We offered to babysit Margaux two weeks ago since her parents were invited to a promo junket at Disneyland Paris and I thought it'd be a good idea for them to be on their own for a change...

Margaux arrived yesterday afternoon and  was in a good mood... Except that she took a very long nap. She wolfed down her dinner while Armand played coy kitty to her utter delight, we had a nice cuddle and then she went to sleep.

When I got up in last night to pee, I noticed a strange smell in our bedroom (where her cot was), but I assumed she'd just farted up a storm (that cute little girl is very, very gassy... And smelly. I often wonder how anyone *that* small can produce such a stink, then I remember Abba and Armand).

In the morning, I realized she'd been sick. All over her bed. And her pjs. And her stuffed toys. And her favorite Hello Kitty cushion, etc. So I went into frenetic cleaning mode to try and disloge the awful baby puke smell out of her stuff.

We gave her her bottle since she was hungry... But then right when I was out of the shower, she puked Exorcist-style all over the office floor and herself. We cleaned everything and noticed she drank a lot from her sippy cup. I figured she'd caught the gastro virus that's affecting everyone and made sure she drank plenty, while watching if she had a fever. Well, she puked gallons of water soon and we called the doctor.

She has a gastro so there's not much we can do except give her plenty to drink, no food and some medicine for her upset tummy. She was miserable all morning, but she's a great baby. No crying or whining, just a desperate need for cuddles. Right now, I'm working while she's watching her favorite cartoon. I called her parents this morning to let them know she was a little bit sick but Thierry and I decided against calling them again and worrying them. She's ok now...

I hope I'm doing the right thing, but I don't want to ruin their week-end. And it's not like they're going to be able to do anything to magically cure her, eh ?

There's nothing more miserable than a sick baby, I've seen it with my own eyes... Not even a Blythou who realises that her whole flat smells of atomic baby puke.

Blythou out.

Our guest for the week-end arrived this morning... First word she uttered while entering Rude Manor was "chat", (French for cat in case you have no clue, which I doubt). Armand heard that and promptly decided to hide behind Thierry's bag, but his fluffy butt and tail were still visible, which didn't elude Margaux.

She then "helped" Thierry play Mario Kart by holding his wheel and pressing various wiimote buttons. He thought it was hilarious for some reason ;-)

And finally, we went to buy fruits and vegs with her (along with a little plastic chair for Margaux) and since she was a little grouchy (needed a nap and all that), we pretended our cucumbers were light sabers and attacked her in the store while making the classic lightsaber sound. She loved it. We'll probably have to go shop there with fake beards and wigs for a couple of months until everyone has forgotten, but what the hell, she had fun !

I can't believe how well she manages to eat (she barely misses her mouth now). And how fun and cute and cuddly she is.

And this is OT, but I've found the two tattoo I really want. I'll have a tiny stylized chameleon on one hip and a Bad Badtz Maru on the other. I thought about having a Stitch, but I want very simple, basic designs... I'm seeing the tattoo artist next week, I can't wait to get inked. In the meantime, I'd love more piercings in my ears...

Blythou out.

Two days ago, Thierry updated his facebook status by saying "we're happy to welcome our little Alabee in the family".

One friend posted : "Meow" as in "oh a new kitty"
Another said : "don't tell me you've adopted a chihuahua !"
And a journalist friend said : "Of Montreal tribute, of course".


It's funny in a weird way that no one thought, even for an instant, that Alabee could be a human baby. Maybe not made by Moi (since they regularly see me with a flat stomach, a drink in one hand, a cig in the other)... But no, apparently, I'm not the mother type.

But I've got what it takes to be an auntie. This week-end, I won't party, I won't touch a drink or a cig, because Baby Margaux will be with us from Saturday 9 a.m. (yeah !) 'til sunday early evening. Which means, that on top of spending time with my favorite tiny person, I won't have to see my mother-in-law for her b-day ! HURRAY !

Blythou out.

We're back from a short vacation in the South of France with four friends plus the ever sweet and lovely Baby Margaux.

Let's see what we did... Well, err, not a lot. Which is an accomplishment for me. The big question everyday was : where do you want to have a drink ? on the upstairs or downstair terrace ?

I cooked for everyone, which I enjoyed a lot, reorganized the fridge because my inner Bree from Desperate Housewives told me so, played with Baby Margaux, played with the wii, drank a little more than usual, had fun with friends, etc.

I also tried paragliding for the first time and loved the experience to bits, despite being terrified of heights. I drove a truck, too on the same day which was fun as well because I love doing things that nobody thinks I'm capable of.

And there were sales at Longchamp and my friend Ginger *totally* made me buy two bags. But I had my revenge : I made her buy her first Longchamp and she seems to be hooked *insert evil laughter here*.

I'll post my pics soon. We had a tremendous time there. I had no idea that relaxing with friends could be so good.

Blythou out.

Last sunday was a day of "firsts".

For the first time in his life, probably, Thierry fed a baby... Well, not any baby. Margaux, to be precise. This little girl's wrapped him around her finger and he just melts everytime she smiles at him. Which is often, because Margaux is a charmer.

Here's photographic proof of what I'm saying :




JM & Ginger thought that Margaux's hair was getting too long and unruly but they didn't want to take her to a hairdresser because she's too young for that... So they asked me to give her her first haircut. I felt, well... I'm going to sound corny, but I was moved. It's an important thing in a baby's life and I got to do it.

Here's what I've trimmed :




And last but not least, the "after" pic. Everyone decided I'd done a great job, Margaux included !



Maybe i'm biaised, but she's the cutest little girl I've had the pleasure to meet.

And here goes another "Margaux' appreciation society" post !

Blythou out.

Christmas' Eve has been amazing... We started by celebrating Baby Margaux's first birthday, but more on that in a separate post.
We then watched Ratatouille in 35 mm in the newly set up screening room that JM has designed in the basement of their house.

And we had dinner with the bestest wines possible... A '69 Sauternes and a '95 Cadillac. I'm usually a red wine, hard liquor or dry white wine kind of drinker, but I couldn't resist the lure of such little gems. I even followed the advice of wine experts JM and JF who told me not to spoil my palate with a gin and tonic before. I didn't even have a smoke to fully enjoy the wine.

Yes, we Frenchies are dead serious with our booze... You'd be serious too if you had tried those two. Since the wine was fabulous, we didn't drink too much and didn't feel like crap on the next morning.

And we got spoiled, I have to take a pic of my Christmas loot.

But even though I didn't really pig out like most people do on holidays, I felt horribly guilty yesterday. I ended up exercising for two hours to shed off the extra weight I could have gained. Today, I ache and hurt with every muscle (and I worked out first thing in the morning, too), but I don't hate myself for being too weak at least !

Blythou out.

Blythou (the real one, you know, the little plastic person) has an important message to deliver to her smallest, cutest, most lovable friend :








I still can't believe our smallest, cutest and most lovable friend is already a big one year old girl !!!!

She's changed all our lives for the better. Yes, I've said it before, but it's true.

Strangely, being very close to Margaux hasn't made me want a baby... Because I don't love her as some generic, cute baby. I love her as a small person with her own personnality. I'm often torn between wanting her to be a baby forever and wanting her to grow up so we can share more things (and not only Blythes and Littlest Pets).

Anyway... Have a fantastic birthday, Margaux ! Blythou and I are baking you a cake and we'll soon be around to smother you in kisses and cuddles.

Blythou out.

I've been bestowed the great honor of baking Baby Margaux's birthday cake. I'm thinking of making a sponge cake with strawberry jam filling... decorated as Hello Kitty!'s face.

If you have better ideas, don't hesitate to submit them in the comments. I want this birthday cake to be truly memorable. Even if Margaux won't taste it because she's too young for that, but go try baking a cake out of applesauce and baby food ;-)

Blythou out.

After an evening of playing Super Mario Party 8 (and getting beaten by our friends/wii experts Marion & Wally), I'm spending the day with my youngest friend. yep, you've guessed, her royal babyness, Margaux herself while her parents are busy and Thierry's visiting his mother.

So far, she's shown great interest in living toy/cat Armand, who's interested as well by this mini-human.

Gotta go feed my baby guest, now...

Blythou out.

I'm not the most punctual person on the planet. I do my best to arrive on time, but since I'm always busy and in a rush, I'm often 10 mins. late or so.

But today, I had a packed-to-the-gills schedule. And believe it or not, I wasn't late *once*. The gods of time smiled down on me...

And I got to spend the afternoon babysitting Baby Margaux while her equally busy mom was out working. We had a grand time as usual. She loves me, I love her, we feel comfortable together, I know how to mix cuddles and play so she's happy but not over stimulated and I've become pretty good at identifying her baby signals (hungry, tired, playful, sad, etc.).

I was terrified Baby Margaux would change our lives. She did. For the best. Strangely, I can't imagine my life without her. She's turned me into a better person. I *almost* feel human sometimes. I'm not afraid of showing my emotions when she's around.

And I'm even not afraid of the copious amounts of drool she never fails to spill on my clothes, hair, jewellery.

Baby Margaux, if you read this (and you will, you little genius ;-), I love you. When you're old enough, I'll let you play with my dollies, I think. And my Littlest Pets. Because you're worth it.

Blythou out

Our three day jaunt in the Netherlands went like a dream...

I'll upload my photos later today, but from the look of them, there's quite a bunch of Baby Margaux cuddling in various arms pics ;-) It was a thrill to see her go on her first rides for her 9 month b-day.

We had tons of fun. Highlights ? Coaster rides, of course, visiting Efteling inside out (the most beautiful park I've been to), but also jumping on a trampoline with Ginger like two hyper little girls, making Baby Margaux "swim" in our bathtub, singing silly songs with our friends after a day at Efteling while they were binging on chocolate cakes and I was binging on... gooseberries !, getting along fine because there was no rush and all we wanted was to relax and enjoy ourselves...

We have the very best of friends. They organised the trip, payed for our hotel and park tickets and drove us there as well (and JM let me drive his beloved flamejob covered PT Cruiser and didn't even act scared). We feel spoiled. And lucky. And spoiled.

Blythou out.

- Survived the festival
- Drank lots of red wine
- Trampled through mounts of mud
- Saw great shows from Jarvis Cocker, Dinosaur jr & Jesus & Mary Chain.
- Had a great time seeing the Fratellis, the Noisettes & the Shins
- Schmoozed and chatted a lot

Today, I wore a dress and fishnets to bake muffins for a brunch at home with friends. I spoon-fed ham gloop & fruit mush into a sweet as ever Baby Margaux. I drank some more. God, I'm a leech. I feel guilty too, because I ate some bread today. And I took two bites from a homemade cherry muffin. Someone needs to do a double exercice shift tomorrow.


Blythou out.

I've spent the last 20 minutes rolling around on my bed with Baby Margaux, playing "airplane baby", making farting noises and ducking impressive drool Niagaras.

Baby Margaux puts me in a good mood. I make her laugh. We're a good team I think.

From now on, I'll suggest she spends a wednesday with me every 3 or 4 weeks. It'll give her parents some alone time to relax while I enjoy the company of the cutest little human on Earth.

Blythou out.

Than being owed money by a lot of different employers...

Currently, I'm waiting for two major cheques (for several thousand euros). Plus a couple of smaller ones.

Luckily, I'm careful with money, I tend to save a lot more than I spend, but I'd love to get my grubby mitts on those cheques, just because.

And I can't believe that some people dare ask me to work more for them when they haven't paid what they owe me.

Some butt-kicking will happen sometime tomorrow. If I find some spare time between Baby Margaux-sitting (awww), an article to finish and a nice dinner to cook for Baby M's parents.

Blythou out.