Wow, it's almost Christmas and so much has happened since I last wrote. We have been enjoying our boys so much and let me try to update you on what is going on.

We enjoyed our trip to Canada very much, and stayed with our dear friends as well as the nonnie and had fun with my folks in Cuba. It was too long away from Daddy though so we won't be doing that length of trip again for awhile. Frunty seems to be generally fine as long as mommy is around whereas Pit cried for daddy the first few days and then subsequently, asked for him and whined here and there...understandly so, he is really daddy's boy. So the reunion in Frankfurt was fantastic and we had fun at the hotel with the bowling alley and pool and driving back to Brussels with our new, awesome car...gold and fast! And catching up with Mowgli too once we got home.

Frunty is really enjoying school as far as we can tell and when he gets there in the morning, I often see him give a hug to a friend or two. His best friend seems to be Leo. Part of the reason, I think, is because they talk to each other in English and that gives comfort throughout the day. Frunty loves doing artwork and as soon as he arrives, he greets his teacher Marie Catherine, puts his collation in one box and lunch in the other and usually sits down and starts drawing. Right now he likes drawing transformers.

Afterschool we tend to go the pool at the club and play in the indoor playground called Aspirini Land which is fantastic with this rainy weather. Frunty is really doing well with swimming on his own and was just given a test to see where he would be placed if/when he started swimming lessons. He was placed with the 6-8 year olds even though he is only 5 1/2 and has never had formal lessons. We have just goofed around a lot in the pool and also, on holidays, Grampa and Nonno have shown different things too. Frunty also loves just coming home and playing quietly in the front room, helping us prepare dinner (making chicken nuggets) and we occasionally do yoga. He loves doing different positions and looking at our yoga book to learn more.

One area that we are booking on with Frunty is sitting at the table and he can now do this very well after we really talked about sitting calmly and eating well. Frunty really responds well to discussing things and loves the bedtime rules and looking at the chart to see what comes next. Now he knows it off by heart. Frunty has some anxiety before birthday parties and seeing St. Nicholas so we have been talking about this and doing some role plays. Also, at school, he complains of little kids beating him up during the recess time. We are doing role plays on self-defense and he no longer complains so I think it must be working. He knows we are on his side but want him to defend himself when we aren't there and so we talk about this and hopefully it is sorting itself out. In the new year, I am looking at signing Frunts up for a martial arts course.

Pit is a solid "chunk" of a kid now and has grown so much recently. He loves getting dressed and always makes sure his socks are pulled up very very high and that his sleeves are pulled down properly after washing his hands. He is completely toilet trained which he did on his own six months ago and even dry most nights. He is really funny and goofy and enjoys making silly faces all the time, especially if someone puts him on the spot.

His favourite past times seem to be going to the Little Gym and usually he wants to go by bike or pousette although the weather dictates by car often and then he gets a bit angry. At the Little Gym he is very far advanced compared to other children his age in terms of physical abilities. He can already somersault on his own, get on the parallel bars and swing and jump off (often landing on his two feet) and is eager to try anything and everything. Because we were in Canada for a month, we are now making up lessons and go twice a week. On Tuesday Pit has Amina and on Thursdays, Pierre. It is great to have two different teachers. I find that Pit really likes Pierre and will try to throw a ball on his head and do other silly stuff and goof around more, allowing Pierre to kiss him at the end of the session. Lately, Pit wants to do different activities with mommy not looking. This is a big, independent step. I turn around until he calls me later to look.

Pit also plays very well on his own at home, sitting in the front room quietly. I find this front room has a really lovely energy and obviously this is so since both kids feel calm and happy in there. I sometimes sit beside Pit and read a bit, something for me, and Pit rarely asks for tv, just plays calmly. He also loves the pool and wanted to try without waterwings one time recently but then got scared in a deeper part and so is back to wearing them. But at least he tried. Pit puts on his goggles and floats around, practising kicking, blowing bubbles etc.

I am really thrilled with their progress and how Frunty is responding to talking about how he is doing and feeling. I used to ask him what he did at school and he would say nothing, or he couldn't remember. I was no asking properly and now that I do, he tells me all about his day and sings songs and other fun stuff. And Pit has very few angry spells now since we right away talk through it and so we don't even seem to have temper tantrums. This whole thing with telling a kid to be quiet when he gets angry or "fix your face" does not work with my boys. It just suppresses their normal, natural feelings of sadness or anger or frustration. We find out why their faces are looking sad or worried or whatever, validate their feelings and then have them work on finding a solution on how we can feel better. While Pit is a bit young for this, just comforting and validating his angry feelings for example, seems to work and with Frunty, going through the process is really have great results. I am really proud of myself for being a patient, loving mom to takes time to help them help themselves.

Daddy is doing a super job too with working more from home, traveling less, and supporting me as much as he can. He is now making focaccia and soon the house will smell like heaven. Gotta go and enjoy!

Again I find myself trying to catch up with all the fun things going on with our kids who are growing like weeds and just had their hair cuts by Da-da so look even older. Since I last wrote we really enjoyed the rest of our summer together and made sure we did a lot of great activities together. I wrote a list of things we wanted to make sure we did at least once a week and we really did stick to it. Here is the list:

unstructured play in between naps
face painting/dress up/puppets
dancing/music games
yoga/eye exercises
baby massage
adventure by train/tram/bus with picnic
puzzles/read stories (stories daily as usual)
games/crafts
ball games/tag/swim/park/scooter
snuggle on couch while watching movies
blowing bubbles/fishing for plastic fish
bake a cake or bake/cook something even just a blender shake sometimes
invite friend over/go to friend's house

Some weeks we only face painted once, other weeks several times. We also managed to go see Ratatouille twice (once in French/once English) and Shrek 3, twice as well, both times French. It sounds busy but we had a lot of time at home too, just hanging out. I enjoyed every minute and I think the kids had fun too. Sometimes Dad-da took a day off or half day to participate too.

Gramma and Grampa arrived at the end of the summer and we all took off to Cyprus where it was 39 degrees and sunny. Finally we experienced summer! We enjoyed their three weeks and the kids had a ball visiting the lolly truck everyday by the hotel!

Frunty is back at school and Pit and I are back into the fall routine of Little Gym, French Club, the odd playgroup or music morning and lots of visits to the club which has an awesome new indoor play zone and still, very warm pool.

Frunty is enjoying school and gave his teacher, Marie Catherine, a big hug immediately upon entering school. She said all his friends were really eager to have him join their class as he was two weeks en retard due to Cyprus. Albert's daddy has started a soccer team for the kids and last week we went to the first pratice. Frunts loved it and can't wait to go to Coach Eirik's team again and I will get him shoes this week. He outran, even in his old sneakers and wet grass, the other kids, even the older kids. He was incredibly fast.

Tonight at dinner we started talking about what to do in the case of a fire as we had just visited Seneffe and a police security day. Frunts seemed to know a lot about what to do, like crawling along on the floor to not breathe the smoke. I said, "yes, the smoke can make you very sick" and he said, "it can make you die". We asked him where he learned all of this as the theme at the show this weekend was street/transportation safety and he replied, "I saw it on the map on the plane" (meaning the little info, laminated leaflet that is in the pocket which shows you what to do in the event of fire.) Daddy and I laughed in amazement and said, "blogworthy". I know we fly a lot but it is amazing what goes in because I have seen him study that little leaflet.

He also knows the song "Hoppa Hoppa" that Gramma sings and sang it to her on the phone. She couldn't believe it and neither could we as I think she just taught it once and now when I do "hoppa hoppa" to Pit, Frunts sings the song. They are real peaches and cream, these two and we treasure them as each day passes. They still seem to get cuter and cuter, that's for sure.

Today after the pool, I was walking along the sidewalk, pushing a sleepy baby in the pousette, Frunts on his scooter. I decided to say a prayer out loud for some reason, I don't know why. I asked Frunty if he then wanted to say a prayer and without hesitation, he said,

"Help people who don't have God in their feelings and thank you for the spirit. Amen"

(Frunty, age 5, unaided)

I was really touched, it made my day. I leave you with a poem we say before we do yoga together:

"You are the infinite ocean,
In whom all the things of the world
Rise and fall like waves.

Oh child,
There is nothing to gain,
Nothing to lose,
You are already pure awareness."

Ashtavakra Gita, 15:11-12

I wanted to note something based on my last entry which described Daddy working a lot lately. I want to make sure that it is duly noted that any time that Daddy spends away, he makes it up to us by taking a day off, or working part-time from home. There is flexibility in his job which means that Daddy can and does always make sure that we feel that family is the most important thing even though sometimes we have to be a bit patient. I mean, you cannot quit a job just because sometimes you have to travel. But you can alter your lifestyle so that you are away as little as possible and when you are home, you are there for your family 100% or more.

We just came back from a business trip with Daddy for two days in Paris. So, case in point. Sometimes if we go too, then we enjoy an adventure as well and then we are all together. One day, when Frunts and Pit read this blog, as they may do, I hope that they remember this. I also think living in Europe has helped in a lot of ways. With so much holiday time, we have a great deal of time together which is the number one thing kids want!

Well, how to have fun with your little ones? This is how this whole blog started. Number one way. Spend time with them. Doing nothing, doing little things, doing big things, being together, being lazy, being not too busy, just being...a family. That is how you are going to have the most fun of all! Yes, it is hard work sometimes, very draining, (especially learning how to discipline them and validating their feelings etc. ) very challenging. At other times, plain amusement and joy at watching them grow and discover and best of all, laugh their heads off!

It seems now that Pit is learning table manners from his older brother. Frunty has always had a history of being difficult at the table and we were much relieved when Pit turned out to be easier to feed. That is, until recently. One evening, Pit started to refuse to sit nicely at the table and eat his food. The Mommy eventually told him sternly to sit down properly and eat his beef strips. He shouted "no!" and grabbed a piece of meat to throw at the Mommy, but just before letting go of the food in his tiny hands, he had second thoughts. He shoved the beef strip into his mouth to cave-man-like rip off a chunk AND THEN threw the food across the table! His aim was excellent and it was quite difficult for us to scold while holding back giggles at the sheer drama of the scene.

Even though it feels like the fall, we are enjoying our summer together. Taking each day as it comes means that we have done the simplest things like going to the park and GB and the club pool to more adventure-type activities like going to see the movie, Shrek 3. It is fun taking it easy, staying in our jammies, making homemade pancakes not just on Saturdays, drawing pictures on the sidewalk with chalk, running beside Frunts as he scoots along on his new toy and watching Pit somersault on his own!

We have had a lot of rain so far which makes staying home, one of Frunts favourite activities, guilt-free. The kids love play-doh, drawing a lot, making paper airplanes and doing crafts with stickers. They have fun swinging together on the two ropes hanging down in the livingroom. I try not to turn on the tv much and luckily they don't ask for it. We like to read books too and sometimes I find the kids go in the front room and grab a book or the Lego and get started on their own...taking time to wake up in a calm way. It sure is a lovely change from waking Frunts up for school, getting him dressed quickly, forcing Pit awake too, grabbing the dog and power walking to school...

Today we will go to the club for swimming and playing and then I'll put the kids in the play zone as I would like to try a Tai Chi class for the first time. We'll then have dinner there. Daddy has been in the States and now that he is back, he is doing a lot of team building stuff at work which means he gets home late. We miss him but Daddy is working very hard for all of us and the kids know it so no complaints. Gotta get crackin' for the pool. Hope you're all having fun too.

Today was a really busy day. In the morning, Pit and I went to a skin doctor at Edith Cavell hospital. He was super chouette, Dr. Cantella, from Sicily and we enjoyed our time there blowing bubbles in the waiting room. Pit is starting to get it down pat. We took the tram there and back and it was a new, super duper one so easy to get on and off with wide doors and on street level, great for strollers.

At noon we picked up Frunt's and friend, Leo, and brought them home for a quick lunch followed by trip to Town Hall where they had to practise their performance to get ready for tomorrow's spectacle. They did great and Frunty particularly gets into the dance really well. He seems to enjoy it and does not seem to be shy at all, considering he is on a stage with bright lights shining on him. Good for all the kids.

Afterwards I took the three of them to the club and put them in the play zone while I passed out in the sauna, steam room and light therapy room. One hour of bliss. Then I picked them up and we all went swimming. Kids did great although I got attacked a lot by the three of them...splashed mostly! Straight homeby 6 pm for spaghetti dinner and this time had enough meat to feed a lion!

I figured some things outs while in the light therapy room about how I replace the wooden strawberries for the Haribo candies for the game, Le Verger. It seems so obvious now but did not at the time. Funny how visualization does seem to work.

Gotta go. Hope everyone reading is as tired but as happy as I am.

Sometimes I walk with tiny two legs, either to walk the dog or to bring two legs to or from school. Along the way, there are low bushes and flowers and sometimes tiny two legs will stop and adamantly say "smell, smell" and then proceed to put his tiny nose to the flowers and inhale deeply. He especially does this now that the lavender is in bloom. Very adorable.

Tonight while Frunty was brushing his teeth, Pit opened up a jar of cream. He poked his finger in the jar and I thought he was going to put some on his face like he has done in the past. But instead, he went over to Frunts, bent down and smeared the cream on the back of his knees. Frunty has eczema and obviously, Pit has noticed. What I notice about Pit is how he often tries to take care of others. When I have some boo boos on my feet (eczema), Pit will really study them and then try to apply cream. He looks at the boo boos and I feel like I am being inspected by a doctor. It is a weird feeling because Pit is so tiny, just having turned two, but started doing this at least six months ago. I don't care what he becomes but I do find it interesting and wonder what the future holds.

Mami and Papi just left from Charleroi. We enjoyed their week long visit and thought the loft they rented downtown was great as it encouraged us to do activities downtown too. Yesterday we took them to a farm "pedagogique" for kids out in the countryside and enjoyed a bbq. Today we spent the entire day at the club. First we put the kids in the "playzone" so we could all exercise and then we all went swimming and took turns in the sauna, light therapy sauna and steam room. I held Pit for two hours while he slept and that was relaxing too. I hope Mami and Papi enjoyed their visit as much as we did.

It was fun for Frunty to show them how well he is swimming now and Pit showed how he swims with water wings. Frunty and I have figured out how to make washing his hair fun by wearing goggles so the soap and water don't go in his eyes! No more tears! Pit won't wear the goggles so we have to wash his hair really quickly and listen to a bit of screaming until I can wipe his eyes with a towel. Daddy worked from home today and when we arrived at 5 pm, the lamb roast was almost done. Daddy made a really delicious dinner for us which we enjoyed with Frunty's friend, Leo, whom we were babysitting while his folks move house. He just wanted to eat lamb!

We will miss Mami and Papi. That is the way it goes when you live abroad.

The two kids are like bear cubs with lots of playing, play fighting, frolicking around...especially before bed. The other day we went to Caroline's to play with Sophie and her and we were all playing Le Verger when my two decided to take a little break and do some wrestling. It was really adorable, the two of them on the carpet, rolling around a little bit and you can really picture polar bear cubs playing with one another. In this way, they have contact with one another, snuggling, kissing, hugging etc. and after a day of being apart, reconnect with each other. It is very sweet.

Frunty goes to bed pretty well on his own now most nights with very little complaint. Pit on the other hand is quite furious and does some screaming. Usually we have to go in and help him settle down. We have not been consistent and so he gets used to snuggling and falling asleep with us and then when he has to do it on his own, isn't pleased to say the least and who can blame him? Some nights it is just not possible so we tell him we will keep the door open and he has to stay in bed and that seems to work with little fuss.

Frunty's school year is winding down and at the beginning of the month his class performed for the Fancy Fair along with the other classes. Frunty really did very well, performing an African dance with a lot of gusto. The day before we got him a little character to put in his pocket so that during the dance, he could squeeze it for comfort but he said he did not need the character. We got it anyway for him and during the show, he brought it out of his pocket to show us. It was really cute.

Pit is still enjoying the Little Gym and does somersaults and lots of swinging and likes the balance beam very well. He does not like running around during the warm-up but instead, let's me run around carrying him. Of course, I get super warm this way! He also does not like the bubble time at the end as much and I think it is because there are a lot of kids crashing into one another. I must say, the L.G has grown in size, with 700 kids a week now, but that means the classes are too big, in my opinion and the quality has gone down a bit. I guess that happens unfortunately and I am therefore reluctant to join next year.

When Daddy travels, I now use his car which he leaves behind for me. That sure helps me out, especially in the rain! My journey time to the L.G for example is 1 hour by bus/tram/walking or 40 minutes by bike. By car, 15 minutes or less so once in awhile, I am grateful for the car as a kind of treat. My favourite way to get to the gym though is by bicycle throught the old Chemin de Fer which is just beautiful, through the forest, with trees creating a canopy above our heads.

I am glad that I finally got my Belgian driver's license as driving Daddy's car is amazing and I deserve the luxury. This may sound boastful but 4 years of no driving, I now deserve a bit of a break as shuttling two kids on and off the metro, pulling the stroller up and down escalators etc. is pretty exhausting. I know that that was better for the environment but driving once a week or so is not too horrific especially if I cut down in other areas like not having as many hot baths!

Daddy is traveling quite a bit still but here this week so I am grateful. Plus, when Daddy is here he is 100% hands-on so it more than makes up for when he is not here. I really appreciate all his help with the kids, everything he does for us...we are really lucky.

Well, I have tried to update you a little more as I did fall quite behind. I will write again using my calendar to remember significant events in the last two months. For all of you that read this, I hope you are doing well and will update us on what you are up to too!

Haven't written in almost two months but have recorded important things on calendar which I will transfer later.

Took Pit to the lab today for blood work and will receive results in about four days regarding whether he has allergies or not. His nasal cavity is almost completely blocked and the doctor is 90% certain that an operation will be necessary. On another note, I took Pit to the club for a swim and he did so well. He decides when he wants to swim and does so in a vertical position. He really gets around the pool quite quicky and spends time with me on the bubble bed. Afterwards we sat with friends outside on the patio and Pit fell asleep in my arms. Heaven. I was the last to leave as I stayed until Pit woke up naturally. I have the luxury to do this and I thank my lucky stars everyday and my husband for making this possible.

Went to travel agent to get quotes for next trip and then picked up Frunts at friend's house as she got him after school for me with her little girl. Stayed to play Le Verger and now they are putting gummies on the cherries like we do! We put Haribo gummies on the cherries. It is so fun and I think once you have done this, it is hard to play the regular way with all the wooden fruit!
Such fun and the way to enjoy their childhood. Must help get children to sleep so Daddy and I can have some down time. I am tired too but very very happy.

Two months have passed since I last updated this blog and so much has happened that I wanted to record in fuller detail but did not. Too busy enjoying the moment. After my last post, Nonna and Nonno arrived for a three week visit and we took the kids to Tunisia while Daddy worked back here in Brussels. He had already planned his holiday for Ireland and we arrived home yesterday.

Updates on the kids are key and I'll keep it as brief as possible for Daddy because he is busy and doesn't always have time to read long paragraphs.

Frunty is really enjoying soccer lately and does some pretty fancy footwork. Because he is an excellent runner, he can cover great distance with the ball and is pretty quick and not afraid to fall on the ground as well. In Ireland, we set up the goal at our cottage and he practised a lot. We are thinking of a soccer camp (which will be in French naturally) sometime in the summer perhaps. The biggest accomplishment in these last two months occured on March 28th when Frunty swam for the very first time underwater and then on top, without water wings at the club pool. He is a beautiful little swimmer and taught himself. It just goes to show me that without pressure, a child will progress when they are ready in an enjoyable way. We are having such fun swim dates at the club.

Pit now knows about thirty words in English and has uttered his first sentence on March 11th. He said, "I gas" and pointed to his bum. Very funny indeed. He says many words in Italian too and counts to three in French when we are at the Little Gym. He loves swimming too with his water wings and enjoys jumping into the pool and the other day, he held onto his tiny, pink, plastic pig the whole time at the pool. At the end, he lost it and we scoured the pool. No luck. But a week later, Frunty found it at the bottom of the pool! Hilarious.

Frunty is very enthusiastic when we are out and about and is never negative when we say we are leaving for the airport. For other adventures, he is negative at first but warms up to the idea sometimes after a good breakdown. Then on the trip, he is nothing but positive, enthusiastic, curious, adventuresome.

Pit is really a goofy little guy. Very affectionate. Kisses all of us all the time, loves being massaged by us and his brother, makes funny faces, giggles, and usually says, "okay" when we suggest something to him. He is very particular about somethings like what he wants to wear and isn't afraid to say "no" and scrunch up his nose.

Both boys are snuggling in bed together as I write, fast asleep. They sleep together all night and at around 7 am one of us goes in to snuggle in the morning. Often Pit falls asleep again. Frunty still sleeps about 12-13 hours from whenever he goes to bed. He rarely wakes up with a nightmare or for some other reason and doesn't argue as much about going to bed anymore. I think he finally realizes how wonderful sleep is!

Now that the kids are asleep, it's time for some "mommy-time" as Daddy terms it when I can indulge...I'll therefore write about Ireland very soon. Happy Easter everyone!

Today it was easy to get Frunty out of bed even though he hadn't had enough sleep by saying the words, "come look out the window, there's snow!" We woke up to a beautiful, snow covered landscape and were all pretty excited. It happened to be the day of Frunty's trip to the African Museum by tram to Tervueren and Pit and I were invited too.

Daddy took Frunty to school so he could leave with his class. They were supposed to take the bus to the tram stop but due to the snow, there were so many delays that they had to walk all the way to the tram stop. It took them almost two hours, I found out later, to get from the school to the museum. Some people might complain but because they had a beautiful walk through the snowy sidewalks of Chant D'Oiseau, I was happy that the children could enjoy the outdoors instead of staying in the classroom.

I haven't been too crazy about many of the trips by metro but I figured that this trip was safer with the bus/tram combo as it was more or less door to door. But I had already given permission and not known that they couldn't take the bus until it was too late. I just had to pray that all would go well and it did.

I decided to meet them there because I wanted to go ahead with my Thursday French club that I have organized at a nearby cafe. Since I get a "real" francophone to facilitate our group, I don't want to miss a rendez-vous and figured I could catch up with Frunty and his class later. It turns out that I met them at the museum just as they were going so the timing was perfect! I must have been only one or two trams after them.

We enjoyed visiting the museum, looking at all the stuffed animals and seeing the African masks. With carnival coming up, Mme Anne wanted the children to see the masks. (or maybe just get out of the school for a day?) I think she invited DeMille and me so we could see how fun these day trips were because she kept asking if we liked it and finally, asked us for the umpteenth time if we would let Frunty go on the two night, three day trip to the sea with his class in June.

The answer is still, unequivocably, "no". Yes, the day trip was fun in some ways but totally exhausting in others. Yes, it was interesting to see the African museum but frankly, there were a lot of moments when the children stood around waiting for each other to finish in the bathroom or waiting for the tram, or waiting to get our bags so we could go eat lunch etc. etc. you get the idea.

For the record, I am not poo-pooing such trips as long as they are almost 100% safe. We are dealing with 4 or 5 year olds on public transportation, out in the public and at one point, I noticed Laure, a tiny little girl take off out of sight and was able to bring her back to the group. There are just too many opportunities for something bad to occur so I dont' really think it is worth the risk, frankly.

Three days of that would be exhausting given that the nights might be full of children crying for their parents, wetting their beds, whining etc. Yes, I give the worst case scenario but it boils down to the fact that we dont' feel comfortably with Frunty going and he told us he does not want to go. End of story. For Mme Anne to continually pressure us is unnecessary. We are not going to let our little guy to a hotel with a pool by the ocean and to an amusement park for three days. Maybe when he is 13? I dunno. Maybe when it feels right?

Today the same teacher told Daddy that her heart is broken because she thinks that Frunty really wants to go because he said that I had already paid for his trip to the beach. What she doesn't realize is that Frunty's confusing this with his trip coming up with the nonni to the beach. Poor little guy. And let's say he isn't confused. He can be disappointed or sad or angry because he cannot go and his class is going (we don't know how many are in fact going). He can learn to deal with those emotions too and that is a lesson unto itself.

I would say that the topic of this ocean trip with Mme Anne is taking up most of the year and starting to grate on my nerves. The answer was, is, will be "no". Nothing more to discuss. I wish she would get that through her head. As much as we like her and Frunty adores her, enough is enough.

Bravo, Pit!

Today was a first for Pit at the pool. He wanted his water wings on and was very eager to get into the water and then, much to my surprise, tried instantly to let go. Pit wanted to float on his own and did not scream or squeal just smiled and laughed. He was so excited to do it and whenever I put him on the hydrotherapy bed, he tried to get off in order to float again in the deeper water. Pit just did fantastically well. So today was the first time he floated without squealing first! (the squealing in the past was an excited but scared kind of way with a big smile but in a crazed kind of way...very hard to explain in words, late at night!)

One more note:

We ended up staying one night just outside of Colmar instead of Fribourg and had a delicious dinner right by our hotel at a resto called, "Court Paille". And Daddy stayed the week in Monaco not Nice but spent a day traveling around our old haunts. Things have changed obviously since 1987.

Festival des Glaces is now a bar/lounge not an icecream shop anymore.
Fisher Gold is now a Chinese resto.
Our residence in Cimiez is for sale as luxury apartments therefore no longer used as a school by B&R who stopped their student programmes years ago.
The main road running through the centre of Nice has been completely ripped up as they are building a dedicated tram line. (That sure would have made things nice after an afternoon at the beach to just jump on the tram instead of hiking back to our residence!)
And Nice Etoile, the shopping mall, has been completely renovated/modernized.

The water though, Daddy reported, is still that beautiful, aqua blue.

I have been taking the children regularly to our nice, warm pool (35 degrees celsius) and it is really paying off. Frunty enjoys going completely under water with his goggles around and swims well with his water wings. We bought a pair for Pit too and although nervous at floating with them on alone, he now laughs after the initial scream. By the end of our swim on Jan. 25th, he was floating calmly. Pit forgets to close his mouth sometimes and swallows a bit of water but that is all part of the experience. On Thurs. I put him between the side of the pool and a little wall within the pool and told him to swim towards one side or the other. Both times, he made it over and hung on so I can say that Pit swam for the first time with water wings on, on the 25th!!!!!!!! Good job!

Afterwards the three of us take a nice shower together in the child-friendly shower stall and the kids love me spraying their toes, knees, tummies etc. with the shower head. Even though they are tiny, they have bellies that stick out. Frunty has an inny and Pit an outty (bellybuttons) and they love me to spray them with the shower head too.

I was going to sign Frunty up for swimming lessons but he is progressing well on his own without pressure and does each stage when he feels comfortable to do it. I think I want him to continue along that path for now and have a feeling that one day he'll just start swimming on his own without the lessons.

Another note, we got a babysitter last night, the live-in nanny of Frunt's school chum, Inkeri, from Finland. Pit ran to the door as we were leaving to kiss me and then took off with a squeal of delight. Because the kids see her everyday at school when she picks Inkeri up, I think they must feel like they already know her. Daddy and I went out for a lovely dinner near where we went with Aunt J when she was in town, near her Conrad hotel, and for dessert afterwards at another place near Sport City. Dinner was lovely, especially with red sticker (non-fumeur) on door. Dessert wasn't great but something funny happened. We were in a red sticker resto and a woman lit up and the waiter came over and took the cigarette from her and threw it out the front door of the resto. I am happy I have lived to see the day when it is no-smoking in Europe. Awesome.

Time to play a jeu de societe with the kids and Daddy. We are so happy to have him home after a week in Monaco.

Water wings!

What better way to recover from a long trip to the Alps which included skiing/hiking/tobogganning and snow ball fights to name a few activities, than to go to the club for some rest and relaxation. With one of my guest passes, Daddy came too. We put the kids in the play zone for an hour while I did the Body Balance class and met Daddy in the sauna afterwards. Then we picked up the kids and headed to the pool after our snack time. Frunty really loves going under water and had to take off his water wings to do so. We decided to put them on Pit who did really well. Drank a bit of water but did try to keep his lips closed. (It really just looked like he was biting his bottom lip!) We were able to let go of him and he floated on his own. This is the first time ever! Bravo, Pit!

This morning Frunty came up the stairs and checked in every single pocket of his Advents calendar. He still has trouble believing that Christmas is over even though we didn't have snow. He no longer asks if Santa is coming but by checking his calendar, he shows that he doesn't quite understand the concept yet. So adorable. We will have to put it in the cave with the other Christmas decorations.

Gramma and Grampa gave us a Cuisinart for Christmas so last night we had to make a blender shake, of course, as well as this morning. Then we grated carrots for a salad, squeezed a lemon for the dressing and then chopped up mushrooms and sausage to jazz up our pizzas. We like making "jazzy pizzas" as we call them but what's more, Frunty loves the Cuisinart and knows how to use it and showed me because he learned when he and Gramma made cookies a few weeks ago. What an adorable, little guy too.

I am so glad we got home safely from our trip and had such an amazing time with great weather. Sorry to hear that Daddy's sister's family were sick on their ski holiday, had bad snow conditions, and that cousin E fractured her wrist. Hopefully their next holiday will be better.

We are already day dreaming about our next trip too...but enjoying each day fully is also our goal and that we do. Doggie is having a dream in which he is clearly running like a mad-man, I mean mad-dog, as I can hear him behind me as I type, breathing really heavily in a fast way. He was happy to see us after a week at the Dog hotel and we gave him a carrot too. Cheerio!

"Gramma and Grampa have black and white hair. They are beautiful colours, right Mommy?"

Frunty, January 2, 2007

Today Frunty and I spent the day together. We went to see two movies, Franklin et le tresor du Lac and Happy Feet at Toison D'Or. During the first movie, Frunty's little hand found mine and I knew that a moment like this couldn't be any more precious. We enjoyed our time so much and had a waffle afterwards, freshly made at one of the trucks.

Pit and Daddy went shopping for our upcoming trip and also had a marvelous time. Daddy said it was a nice and quiet day. We are looking forward to leaving tomorrow! We will stay at the Winkelmatten Youth Hostel in Zermatt and on the way home, stop in Fribourg on Friday night and spend Saturday in Colmar. We haven't told the boys yet as Frunty would go through the roof. He has been looking forward to seeing snow for weeks now. Only problem is that he thinks when he does see snow that Santa will come...again. He told us that it wasn't really Christmas we just celebrated because there wasn't any snow! We tried to explain but he is really stuck on this snow/Christmas idea!

I came upstairs today to find Frunty with the phone, trying to dial a number. He told me that he was trying to phone Gramma and Grampa and that he missed them. I told him that we had to wait til later because they were sleeping. A couple of times during the day he told me that he missed them. Me too.

Luckily we got to talk to them later in the day and that cheered us up. And we are also getting busy with our trip coming up in a few days and needed to do a lot of errands. That helped get our minds focused on something fun! We are off to Zermatt on the weekend for a week of fun in the snow. So we needed snow boots, pants, gloves etc. I got some hiking boots as we plan to do some snowy hikes. Daddy will rent ski gear once there as he plans to enjoy a day of skiing. I told him that if the conditions are good, he should go again.

There are several toboggan runs in Zermatt. You take a train to a certain point and toboggan back to the village, taking about ten minutes. I love the Alps because there are all these little villages you can stop at while skiing and enjoy fondue or rosti on the way down. In North America, you tend to take a chair lift up and ski directly down with nothing along the way. Here you have the opportunity to stop and carry on after a nice, hot cup of Gluhwein. Okay...I am getting really excited.

The last time we were in Zermatt was when we lived in Lausanne, 1993-94. Now we are returning after all these years with our two boys. Who would have thought it?! When we were there last, it was also in January or perhaps early Feb., Daddy had planned a surprise weekend there and we ate shrimp on the train. Very romantic. We also saw a white Labrador in Zermatt with a big, pink bow and thought we might get a dog one day. We'll have to put our own dog in a pension here in Brussels as the trip is too far for him and he doesn't travel like he used to.

Well, Daddy will go shopping tomorrow for some last-minute gear. Then we'll leave Saturday. Will update when we return!

Happy New Year everyone!

We have had a challenging Christmas holiday season this year and lots of fun too. My parents visited us for three weeks from Canada. Two days after they arrived, we noticed the first spots on Frunty's belly. He had the chicken pox and bronchitis for the first half of their visit and Pit, the second half. (chicken pox only) Despite fevers, coughs, major crankiness, and unbearably itchy skin at times, we all rallied to have a nice Christmas at home and a new year's celebration with fireworks in the tiny village, Furfooz, in the Ardennes.

Highlights were watching the kids playing with my folks. It took them no time at all to get reaquainted and i was surprised at how they ran to the door when my folks appeared each morning (we got them a little apartment nearby so that they would have good sleeps) and how they sat on their laps or leaned on their knees and snuggled with them. It made me feel great to see how loving my kids are with them and likewise.

I enjoyed running with my Dad and going to the sauna/steam room afterwards at the club. My Mom and I did two classes at the club together...Body Balance (quite challenging) and Yoga 1 (quite crazy!) and she enjoyed a hair treatment/head massage. The two of us also saw the movie The Holiday which put us into the Christmas spirit too.

Despite the pox, we did all get down to the Christmas market in Brussels. My folks had planned to go to one in Germany but it didn't work out. We had also thought of maybe going to Paris/London at some point but that became definitely unfeasible when the kids became sick. But just hanging around here, playing, making cookies, doing crafts, watching some movies and playing "Jeux de Societes" were nice ways to be together.

Another highlight was having our Thai chef, N, come and cook twice here. Once a Thai meal and once a Chinese hot pot last night. Delicious and fun and definitely a great way to have a "restaurant meal" at home...better than a restaurant actually.

Daddy and I enjoyed celebrating our 9th anniversary together and were able to go a very quaint resto together at the Sablon and bowling afterwards. We also had great babysitters for a trip to Maasmechelen village for shopping and the week prior, to see Casino Royale. All times, my folks had everything under control at home so we knew we could really relax while out. It isn't easy to get them to bed but my folks were able to do it...praises to them!

It was hard saying good bye today and my folks flight took off less than an hour ago. Frunty took it really well and seems to understand the comings and goings of grandparents. We look forward to the next visit, whenever that may be. It isn't the same as being able to see each other each week and sometimes I feel sad about that. I picture my folks coming down to Willow on Friday afternoons, my Mom taking the kids to Gymboree, my Dad and I going running, eating dinner together perhaps and then maybe Daddy and I even going on a date some nights. I picture help when the kids are sick or when I am ill or when Daddy is travelling. For example, Daddy will go to Nice, France for a week at the end of this month. Being together and being able to help one another sound ideal. Being so far away seems so hard. But this is our reality right now and we are all making the best of it.

I am going to try to get back into writing more this year. I got out of practise. So stay tuned for more updates! All the best to all of you in 2007.