Carnival

On February 24 this year Belgium celebrated Mardi Gras or the beginning of lent. This is the day that kids traditionally dress up although Halloween is gaining in popularity. Lucienne went as a kitty cat to the créche that day where she ate crepe among the other disguised toddlers. The black makeup was eventually wiped all over her face, but she kept her disguise on all day. This was an appropriate costume since her favorite toy now is the grey kitty cat that her cousin Mathias gave her for Christmas. The little guy has graduated from ''reow" to "kitty" as Lu's vocabulary expands.

Now at the créche, holidays are celebrated with art projects (bricolage). For carnival Lu made this mask, theoretically to wear at a parade. We didn't make it to one, feeling the mayhem would be too much for us.

The Europeans take a week holiday during this time with many parades and festivals usually involving dressing up and drinking. We planned a visit to cousin Michelle and Axel's near Paris for the holiday. We couldn't wait to show them some of Lu's accomplishments since they'd seen her in November for Thanksgiving.