gas.

Blue Skies Ahead.

Daddy is all moved in.

Christian and I spent the weekend down in White Plains with Rich while he got settled into his apartment for his new job with Blue Sky Studios. It was a busy two days with driving down Saturday afternoon, finding the actual entrance into the parking garage, checking in, waiting around for friends that were settling in that same afternoon and going out to dinner that night. We did general errands on Sunday and then I cooked dinner for everyone on Sunday night so we could stay in and everyone played Guitar Hero. (Thanks again Mike and Cyndi!)

Both nights were a little rough on Rich and me. The bedroom proved JUST too small to be able to put our queen sized air mattress on the floor so Christian ended up bunking with us. It is a king sized bed but SOMEONE prefers to sleep horizontally and snores a LOT. (Ahem...not naming names here, but it's the same someone who wears diapers that sometimes give out so we have to keep checking for possible leaks.)

Christian and I decided to head home this morning to see Daddy off on his first day, but the start to our day proved to be a little rough. Christian didn't sleep well apparently and was BEYOND cranky and just downright irrational. If he doesn't get his way now, he deliberately goes and does something that he knows he is not supposed to now. Like this morning, when I wouldn't give him cookies at 7:30 (graham cracker bugs...not the worst thing in the world, but its the principle...) he turned to his left and started playing with the burner knobs on the gas stove. (ergh.) So that was the start to the day and then we had to pack my car and say our goodbyes. I will say no more than it was an emotional scene in the parking garage and hard to say goodbye...but its only for a few days at a time and its all only temporary.

This will all be worth it in the end when Rich is a big shot feature film animator. It is his dream and he is just about there. I am MORE than proud of how far he has gotten already and am willing to go through whatever it will take to get him where he wants to go.

I am so proud of you babe! Good job and KICK BUTT! :)

Very cute.

We went to the Capron Zoo this past weekend with our friends Kamal and Emily and their adorable little girl, Annie. We met early for breakfast and then got to the zoo before it even opened. (We killed some time by sending our kids down slides that were a little too steep to see what would happen :)...actually, I think Rich and I were the only ones that did that. We were careful though. Rich went up top and sent Christian down while I caught him in mid-air at the bottom. See? Careful...over-cautious really.)

We saw lots of animals; I think Annie was much more intrigued than Christian for most of it. He has kind of hit this period of being kind of skittish of EVERYTHING. He loves cats and dogs, but as soon as they start following him, he squeals with a bit of fright and runs for the nearest parent.)

At some point, Annie was looking around for someone to hold her hand but looked over kind of in Christian's direction. We asked her if she wanted to hold Christian's hand and she nodded yes. I asked Christian if he would hold Annie's hand and he contemplated for a moment and said "Yeah". So...he reached out, grabbed her by the hand and then proceeded to walk her down the path to check out the sites. Very cute.

Yellow.

Christian has a thing for all things yellow. It all started when it was the first color word he could say. We made a big deal out of it. "lellow". It was great. Then everything was yellow. Show him a red cup, "lellow". Definitively yellow. One day Rich had the idea to show Christian the Coldplay video of "Yellow". (One of Christian's favorite activities is to watch (appropriate) videos on YouTube with Daddy.) With this, the love of the song "Yellow" has snowballed into a general love of a few Coldplay videos/songs. Currently "Clhlockshs" is our favorite. (thats "Clocks" for those of you who are not familiar). "Fix You" and "Scientist" are also on heavy rotation. Pajamas with yellow stripes are now things we cry for, flail our arms for and throw our entire body on the floor for. oy.

Another big yellow that just entered our little world is a yellow hat. Rich and I groan at the mention of this hat. It all started last Friday when I picked Christian up at daycare. I pulled into the parking lot and see that his group is outside and notice a kid toddling around pushing a lawn mower. He has this HUGE yellow bucket hat on..can barely see out of it. I think to myself, "what mother sent their kid out in that?" WELL, I get outside and find out that my son took off his Red Sox bucket hat during water play that morning and submerged it in the water table. By afternoon outdoor time, the thing was still dripping wet and even at his insistence (more flailing, crying and body throwing) was told he couldn't wear it. Well, he wasn't hearing it. He NEEDED a hat. (In the back of my head; I am quite proud of this. He knows he needs to wear a hat in the sun, YAY me...and YAY Rich!) So, the solution to the hat dilemma was a play hat they had in the room that was a lovely peach floral on the outside and bright banana yellow on the inside. The teachers turned it inside out and Christian happily wore it outside. At pickup, he refused to leave without it and we were given permission to bring it home for the weekend. WELL, we loved that hat so much (by we, I mean Christian) that we had to wear it to bed. And when we woke up. And when we went out. Rich and I had to hide that thing in a closet behind some boxes so that he wouldn't find it when we went out to the zoo with some friends.

The Yellow Hat went back to school on Monday. I asked the teachers to have it moved to the other classroom. :)

Summer Vacation Photos.

For the week following Christian's birthday, the three of us all took a much needed week off from work and daycare. On the list of activities was the Providence Children's Museum followed by lunch at Spike's on Thayre Street, Roger Williams Zoo (they have an awesome exhibit right now called Flutterby...a habitat that you walk through and the butterflies are just wandering freely. Christian was NOT thrilled. We got some great photos though), the park and finally the fireworks for the holiday. We live right down the street from where the town does the show so we don't even leave our parking lot. Christian loved them so much that he asks for "Loud" everytime we leave the house. Sorry bud, maybe next year!

Christian Turned 2!

Our not so little man turned a not so little 2 back on June 21st. We can't believe what a guy he his...a walking, talking, opinionated little guy who loves to collect sticks, rocks, cook, clean...a regular renaissance man really. Happy Birthday Bubba!
(gimme a break here; it takes a while to weed through all of the photos and with all of our goings on, weekend plans and procrastination taking its toll, I'm getting around to it now, ok?)
Chatting up the Aunties. FEE! LELLOW!
Christian loves fish...and the color yellow. Christian also got his first pet for his birthday. A shiny new beta fish named Red. (By now I am sure you have guessed that he is probably a red fish...I know, we are quite original.)

Blowing out the candle.
From as far away from the flame as possible.
Digging in. Grampy is overseeing the process.
Christian's first Harley.
OOH. Kitchen stuff!
Perfect for riding the Harley. Tammy adjusting the chef's hat.
The little chef hard at work.

Not in FRONT of his MOTHER!!!

So, Christian has girlfriends. Well, he's 2, so not really...but his teachers at school like to joke about how all the girls in his class like him and he pays attention to all of them. One girl in particular, Abby, is his favorite. When I first heard of this relationship a few weeks ago, I learned that he knew her name and says it over and over again when he sees her, he knows where her bin is on the coat wall, and he has to sit next to her at lunch. There is also Claire and Amanda, who I have witnessed helping him dress (put his hat on) and blow him kisses good-bye on numerous occasions. So I know that there are other women in my sons life already. Yesterday afternoon, Christian runs over to give me my hello hug at pick-up when Abby comes up behind him to get his attention and then proceeds to lift up her little shirt to expose her entire chest (and stick her hand down the back of her diaper to the horror of the teachers). Miss Erica, trying to suppress the same giggle I am choking down says, "Abby! Not in FRONT of his MOTHER!"

Good Grief.

Die, Die, DIE!

So the three of us are sitting outside drawing with our new bucket of sidewalk chalk on the front walkway when a big red ant walks by Rich. He then takes his chalk and squishes the ant while saying "Die". Christian took all of this in and then looked around him and saw HUNDREDS of little black ants crawling around him, looked at the pile of chalk he had pilfered from mom and dad and the wheels started turning. (I love when you have a toddler; you can LITERALLY see the wheels turning when they are thinking something through) So before Rich and I know it, Christian is repeatedly pounding the pavement with his selected chalk and saying "DIE, DIE, DIE". OVER and OVER again. And this isn't just in a cute little boy voice. This is like Chucky has possessed our son's body and using him like a puppet and speaking in his creepy adult voice. It stopped after a while but every once in a while we will hear christian in another part of the room going "die, die" and we just look at each other and say "eventually he will forget that one, RIGHT?"

So maybe I should start using this thing...

So I have had this blog for FOREVER and thought "Hey, maybe I will start using it." There are lots of changes going on in the Fournier house so I thought I would get started on this blog thing.

Christian is now the big 2, standing at a whopping 37" and weighing in around 30 lbs. Our new favorite activity is to sit out on our front porch at our little table and have a cold drink and talk about our day and the things we see. It's so awesome to have a "conversation" with him. He cracks me up. Everyday he says a new word and mimics EVERYTHING. Rich and I have to be on our best behavior now.

Big changes on another front. Rich just got a new job. He is going to be working at Blue Sky Studios in NY on the next Ice Age movie! So, Daddy's moving and Mommy and Christian are staying put so that I can continue to work and not have to sell the house. Since he is a contractor, Blue Sky is putting him up in a swanky apartment in White Plains and the plan is for him to come home on the weekends when he can and Christian and I will go down there for the weekend when he can't. The joke is that Rich gets to live the life of a bachelor in his own pad in NY while I get to play single mom. (Who got the raw deal in this package??? ;) Just kidding. I am more than proud of Rich; he is the hardest working person that I know...he is constantly striving to better himself. Sometimes this is to the detriment of his own sanity...but he gets what he wants. Good Job, Babe!

SO, that is the update on the Fournier Front...whew, this year will be interesting.