The spring that never was - the sun at last comes out, temperatures at last climb into the twenties and, somehow, all seems a little more right with the world. After throwing the mother of all paddies over papa denying her the right to perform gymnastics with a pair of nail scissors in her hand, la petite coquinette has been (almost) a model of good behaviour since. Of course part of that may be due to the fact that we had visitors last week.
The good Doctors C and the two now-not-so-mini Jezoids arrived on Monday on the early morning flight from Gatwick for a 5 day Lyon city break. They thus arrived chez nous in time for lunch before heading off to their hotel, allowing la petite a chance to nap and recover from the excitement of having two young lads to keep her amused. A short walk round the zoo convinced the visiting parents that an early night was necessary for them all to recover from the early start. And with la petite at crèche the following day, it was early evening before she renewed acquaintance with the two Jezlas.
In the meantime the tourists braved Lyon in the morning rain to visit the Roman amphitheatre before the weather improved enough in the afternoon for a play in the park. Dinner for seven back at ours followed, and it was thus well after nine by the time peace descended on the apartment once more and la petite was at last asleep having overcome a doudou lost in bed crisis. Her new, big bed that is. Another small rung on the ladder of toddler development was otherwise successfully climbed without drama (so far) last weekend, when a trip to Ikea to purchase a rug finally led to a rearrangement of la petite chambre and a move from cot to bed.
A group outing was on the agenda for Wednesday, with a trip to the park and lunch in the sunshine in one of the buvettes. La petite famille then headed home to allow a nap for la petite and la bienheureuse to beat the 2pm deadline. Our visitors stayed to enjoy more time in the park playgrounds and a boating trip on the lake before joining us for dinner once more.
Thursday was crèche day for la petite and meanwhile her parents were treated to lunch by the good Drs C. The expectant mother then headed home in time for two to await the visit that, of course, never came, while papa accompanied the Lyon tourists on a mini-tour of the old town. Up via funicular to Fourvière basilica, where a whinging cease-fire deal was reached between father and sons to allow a short visit inside the religious edifice, before we trudged down the hill for a look around la Musée Miniature et Cinéma. The young visitors were more interested in the original cinema props than the models that originally made the museum's name, but we still spent nearly two hours wandering through the exhibits. It was thus five rather foot-sore tourists who trudged back across two rivers for a final diner en (deux) familles.
The travellers were back in time for Friday lunch, before heading off to the airport to catch their flight home. They were thus privileged to witness the partial beginnings of another breakthrough in la petite coquinette's growth. Having resisted for some time virtually all attempts at potty-training, on Friday morning, as she wandered toute nue through the apartment (prior to our guests arriving I hasten to add), she suddenly decided it was time for a first proper pipi in the potty. And several more since. The process remains a bit hit and miss, since she still refuses to wear normal panties and once a nappy is on, well… a nappy is designed to be peed in, isn't it…? Mais bon, ça commence enfin…
