Frunty and Peauteau enjoyed a bath tonight...Daddy is in Milano/Torino. I looked at these two little guys, splashing away, laughing, sharing toys...I am still in awe that they are mine. Then they ate dinner and went off to bed without almost no complaints. I think they know that they have to help me even more when Da da is away. Before bed, Frunty told me that I have to like pink because I am a girl. I really laughed. Where did he get an idea like that? I asked him and he said, "I think you told me that. I heard you say that yesterday." Well, I definitely don't remember ever saying that but it was just too cute for words.

We enjoyed a nice visit with Daddy's sister who visited us for the weekend. We went to the city of Spa and Daddy babysat while Z.E and I soaked in the hot springs, enjoyed the saunas and hamman. I liked when a worker, looking a lot like a maori, came into the sauna and poured water on the rocks. There was an orange scent that followed which was very relaxing. My whole body felt relaxed afterwards even though I was quite tired. The night before, we enjoyed a 4 course, gourmet meal at the hotel by the hot springs. It was delicious and we took a picture of the bottle of red wine so we would remember the name to purchase it again. It was excellent. And the dessert was exquisite...a chocolate brownie-type cake on the outside but when you cut into it, warm, melted chocolate oozed out. What a wonderful weekend and with snow all around, we got a little taste of winter too.

A major shift is occuring in our daily family life. With Daddy always at home, I could easily take Peauteau to bed for naptime or bedtime and stay with him as long as it would take for him to settle down and fall asleep. I knew that Mr. Two Legs was safe with his Dad. This week though has been quite challenging as Daddy has been out of the house first thing in the morning and hasn't returned til very very late at night. I no longer can stay with Peauteau while he falls asleep because Mr. Two Legs might get into trouble. The risk is way too high. Yesterday our friend was here when I took Peauteau down for his nap. Luckily because Mr. Two Legs went and got a pair of scissors. Not his usual little ones but the big, kitchen pair. As my friend was here, there was no problem. She helped him with the scissors. But had she not been here, there may have been an accident.

Until this week, there have always been two adults tending to these two children. I am soooooooooooooooo lucky to have had seven months of this...but now, to keep them safe, I have to make some changes and it is not easy. And I cannot go back. Even though Daddy will be home next week as usual, I must continue the new regime since in Feb., he will go to Dubai for a week and I must remain consistent.

So...Peauteau has to get used to falling asleep on his own after a good feed. I go in every 5 minutes to give him comfort and positive reinforcement but basically, in a nutshell...HE HATES IT! Last night, alone with both boys, I ran up and down the stairs comforting them both while the other started back crying again. (each boy in a different room since their crying would wake the other up again!) Needless to say...I am a bit frazzled but hey, I enjoyed almost seven months of a kind of closeness that I will always treasure with these boys. With Mr. Two Legs, I obviously enjoyed 3.5 years of it and with Peauteau only nearly 7 months but guess what, safety does have to come first in this case. Mr. Two Legs could get into anything...it's just too dangerous.

So it has been a very challenging week, to say the least because not only am I all of a sudden alone with both boys after 7 glorious months of non-stop support, but I am also trying to teach them how to fall asleep on their own. What a challenging week. And it isn't over yet! They are just such cutie pies and during the day, are sweeter than ever...which makes it harder to see them upset at naptime/night time. But again, I can't be cuddling up to Peauteau all afternoon while Mr. Two Legs tries to make an omelette on the stove. Oh my goodness...now that it is in writing, I see how crazily dangerous it could become if I don't take the tough approach.

And since I go in every 5-10 minutes to cheer them on, telling them what a great job they are doing, making sure they haven't fallen out, I don't think they are being completely traumatized, hopefully. I mean, cold turkey is not my style personally. I prefer to ease them into this gently. Since our home is rather small, I do have the liberty of doing that as I can easily hear what's going on...but I will not take anymore risks like the scissors. And that is that.

If anyone has been through this, please email me with encouraging stories! Thanks!

We really enjoyed the twins' birthday party yesterday. H did an amazing job with crafts, games, a clown "spectacle" and then fruits and sandwiches followed by chips and cake. Loot bags, individual cakes and balloons to go. Very impressive. She even had time to scoot off and express milk during the clown show! Peauteau loved the clown show. Frunty said his favourite part was receiving the balloons but he seemed to enjoy all of it especially the face painting, which I almost forgot to mention. He wore his spider man shoes and shirt and had his face painted red with a web and a little spider with silver sparkles. What fun! Peauteau dressed as a teddy bear. We took tons of pictures so we could give them to the girls as an extra present but our main gift, from the boys, was a goat. See www.oxfam.com We hope they like it as well as two home made cards with pictures of the boys on it. They will be moving back to the UK in August but that's Brussels for you! The motto for Brussels is "the heart of Europe". It should also be "Enjoy the moment!" Well, that should be the motto for anywhere, I guess. Anyway, we had a lot of fun. Daddy took us and then met us on our walk home. During the party he did chores and also took off in his car to scout out our next adventure! Now that Peauteau is used to the stroller, perhaps he'll tolerate time in the car?!

Today the Js are coming over to make a thank you lunch since we hosted J, from China, and found her a new home. I wonder what they will make?! Frunty wants to make dumplings again but I think they have something else in mind!

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.