We got home today from a long weekend spent in the very beautiful and charming Ardennes, an area of Belgium with rolling hills, green pastures and very old, stone cottages. We stayed in a mill in the town of Grupont where we went last year with my folks. Waking up to the sound of the river with ducks quacking is absolutely heavenly, if you ask me. I stayed in bed two of the mornings enjoying that soothing sound before grabbing my running shoes and exploring the town and surrounding area on foot. Running in the early morning with that crisp, clean air is as heavenly as the river and ducks. I enjoyed two runs and after three months of being the only one to be able to soothe Tiny Baby, I am thrilled to say that he is now permitting others to hold him and keep him entertained while I have some much-needed "selfish time" to myself. Afterall, with all the traveling we are doing lately, I can't save running for Brussels alone and I can't bring along the jogger stroller everywhere we go.

One highlight of our weekend was sampling some escargots after a very didactic session on these slimey critters at an Escargot farm. Eating butter that has the texture of cheese and various cured meats afterwards at our cottages with different beer was a definite highlight too. We had a hike to the "cou cou" which was hard as the first part was all uphill and we didn't have snacks. Another hard part was car travel with Tiny Baby who really can't stand his carseat or gets motion sick or something. The screaming is brutal and so one of the days, I stayed at the cottage with him so we could avoid all that.

We enjoyed beautiful weather the whole weekend. In a few days, we'll be packing our bags for our next adventure...Ireland. I can't wait. And getting plane tickets for 5 Euros each just could not be passed up. Ryanair sure is amazing and if we could have flown on a Tuesday, we only would have paid 1.49 Euros. Our friends flew to Shannon for 50 cents, if you can believe it! It is ridiculous but true! I am really looking forward to heading back to Ireland and enjoying an Irish coffee in a smoke-free pub. I am so happy to say that Tiny Baby may never experience a smokey pub in his lifetime as one by one, countries will be become smoke-free, I hope. Anyway, enough about all that. Just can't wait to get over to that gorgeous, green isle.

I've been trying to deal with the 300+ fotos we made of our 1 week in Torino and decided to post a nice one of Frunty with his Nonna Lilly. Frunty had so much fun with his cousins and, luckily, he was able to understand what they were saying to him. On our last night there, we went out to a typical pizzeria, and savoured every bite.

Happy Three Month Birthday, Tiny Baby!

You are growing so fast. You love to pull your ears and stare at your toes and giggle and smile. You are a jolly, little guy. You enjoy watching your brother and your eyes follow him as he jumps around you. You really study pictures or books for an unusually long time for your age. You are very happy in the snuggly...sometimes the hugabub when you are ready for a nap or need to be soothed and in the baby bjorn, you love to face outwards and watch the world going by. Your neck is quite strong now but you don't sit up on your own yet. You are getting there. No rush, Tiny Baby...time is going fast enough. You like to snuggle and sometimes I wake up to find you and your brother side by side with your heads touching and when Frunty is half asleep, he grabs and holds onto your hand. We really love having you around, Tiny Baby. What a joy! You are also a little world traveller and have beaten some records. Daddy did his first flight at three months, you at five weeks. Daddy was the youngest to visit Torino at three months, you at 2.5! At three months you have already got two passports full with stamps...Tunisia, Egypt, Italy. Good for you!

You are getting good about taking little naps by yourself and are asleep right now on the bed. You really like your Winnie-the-Pooh, fleecy blanket over your face sometimes. But you'll sleep for a very long time in the snuggly. I can take you for a run like this morning but you don't sleep anymore, you look around. Another runner ran beside me today for a bit and said what a cutie pie you are. We are all so thrilled to have you in our lives, Mr. Tiny Two Legs!

Today we returned from Torino, Italy. We spent a wonderful week showing off our new little one to all the relatives. As usual, we enjoyed excellent hospitality and ate our hearts out! There were many highlights but one of the funnest parts was watching Frunty with his cousins, playing and goofing around. I had a hard time believing that my little guy was speaking Italian so well and seemed to understand most of what was said to him. Is that my child?! Conversing with his relatives, with a Piedmontese accent? It just seems amazing to me! Tiny Baby and I had fun most mornings going for a "cafe" which means espresso. Chatting with the folks a little at Cafe Bresil was fun. And it sure gave me a boost to get me through the day...walking around a lot, eating a lot! As usual, I love browsing the markets and went to several different markets this past week. Got some cute socks for the kids! We noticed how friendly people are especially towards children in Torino especially compared to here. People always made a fuss over the kids and asked questions or just smiled at us. Even the noisy kids in the piazza told each other to be quiet one night when we walked by, saying that the baby was sleeping and needed quiet. We were surprised and appreciated this kindness to us. I don't know what the heck is wrong with people around here. Why are they so cold towards children? I dunno. Anyway, after Egypt and Italy and all the friendliness down south, the coldness here sticks out more so. But soon we'll be in Ireland where people are over-the-top in terms of friendliness!

Just got home from a super trip to Egypt. We really like El Gouna and would recommend it to anyone! Tiny Baby went to bed at the usual 9 pm and when I crawled in a little while later, I found his Douglas train beside his head. Frunty at some point brought it down to his brother and I thought it was an absolutely adorable act. More on our trip later. But first...update on Tiny Baby:

*he loves pulling on his ears and holding is own hands
*smiles and laughs, often before we start smiling to him
*has a bit of a cranky time at around 7 pm but otherwise, very calm
*weighs about 14 pounds, eyes browny-blue, hair seems fair-ish