Today we are going to a birthday party for our friends, the twins! They gave us really specific gift-giving outlines and it got me thinking. I know Ann Landers really frowns upon this but I would like to say the following given that we already have some friends and family who are coming to visit us in 2006! First of all, just your visit is a wonderful gift in itself. But some of you are way too generous and want to bring gifts and that is ever so kind. Secondly, we have so many dvds, books and clothing. What really reminds us of home are food products that we can't find here or that are very hard to find here. Since we like making treats and snacks with Frunty, good gifts are edible! And Peauteau enjoys watching and will join in on eating soon! For example, we love making rice krispy squares together and marshmallows are hard to find. So here is our list of edible products.

Marshmallows (mini or large)
Maple Syrup
Dried Blueberries (great for eyes on cookies)
Dried Veggies
Ready made icing tubes (different colours, fun for cookies and cakes)
Brown sugar (the kind used for butter tarts)
Heritage O's cereal (Frunty loves this organic version of "cheerios" with or without milk, great snack for Peauteau)
Fruit Loops (not the most healthy but we like making necklaces/bracelets)
Organic baby cookies (it's hard to find something here without hydrogenated oils)
Red Licorice (we love it and can only find black here which we don't like!)
Kit Kat Peanut Butter bars (yes, it's the land of chocolate but they don't have these!)
Any chocolate bar with caramel (they don't seem to have caramel here either!)
No MSG added chicken broth powder or beef powder (Frunty loves helping me make soups)
Pumpkin seeds (Frunty adores, without salt if possible)

We would be so happy and grateful to receive these gifts. Even if you think that they don't sound special, they really are to us! A taste of home, they make cooking lessons and craft time lots of fun! Thanks for your consideration!

The last few days, Peauteau has been trying to feed himself. When I put the spoon near his mouth, he grabs it and puts it in himself. He is also trying to pull himself up and has been doing that for the last few weeks. He likes saying "ba, ba, ba" and sucking his bottom lip in too and today, I heard "ma, ma" too. Peauteau whips his head around when I leave the room to see where I am going and gets upset if I disappear. He also gets upset and tells you about it if you take his toy. Just ask Frunty who is really good at quickly replacing it. Peauteau likes looking at our dog now and gently caressing his ears and rubbing the fur on his head. He is no longer afraid of our dog. He used to cry. Peauteau and Frunty remain excellent friends and still a favourite game is for Frunty to let his brother pull his hair. They sit and play trains and Frunty pulls his brother around in a wagon. Gotta go!

Today Peauteau and I picked Frunty up from school, as usual, but jumped on a bus to go on an adventure! We met Daddy at Gare Centrale and walked to Hong Kong Delight for lunch! What a nice surprise. Then we went shopping at Kim Yuen supermarket and bought lots of great stuff. It was fun to do something different after school. Frunty said he enjoyed the "spectacle" at his school today which was about "les loups".

Frunty started school again today and last night wanted us to get his Spiderman shirt and shoes ready! We made rice krispy squares so we could pack them for his snack time. Frunty also said that he wanted to stay for lunch with S sometime. We wanted to get the details from Madame C but this morning, we were side tracked with some sad news that one of Frunty's best buddies, D, will not be returning to school. He and his family went home for Christmas in Ireland and his Dad unfortunately died very suddenly. D was part of the "English club" which had fun during break time playing "Star Wars" game and "Throwing Frunty's baseball hat in the muddy puddle game". We had enjoyed a nice evening with D and his parents at the Chant D'Oiseau Christmas market evening and had made tentative plans to get together in the new year. So we are all very sad and feel sorry for D and will miss him.

We will also miss J very much since she will be moving to her "permanent" home tomorrow. I say permanent but in Brussels, I guess as in life, there doesn't seem to be anything permanent! We had fun make dumplings with her yesterday and today, while we picked up Frunty from school, J cooked us up a nice lunch with noodles, Chinese cabbage, mushrooms and tofu. We've enjoyed her stay very much and she is an excellent guest though always wants to work...clean/cook/etc.

Took Frunty to the doctor yesterday and he was great...not scarred from earlier "poke" as he calls it. We are all feeling better though not 100%. With school starting up again on Monday, I wonder when the next round of colds/flus/sinusitis/rashes etc. will start up. Daddy is trying to train Peauteau in the car seat in the living room right now. The minute you put the straps on, he starts complaining and struggles to get free, arching his back. He still screams everytime we are in the car. For some reason, he did not scream in Gramma's car. We are a little frustrated because we have a super nice car, are in the heart of Europe, and are kind of homebound with colds and screaming baby! Oh woe is me!!!!!! We are getting really really itchy!

Found a home for J the other day and are really happy about that. Today she made dumplings and we enjoyed a great lunch together. We will miss her. I wish we had a bigger home so that she could stay and Daddy agreed. Oh well, we will see get to see J when she picks up J from school. Frunty may have lunch at school once a week so that I have enough time to take Peauteau to the Little Gym but have not looked into it yet. Frunty says he wants to try eating lunch with his friend, S. We shall see what happens and it is worth a try. Back to the car seat training! Cheerio!

Going to the doctor has always been so fun for Frunty and whether it is an appointment for him or for one of us, he has had an amusing time. The doctors/dentist, as mentioned before, are really kind to him. But today we went to Medecis for a blood test and although the woman was very kind, the appointment was no fun. Having blood taken was scarey and Frunty was very brave. Afterwards, he was given a speculoos cookie. During the most difficult part, I told Frunty that sometimes Grampa has to have blood taken during a check-up and he was instantly calmed. We are trying to get to the bottom of Frunty's skin problems and have to go again on Friday. We hope that he will look forward to going as he has in the past and that today has not scarred him too much!!

Peauteau is fast asleep in his stroller...first time. On Monday, I carried him in the snuggly and just about broke my back and still have a strained neck today. That is it for carrying him so long unfortunately. It was a good run but now he will have to get used to the stroller. Peauteau is a big boy now and all bundled up, he must be close to 20 pounds though we haven't weighed him lately. Soon we'll be visiting the doctor for a check-up for him. And as I write this, Daddy is at a Chinese doctor perhaps having some acupuncture for his sinusitis. It feels like we go to some doctor at least once a week.

Last night, J from China moved in and we are looking for a permanent home for her. So never a dull moment around here. We enjoyed a very nice dinner at the doctors upstairs although not feeling well with our colds but determined not to cancel again. We had hoped to meet friends in Rome this coming weekend but unfortunately will not be able to do so...once we all get our health on track, we can think of adventures again!

Happy New Year! We were happy to celebrate last night with our friends from New Zealand who are traveling around Europe right now and spent 4 days in Brussels. We enjoyed a Japanese dinner of miso soup, rice crackers, sushi, sashimi, Asian chicken, broccoli and soba noodles and for dessert, a New York Dense Chocolate Cake I made with berries on top and powdered sugar making it all look very festive. L and I enjoyed a spa-like experience, doing our own feet, which was the closest thing I could think of to an "onsen" experience. L and I lived close to each other in Japan hence the whole Japanese theme! Today we just took it easy after a late night last night and watched Dodge Ball with L while A went touring around Leuven. We would have taken them touring but A was the only one who was gung-ho enough to zip off.

We hope you all have an incredible 2006 with great health and happiness!