Frunty is swimming really well with his water wings on and this afternoon, at the club, took them off to try without. He plays at the pool every Tuesday with his class but does not take formal lessons. He is teaching himself really and I saw him float for the first time last month as I take Pit to the pool to watch him and his class. Afterwards Pit and I would go swimming but it is too cold for both of us and now that we are thinking of joining a club where we are right now enjoying a trial period, we can consider enjoying the 35 degree celsius childrens' pool.

Frunty swam the very first time with his water wings on at the pool by Daddy's office. We took the train to Leuven afterschool one day to meet Daddy and go swimming at the beautiful complex by his work. That was on November 10th. I figure by the end of this year with all the swimming he is doing, Frunty will probably swim without wings! But there is no rush.

Life has been busy and we have been getting into a rhythm with the boys. Getting up for school in the morning is really challenging and I am happy when Daddy can help me. When he is travelling, it is quite challenging to get out the door and make sure the dog has been walked as well, especially on mornings when it is pouring rain outside.

Frunty loves his teacher and his class despite lots of "fights". There is a lot of punching, kicking and some biting going on but it has seemed to have settled down now. I guess they all have to jostle for position. Frunty likes his atelier class on Mondays at lunch during which he paints and his modelage class on Friday during which he makes things with model clay. Every Tuesday is pool morning, as I mentioned. We don't go to Spanish on Tuesdays anymore as everyone is pretty tired and the class starts and finishes too late for us. Wednesday afternoons there is never school so we either go on an adventure, like to a concert last week (a flemish couple performed music with instruments made from things in their kitchen) or to different play dates. Sometimes we have Chinese lunch and practice Mandarin with the Js.

Pit has a busy and fun schedule too but I manage to make time every day to sit on the couch with him and snuggle. He falls asleep in my arms for most of his naps and this makes both of us very happy. Monday he has psychomatricite, Tuesdays swimming and Fridays, the Little Gym which he loves. He has his first girlfriend from the Little Gym as Annya tried to kiss him last Friday and they sat together by the wall, alone, while the rest of us sat in a circle and then Pit tried to get her to come to the group. I wish I had had my camera! Sometimes we go on play dates or to the library for an organized reading time with other moms/tots.

I have a private French teacher now, from France, and we do an English/French exchange once a week. It is hard work and I am tired but happy afterwards. She puts her child in a daycare but mine is able to either sleep in my arms, sit on my lap or play nicely nearby so I am not going to put him in a creche for that exchange. I have also started a little French club at a nearby cafe called Lounge 81 which just opened up this fall. It's cozy and smoke free. I hire a native speaker each week as a facilitator. So far I have had 4-5 women each week attend and we practise French in a relaxed, informal manner with our tots. It's working out so far and the profits are going to go towards buying some games for the group.

I am still running and now that I have semi-joined this gym/club I am swimming and will start some classes. I rode my bike there today with Frunty so that was 15 minutes of exercise right there. I am down to one run a week because my friend K babysits Pit and so that keeps me making a committment. Otherwise, I am in a really, lazy frame of mind. I think the school run several times a day plus playing with Pit give me enough exercise. It is really just an active lifestyle so running on top seems hard at times. I do want to get back into running more though as the benefits are so great.

Daddy is traveling more and more and more, almost every week now at least one long day trip and this past week, an overnighter. I am able to not only cope now but handle things quite fine although I get really, super tired. Daddy makes it up to me and then some by cooking gourmet dinners when he gets home, getting me my favourite movies and supporting and encouraging me to take time for myself especially re:exercise and hot baths.

We are really looking forward to our folks arrival in a few short weeks and have some surprises in store. Meanwhile, the nonni are wrapping up a wonderful trip to Hawaii. Life is busy for all of us but very productive and I am happy with my committment to a rest period each day on my couch with Pit and then some quiet play time and reading in French in the evening with Frunty followed by a nice chat with Daddy. The busier we are, the more we have to make time to be still. That's my new mantra! And instead of saying "yes" to all the invites, I now ask myself if I would rather be at home, snuggling with my kids and find myself now saying "no" more often to these invites and feeling great about it!

Today we had a lazy sunday afternoon and barely left the house. We'll eventually get around to filling in the events of the past month, but in the meantime, the daddy wanted to mention that tiny two legs calls his dog "bee-bo" and then throws himself onto the dog's neck and back. Very cute!

We were sitting at the table making a joint effort to get Frunty to eat his dinner. Meanwhile, Tiny Two Legs had finished his supper and was off in the front room being very busy shifting chairs. We eventually got up from the table to inspect his work and found a neat line of chairs. Very industrious little fella.

The daddy writes: Mommy is a good runner as shown in pictures from two different races. #90 was the 8km race from Sportcity where the healthy post-race snacks included sour gummy snakes and marshmallow hamburgers. #873 was the 10km race to raise money for the orphans in Tibet. The post-race treat was powerful incense. Mommy is so great for doing these races, keeping fit, setting a healthy example and doing some charity work too. Yoo-hoo for Mommy!

We got back from a weekend trip to London. I had to go for work on Friday and so the family tagged along. We took the Eurostar train very early Friday morning. On most mornings when we have to get Frunty up for school, he usually kicks and screams, but on this morning, the mommy said, "Wake up we have to take the Eurostar!" and Frunty's reaction was none other than a cheerful, "Yoo-Hoo!". We visited the shopping streets of Regent and Oxford streets, and went then went to Putney to meet our friends from Bruxelles, who now live in London area. We also took a "flight" on the British Airways sponsored London Eye, pictured here. We had great views from high up in our bubble. As enjoyable as it was, London is very "crowdy" to use Frunty's term and so there was a lot of jostling for space on the sidewalks. London makes Bruxelles look like a small country town.

This is the daddy again: I might as well add something more while I'm on a roll. Some mornings, we let Tiny Two Legs climb the stairs on his own. When he gets to the top, his usual first thing to do is say hello to his pet and make growling sounds. Tiny Two Legs sure loves his pet and frequently will grab that big pink nose and try to poke his fingers into those brown eyes. The dog tries to escape but knows it's hopeless and succumbs to the attention, wanted or not. He's actually yawning in this snapshot and not, as one might think, ready from some breakfast.

This is the daddy writing: it's been a long time since I wrote here but Frunty did something today that really merits writing down. After I picked him up from school, we passed by the usual waffle truck parked just by the exit. He wanted a snack and asked me for a waffle. But I didn't have any change in my pockets and so he was disappointed. But then I remembered that he usually nicks loose change from around the house and so I asked him if he had some "monies". He started to dig around in his pockets and produced a 50c. piece. I said that wasn't enough. But then he found a 1 euro coin: exact change for a waffle. I said he could have a waffle but that he would have to pay. He protested and said he didn't want to "lose" his monies but I made it clear that if he wanted the waffle he would have to give his coins. He agreed. And, we went back to the truck and before even saying hello, he stretched to reach the counter of the waffle truck and shyly plunked down his two coins. I handed him the waffle and he retreated like a turtle saying merci. Previous to this, I think he has always regarded his coins as toys. And, even though he has seen us buy things all the time, I think he realised that he too can buy things with his "toys". He's really growing up. After we got his waffle, he and I went for a sortie in the forest to look for mushrooms. I had brought a little bucket and we filled it with all sorts of collectibles from the forest floor.