Yesterday we went to the Italian Consulate to update passports. The boys photos were old and really not representative, especially Pits - his photo was taken when he was 10 days old. That photo shows our hands propping him up more than it shows him. The lady took the new photos and basically glued them into the passport then stamped and signed the page. I wonder what the Border Patrol will say the first time they see that handy-work... Nonetheless, it was all done with surprising efficiency and we were out at 12:30 looking for lunch. We settled on a nice Italian restaurant and then I scooted off to work but the boys had more fun and adventures with The Mommy who took them to Hagen-Daz, then Chocolatier Marcolini, the fancy toy store Serneels and a few other of the luxury shops in the Place Louise area.

This morning Pit over heard me reading something out loud in French and just when I thought he wasn't listening, he said, "Daddy, your French is not very good." The cheeky nerve of him... Pit has been doing something lately that reminded me of when he was a tiny two year old. When he was younger, we would give him a pen or pencil and he would make minute scribbles of nothing in particular but their intricacy, the fine detail, and the concentration he would apply was very impressive. Almost everyday for the last several weeks, he has been entertaining himself with using scissors to make super paper airplanes. The modifications he makes to his paper airplanes are tiny, precise cuts all over the plane requiring huge focus and we can see his tongue and mouth contorted with the concentration. This results in small pieces of paper strewn about his work area so we have to scold him because he doesn't want to clean up. But I find it very amusing to have to use a dust pan to collect these almost microscopic pieces of paper because it reminds me of when he was a baby.

I met the family and some friends at Mumtaz Indian restaurant last night. I think the boys were extra subdued in the restaurant because earlier in the day they had been run ragged by The Mommy. She had taken them to the movies in Stockel by bike there and back for at least 45 minutes each way. I asked if they liked the movie and Pit started to correct my pronounciation of the word "cinema" which in Italian is pronounced with a hard "C". He repeated the word in French, but he never finished correcting me because he realised that I was speaking Italian and then checked if "cinema" with a soft "C" was the Italian word. On the drive home at 9:45pm, the boys were discussing their next trip and Frunty was concerned that Hungary might be a hot destination. Pit was a chatter box and said, "I like sometimes hot and sometimes cold places. Spain was hot, right mommy?" And when The Mommy said yes it was hot, Pit launched into a stream of chattering about his trip to Mallorca a few months earlier in the year.

Later and later... Everyday it seems like the boys are going to bed later than the previous night. Yesterday evening we visited our neighbours and stayed at their house until almost 11pm. The boys seemed to be fine but they were just beginning to go into "berserker" mode. So we made a quick exit and it was just past 11 by the time we were home and had the boys in bed. Pit fell asleep almost instantly after some quick hugs and Frunty managed to to stay awake - he was calm, just not sleepy. After a long day, it's very cosy to snuggle and share the bed with the boys especially when I haven't seen them for most of the day.

Full of beans! Most of us were trying to have a relaxing morning in bed but Pit was extra rascally. He had gotten out of bed and dressed himself then noticed that the 3 of us were still snuggling in bed, so he tried to squeeze himself in. He was chattering on about not enough room for his feet, that he was too squished, that he wanted breakfast, and so on so forth. I don't if it was a good idea to tell him that he was born in the Year of the Rooster - I think he's taking that job too literally.

Frunty and Pit rode their bikes through the park and along the green path to our friends house today. They are good little riders and Pit is almost ready to take the training wheels off. Just the other day, The Mommy said that he asked to remove them which they did at Antoinne's house but then he changed his mind and then they went back on. He's due for a new bike very soon and when that happens they wont come with training wheels. We'll have a lot more mobility once he's peddling the 2 wheeler with more confidence.

We finally went to the annual fair at the Gare du Midi with our friends. It has been years that we have known about this fair but never managed to visit until now. The boys were happy to go on some rides and the atmosphere was very exciting due to loud music, flashy lights and lots of people. At first they did not want to go on the bumper cars but once they started driving, they had loads of fun. There was also a water version of bumper cars where they sat in little boats and bumped along in a small pool. Also requiring a little convincing was the big ferris wheel but once we were up high, they enjoyed the nice nightscape view of the city.