Wednesday, April 14, 2010

If you want to read the blog in French which is the original language of the blog, please click on the French flag:

Dear Family and Friends,  

In my last post dating back to October 2008, I had promised not to let again 4 months go before writing again! Promise kept… well, 18 months later, I finally take up the pen or the keyboard... 

Catching up with what happened during 18 months would be too difficult, so I'll just briefly summarize those few months and then I will take the usual course of the blog, that is to say, tell the busy lives of Eva, Jerome, and Lynn.

In November 2008, I discovered with great joy that I was pregnant, two weeks later and 20 pounds lighter, I was hospitalized. When I'm pregnant, I suffer from hyperemesis gravidarum (HG), also known as excessive vomiting/ nausea in pregnancy. Basically, I vomit a lot (this can go up to 40 times a day), and I absolutely cannot eat nor drink. The slightest drop of water or crumb of bread once swallowed is systematically returned by my stomach. It is a very rare disease and its severe form (which I suffer) is even rarer. This HG is very difficult to live, because I literally die of hunger and thirst; I dream of drinking but I cannot. It is very painful to vomit as much (even on an empty stomach, there is always bile to vomit and one can produce up to 3 liters per day). My esophagus was torn several times in several places and each vomiting reopened the wound, i.e. impossible to heal. Imagine a huge sore throat, the one that gives you pain up to your ears; even talking is too painful, and multiply that sore throat by 1000 and you get an idea of what I experienced. I also experienced tendinitis in the jaw (by trying to not to throw up), inflammation of large veins because of the various IVs, I cannot count the number of shots and injections I received etc. 

In short, a real and relentless nightmare which only stops when the baby is out. One day when I have time, I will write a blog just on my pregnancy, so that I may not forget it; because although it was the hardest physical and mental trial I had to overcome, it was also a wonderful time during which I felt so close to Lynn, Paul (he surely suffered a lot because of my condition), my family, my friends and our Savior Jesus Christ.  

On June 11, 2009, Lynn Joëlle Picard joined our family. At 7 ½ months (34 weeks of gestation), I was induced because I had reached the physical limit of the pregnancy and the doctors did not know what else to do. However, despite the premature birth, Lynn was a “big baby:” She weighed 5.93 pounds and measured 18 inches. She was quickly able to breathe and eat by herself.

This photo was taken mid-December just after the doctors placed my feeding tube:

 

 This photo was taken just before my departure to remove the feeding tube placed in my intestine; I am then about 6 months pregnant: 

 Two photos just after the laying of the way-blood (10 days before delivery):

Now photos of Lynn for all those of you who do not know her yet. This was taken in the hour after her birth:

On this one, she was one week old; I like this picture a lot because you can see the love Eva and Jerome had immediately for their sister: 

 

Lynn and her older brother are close-knit. He is able to make her laugh out loud like nobody else. He is her favorite clown. In this photo, she is one week old (that's why she does not laugh): 

Lynn loves Eva who is a true second mother to her. From the very beginning, they shared a very strong bond. Lynn slept well only in my arms and those of her sister. In this photo, Lynn is a month and a half and Eva embraces her with her arm in a cast. (Eva broke her right wrist in a fall from a tree; she had a cast for 6 weeks):

Our first photo as a “large family” (with 3 children, in France you are considered a large family). Lynn was not yet two weeks, she was really tiny:

Some pictures of our three treasures: on the first, they hid under Lynn's bed:

Now, some details about Lynn: she celebrated her 10 months on Sunday. Like all kids her age, she likes to play hide and seek, she catches everything which subsequently goes directly into her mouth; she also squeezes her catches between her fingers as if her life depended on it, which is very painful when she grabs my or Eva’s hair. 
 

She is progressing well, sitting on her little behind, moving her legs on one side and the other; hence, she manages to go wherever she wants. She tries to crawl, which means that she falls regularly on her nose; her nostrils are always scratched. When one nostril is healed, the other one is scratched! 
 

 
She no longer wants to sit or lay on her back. She turns around constantly; the diaper change has becomes a real challenge. 

She makes lots of small bubbles of saliva and she has become a true expert in small mouth noises. She does not say anything in French. Once she said "papa" (daddy in French), but it was not voluntary, and she sometimes says "mama" when she is very upset. Still, she knows very well how to communicate with us: she wiggles in every direction when she wants us to be sit down somewhere. She put her arms up when she wants to go back in our arms. She pushes us away when she does not want kisses. She cries when she is dirty or she is bored, she pinches one of her ear when she is tired (Jerome did the same), and she makes cute mouth noises to get our attention and make us laugh. 

She enjoys music very much. When we sing, her eyes are sparkling with happiness. Her favorite song is “Kindness begins with me." When we start to sing it, she smiles, laughs, wiggles her arms and legs and tries to sings loudly. This is very cute.  

She loves to catch everything that comes under her hands, and whatever it is, she will try to put it on her head and behind her neck. What she prefers to catch is our plastic tablecloth; she pulls and pulls and pulls, and then she puts it on her shoulders and runs away in her walker. I put the tablecloth back on our table at least 5 times a day. She is strong enough to do it even when the meal is served, so we are very careful.

She is particularly fond of spoons, small, large, ladles, plastic ones, metal, short, she loves all of them without distinction of size or color. When she gets one, she shakes it in all directions and then licks it!  

She does not like pacifiers. When we put it in her mouth, she just spits it right away. The only time she kept it was when I told Timur, Paul’s assistant, that Lynn did not like pacifiers and that she would spit it within seconds. That time, of course, she kept it for 5 minutes in a row and Timur said she likes it!!! As soon as he left the car, she spat it. It never happened before and never happened again. But I’m grateful because she does not suck her fingers.  

She has a real passion for clothe labels and now that she moves very easily in her walker, she visits our room several times a day, grabs our clothes, looks for a label and sucks it. She also catches clothes that are hanging on the drying racks, finds the labels... and dry clothes are not dry anymore! 

She also just started to love her books. She has two books that she finds fascinating. She turns the laminated cardboard pages. She looks at the drawings and then licks the page, then turns the page, bites the next page, looks at the drawings, goes to the page after, pinches it very hard, tries to rip it, then turns the page and continues on...

Of course, she loves her father and when he comes home from work, she wiggles her feet and hands of joy and stops only when she is in his arms. 
Together, they play a game she loves: Paul pushes back slowly Lynn who resists as much as she can not to fall back on the bed. Once she is lying down, he offers two fingers that she catches and slightly helps her to come back to a sitting position. She really likes this game but only 3 to 4 times, after she gets tired. 

Lynn is very attached to me, when she sees me, her face radiates happiness and a big smile crosses her face. She is very anxious when I'm not in the same room, which I confess leave me little freedom.  

I love everything about her, her toothless smile, her pudgy little fingers, her thick thighs, her big belly, her chubby little toes. I never get tired of kissing her and looking at her. She has a strong character. She knows what she wants and what she does not want. Since she is little, she has been doing a funny thing which amuses Paul and me. When someone carries her, she will not look at that person. She simply "snubs" that person as if he or she did not exist. It is as if she is a princess and we are the slaves… Very funny!  
She also likes to make us laugh: if she manages to make us laugh, she will repeat the same action again to make us laugh again and again. 
I continue to breastfeed fully, until she is one year old (to avoid food allergies that are present in my family). I may have difficult pregnancies, but I am blessed in my feedings. 

Jerome and Eva have grown so much during these past 18 months ... ah, it makes me sick that I did not keep the blog during that time, because I forget so quickly and they change so quickly. 

My pregnancy was also difficult for them, but fortunately, family and friends were around! Thank you so much for taking care of the children during that period! 

For them, those months were rich in changes: a sick mother unable to take care of them for months, a father who went to work abroad (Paul left in March 2009 to Tajikistan), the birth of a sister in June 2009 (Paul came back 3 weeks for the birth), moving out again in August 2009 to Tajikistan ... new country, new culture, new languages (here the people speak Tajik and Russian), new school etc... Poor kids!

Despite all this, they have been doing quite fine and are happy because they have each other. They love each other and spend all their time together. I do not think they realize how lucky they are to have each other.

Here is a quick overview of their games.  

Clowns and fairy/witch in winter 2008: 

Pirates in spring 2009:

Zorro and Dr. mad in summer 2009: 

Adventurers in fall 2009:

Explorers in winter 2009 (photo taken in pitch dark by Paul’s work night vision goggles): 

Again as pirates last night in spring 2010 (you will notice that the brown socks were in fact Pirates’ wooden legs):

The children adapted very fast to a new environment and to the life in Dushanbe. On September 1^st, 12 days after we flew in, they started to attend Tajik school number 34 (they go by number here). They attended class in the morning and in the afternoon, I taught them the French program. After two months, I withdrew them from the local school, and now I teach them every morning from Monday to Friday. Thus, all the afternoons are free for them to do what they want.  
It was the right decision for our family, Eva and Jerome progress quickly; they learn well and have more free time. For me, it is a lot of work, but I like to teach. I am fortunate to have intelligent and curious children.

Below is a photo of the children in uniform at the start of classes in school #34:
 

Jerome follows the first grade curriculum even though he should be in Kindergarten. However, I estimated he was mentally prepared (and also really wanted) to attack the first grade. He is amazingly ahead in math and has a passion for numbers. He easily solves his sister’s math problems. He frequently, just for the fun of it, counts up to a thousand and recites the 10 multiplication tables alone while playing with his legos. On one evening, Jerome could not sleep so Paul told him to count to one thousand. On the next morning, as Jerome barely woke up, he went to the bathroom counting: “778, 779, 780, …” Paul asked him: “What are you saying?” He answered naturally: “I stopped counting yesterday night at 762, so I am finishing up now.” 

Another little anecdote: one day, Jerome asked Paul what was the largest figure, and Paul answered him that there were none; it was simply "infinite." A few weeks later, Jerome asked: "What was greater than infinity?" We replied: "Nothing!" to which he exclaimed: “Of course there is: infinity 1, infinity 2, infinity 3..." and started again to count…  

Last week, he finished his book to learn how to read in French. Now, he knows how to read all the sounds which is not simple in French. So every night, during family scripture reading, he requests to read two verses of the Book of Mormon (it takes quite some time because he is still slow and often he wants to read more than two verses and not the shortest). Jerome loves everything about the geology (especially volcanoes, earthquakes, landslides, tsunamis etc…) and also geography. He likes to study the different countries of the world.

Last December, I realized our little boy was a bit lost when he asked the following question: "For real, where is our house?" I told him it was here in Dushanbe, Tajikistan. He got upset and said: "No! What are we? American, French, Tajik?” After 5 years spent in the U.S., a year in France, and a few months in Tajikistan, he was lost. I explained that we were French people living in Dushanbe. I explained to him that he was French because he was born in France, we spoke French at home, and he was studying what other children study in France. So he became happy and quite relieved to know what or who he was.  

Jerome celebrated his 6^th birthday on January 1^st. He is a smart and very nice boy. For instance, some time ago, we were studying together a work of art, and he had to answer questions. One question was: "Does this painting please you?” He had the choice to circle one of three little faces: one smiling face (i.e. he loved the painting); another one that did not smile (i.e. he does not like nor dislike it), and an unhappy face (i.e. he does not like the picture). After several minutes of silence, he declared: "The poor painter, I do not want to hurt his feelings.” I told him: "Do not worry, you're not going to hurt his feelings, he is already dead.” To which Jerome exclaimed: "He is dead?" Me: "Yes, long ago, this is an old picture.” Then, he said: "Even if he is dead, I do not want to hurt his feelings. He could see me from the spirit world.” With that in mind, he circled the smiling man.  
Perhaps it was part of this artistic sense, because since our arrival in Tajikistan, Jerome has drawn a lot, he has even written several books. I think he draws quite well, certainly better than I do.

Here is one of these drawings he made last January:

He continues to make us laugh. Such as that morning when he had just woken up, Paul asked him if he had slept well, to which Jerome replied: "No, since I got up this morning, my back hurts.” Paul then asked: "Really? Why?" That's the answer he received: "I do not know, maybe I did lie down too long."  

Another time, Eva asked us: "When we get back to France, may I ride a horse?” Jerome in a natural tone said: "Me, I would like to ride a Komodo dragon.” Eva, not disturbed at all by her brother’s commentary, continued on saying: "I would really love to have a dog one day if we stay long enough in one place.” Jerome added: "Me, I would love to have a shark. But I think this is not possible!" 

In Tajikistan, we have regular power cuts some of which are really long, from morning till the evening, and sometimes even during the evening, the electricity is not yet restored. Thus, one evening we were still without electricity and it was time for the children to get to bed, Jerome very worried asked this question: "Mom, how will we be able to sleep in the dark?"  

Jerome is a little boy full of life, living everything 100%. When he is happy, he is really happy when he is sad, it is the end of the world (well, of his world). When it hurts, it is so bad that he believes he will "die" (I am quoting him). Once, he had skinned his knee and he was crying saying it was horrible, and that he was dying. But minutes later, he was back up and jumping with his sister. Paul then asked: "Jerome, you're not dying here?" Our rogue Jerome replied:" No, I am trying to hold it!" 

A final story about Jerome, it dates from last week. Her sister prepared us a wonderful fruit salad with apples, bananas, clementines (the only three fruits available at the bazaar currently) with chocolate chips and a squeeze of lemon. He told his sister, after eating the fruit salad: "I eat, but hey, it was not really good. It would be better without the apples, clementines and bananas!" Paul replied to Jerome: "So there would be only chocolate left!" You should have seen the big smile on Jerome’s face! A fruit salad with only chocolate... the dream!  

Some pictures of him and Eva: 

Here, with their first pet, a wild turtle that Paul brought back from the mountains. Jerome and Eva have named it Takate (because of the noise it makes with it digs the earth ... takate, takate) and despite the fact that Takate did not want to “play,” they still managed to play with it!

Three pictures with their Grandma Juliette who spent six weeks with us (from late January to mid-March), one in the botanical garden, one at the bazaar (local market), and one with a random Tajik old man.

Photos of the children lost in the plain among the sheep:

On the top of a hill dancing:

In an old Soviet car…

On a river side throwing rocks into the water (still one of Jerome’s favorite games):

Two photos of them at the Gissar fortress, one in front, the other on the wall:

Three pictures of them in downtown, just so you can see how it looks like around here:

Now, after writing about Lynn and Jerome, it is Eva’s turn.

Eva celebrated her 8^th birthday on March 11^th. She is a very quick-witted girl; she listens to everything; she is sensitive even if she does not show it; she is always ready to help. She is a tremendous help for me, I know I can count on her to watch her little sister.  
She loves her little sister so much: she covers her of kisses and plays with her a lot. Since her sister’s birth, she has been very protective. Eva was very relieved when Lynn’s jaundice was cured after a month (Eva talked about it as a "yellow fever"). She is always worried to know whether I fed Lynn and if I changed her diaper. She never lets her cry, and when I cook she stops her activities to take care of her sister.  

She likes a lot the nature, animals and dreams of having a farm when she grows up. Eva and her brother can play for hours outside in our garden with leaves, stones, sticks, and mud!  
She studies well at school. She is a perfectionist and cannot bear to be wrong. She reads very well, and does not even stumble over words; in math, she does a good job too. But the topics she prefers are history and science. She also has a phenomenal memory! 

She loves to play sports and particularly enjoys her classes of taekwondo (3 times a week, since October). Like everything else she does, she does it thoroughly. She has already won a Yellow Belt and is actively preparing to obtain the Green Belt. She likes physical training even if she suffers afterwards from body aches or "contractions" in hers own words.

She keeps a "diary" which bears the following title "My book of remembrance when I am a kid." Every couple days, she writes in it with an explanatory drawing! But it is secret, I do not read it, just sometimes, she shows me her drawings. 

Eva makes us laugh. For example, one morning I complained that Lynn had woken up several times during the night because she had nightmares. Eva asked me: "What kinds of nightmares did she have? Did she dream that someone cut your breast off?" 
Another time, when we were shopping in a store, a music clip was featuring a sport car on a big screen and Eva exclaimed irritably: "It annoys me! They always show the girl and they do not let us see the racing car!"
Here, we are invaded by the Chinese plastic products of very bad quality. So, Eva asked: "Are all the houses in China made of plastic?"  

She is also shocked by the local restrooms, which are almost always what we call in French “Turkish toilet” (a hole in the ground). When we go out outside Dushanbe, it is literally a hole in the earth with stones for toilet paper. In other words, it has become a rule, each time before we leave the house, it is mandatory to stop in the bathroom. One day, Eva asked: "In Turkey, are there only Turkish toilets?" 

Eva has grown a lot in those past few months. She also broke a wrist, twisted her ankle (twice), has learned to set mathematical operations and solve problems, and has lost a couple teeth. One night, she discovered that the little mouse (the one that comes when kids lose teeth, for you it is a tooth fairy) did not exist. That night at midnight, I entered as quietly as possible in her bedroom but she woke up and saw me. It broke her heart (and mine to see her so sad). She had kept a correspondence with the “little mouse” for months. She wrote the mouse little words of love, left pieces of cheese and small clothes so that the mouse would not be cold in winter and had imagined a whole fascinating life and funny reasons of why the mouse was gathering thousands of teeth. Once, she lost a tooth on a Sunday, and she wondered if the mouse would come that night. She explained: "It depends if the mouse is a member of the Church or not. If it is a member, it will not work on Sunday and I will have nothing under my pillow." 

Eva is actively preparing for her baptism. In the Church, children may be baptized from the age of eight, which is considered the age of reason, because they are old enough to choose for themselves, and know the difference between good and evil. Eva cannot be baptized here, because the Church is not established, so she will wait for our return to France. Meanwhile, she reads on her own the scriptures, but ask me lots of questions afterwards. She knows the first 10 articles of faith by heart. She prays alone, and sets up daily goals for own improvement. She has already prepared a dietetic meal (as a service activity), she also prepared and conducted a family home evening on Joseph Smith, and yesterday, she sewed the holes of a dozen of socks for me. She is really motivated ... she is a big girl very determined. 

I am truly blessed to be her mother. She loves her brother and he loves her back. One day, Jerome asked: "Eva, you know why I always want to play with you?” She replied: "No". Her brother then said with eyes full of love: "Because you're beautiful!"  

She is a fan of her father, and like me, she thinks that he is handsome, strong, and intelligent.  
A photograph of Eva on the day of her 8^th birthday. A friend of Paul who has couple horses told us we could ride his horse whenever we wanted. So that was a perfect gift for Eva on her birthday. 

Paul is doing well. He enjoys his job here for the OSCE, although it is not always easy. Circumstances and conditions are far from ideal. He works in a border management project with Tajik border guards. Part of his job is to establish a training center for those border guards units and he also teaches and hones specific skills that are very needed in this country. 
One day, a friend of Jerome asked “where is your dad?” Jerome replied: "My dad, he digs holes in the mountains and hides inside.” Another time, he told another friend: "Dad builds igloos and sleeps in those." 
Eva has also a certain vision of her dad’s work. One evening while we were eating dinner and Paul was at a cocktail reception at the French Embassy, she said: "Poor dad, he is again at a cocktail party where he can only drink apple juice."

Some pictures of Paul:

As for me, I'm happy to be a stay-at-home mom, so I can always be present for our children and for Paul. One of my friends who, after having a child, returned to work, recently told me: "I was bored staying at home doing nothing. Being bored is a verb that has completely disappeared from my vocabulary. 

Just as an example, since I started writing this blog yesterday afternoon, I did not teach school to the children this morning (Paul was not working this morning; so, he took over); I did not cook the diner last night nor today’s lunch (we had sandwiches, fruits and vegetables); and yesterday afternoon, I did not take the children to their taekwondo class! 
However, while writing this blog, I've changed diapers 8 times; I nursed several times; I launched 3 times the washer; I put the clothes to dry 3 times; and, I picked up the clothes once dry; I washed and cut vegetables and fruit; I cleaned the table several times; 2 times I washed the dishes (the 3rd time, on the evening, Paul did it); I dumped two garbage cans; I kissed the children many times; I helped to prepare and carry a big bucket full of water for Eva and Jerome to play in the sunny garden (I got my feet wet with cold water); I admired Eva jump with her rope; I listened Jerome’s three story books he had created; I chased a number of big flies out of the house; I prepared a snack; I wiped the water from a glass that had been spilled; I also helped Eva sew several socks (put the thread through the needle, tie a knot, put the thread through the needle again and again...); I kept busy playing with Lynn with one hand while I was trying to type with the other; Lynn threw herself repeatedly on the keyboard, but did not have time to lick it, I'm fast too; I removed from the mouth of Lynn countless small things that should not be there; I did tickle her, I sang again and again so that our baby would be happy; I cradled Lynn and she fell asleep in my arms (2 times); I continued to type with one hand while I had pins and needles on the other arm and legs because Lynn was sleeping; I did not answer the phone when it rang (anyway I do not understand anything and my interlocutors do not understand me better); I could not get a shower because of a water cut; I read the scriptures with the family; we prayed together; I cared for a booboo; untangled Eva’s hair; talked to Paul and listened to him; I ate; I brushed my teeth; I read everything to Paul during the evening until midnight; and, with so many interruptions, the proof-reading was not superfluous; I slept (though I was awoken 3 times by an hungry Lynn).  

In short, writing this blog was quite an adventure! But it's worth it and I’ll start again ... soon.  

Details of our life in Tajikistan for another time. Perhaps, you remember, I said this would be a brief post. Paul told me: "You cannot write something short." 

We send you warm hugs. Now that I have updated the blog, I want to keep it that way.

Elodie, the woman who is NEVER bored.