Even though it's not Christmas yet, David found a new toy: the box Maddie's new dresser came in. He and Dad discovered plenty of games: David-goes-in-the-box-while-Dad-pounds-the-said-box, climbing-and-sliding-down-the-box, Dad-puts-the-box-vertical-with-David-in-it / David-pushes-it-from-the-inside-to-be horizontal-again as well as box-basketball (see pictures below).
Bottom line: David does NOT need electronic toys to have fun (hint! hint!)
During Auntie Ann and Grandma Russell's visit, it has been decided to do again a picture with Santa.
David may not have seen the French cult movie, but he was nonetheless very suspiscious of this old unknown guy who dresses like a weirdo, and started crying as soon as he was on his lap - just like last year. Mom and dad had to intervene to avoid ruining the picture.
The Russell side of the family, being very much into this kind of photo op, tried to see the good side of things, claiming David cried less than last year. The Poulain side of the family, not being into pictures with Santa at all, didn't care.
A set of recent pictures have rocked the diplomatic world. They show the nation of Davidland providing energy relief to its neighbour country Maddiland, drawing both praise and skepticism.
Davidland is indeed notorious for its reckless behavior when it comes to its neighbours. Just two days before the pictures were taken, an incident happened with the nation of Kittyland. Fed up with constant missile attacks in its Eyes region, it retaliated with a counter strike that left Davidland shaken. That's why experts from all over the world examined the pictures to see if they were photoshop'ed - but all claim they are genuine.
Some see hope in this event. President Obama congratulated the two nations, mentioning 527 times the word Hope and invited the leaders of the two growing nations to take a beer with him at the White House (the invitation was later canceled when Mr. Obama was told the two leaders were under drinking age). Officials from Kittyland, not surprisingly, expressed skepticism.
Right after Thanksgiving Auntie Ann and Grandma Russell paid us a visit (technically they visited the kids more than us - such is the life of new parents). As usual, Ann was all over David and of course Maddie (girlz power!). She left Boston with kids in her eyes. At her return, Uncle Joseph made sure Ann was still taking the pill - JK.
That didn't take long! David crashed his first car while at the zoo (see picture #3)
Steven and Christopher better hide the keys to their cars next time we go to NJ, because otherwise their car is going DOWN!
The other day the three nations of Kittyland, Davidland and Maddyland met for a top-level summit (note: Babyland has been renamed Davidland a few months ago to avoid confusion with the newly born nation of Maddyland). The summit, organized by Momland, was considered as a success even though officials acknowledged it was not always easy to plan.
But our source, which requested anonymity, told us that this summit was also used for behind the scenes talks behind Maddyland and Kittyland. "There is nothing concrete at this point, but the talks are ongoing" we were told. Maddyland indeed approached Kittyland to strike a mutual assistance deal against. The young nation is indeed annoyed of the several careless intrusion from her bigger neighbor - something Kittyland can relate to.
Will a deal be signed? Nothing is sure yet. "Kittyland is torn. On the one hand, Davidland has learnt to mostly respect the international borders. But they are still every once in a while caught transgressing those borders, in particular in sensitive, natural resources-abundant regions such as the bathroom."
Some officials close to the matter worry that, as time goes, Maddyland might become another Davidland. This however does not seem to concern Kittyland officials. It's true that Kittyland's record archives are notoriously poor, so its government can hardly track how Maddyland's track record compares to Davidland's 2 years ago.
A few weeks ago Grandma Brigitte visited the whole family for a week. The competition for being the most favorite French grandparent has definitely started!
The other day Madeleine had her first bath.
Like her older brother she hated it.
Like her older brother she screamed bloody murder the whole time.
Like her older brother she swore that, if it can be her decision, she will never ever be naked ever again.
Yeah, right!
Like another famous Madeleine, in the middle of the night, we turned on our light and said "something is not right". Sure enough, little Maddy had a fever (which can be serious in an infant). After spending the day at in the ER at Cambridge hospital for testing, little Maddy was sent on a stretcher to Mass General hospital via ambulance (picture #1, unfortunately, they didn't let her ring the siren;-)) where she spent 2 days for observation with mommy (picture #2). Fortunately it was not serious (she just had a little cold) and is back at home with her mommy, daddy and big brother David. And back to her own little bed in her own little room (picture #3)
