... or so said Line, the smallest of the Cloes children, when we saw a snail in the backyard of their house. This photograph was taken in our backyard here in Brussels; Duncan found one little snail crawling around on the tree and adopted it as his temporary pet.
It's been a busy week. It's Thursday evening around 11:45 pm, and Duncan just woke up with some stomach discomfort... I might let him sleep in our room tonight so we can attend quickly if he wakes up again or needs help getting to the bathroom. The joys of parenthood!
The kids are doing better at school and in the routine, although coming home from lunch is difficult for Duncan. Actually, to be precise, the coming home is not difficult, it's the going back in the afternoon that he has a problem with! He's used to staying at school all day, so when he's home, he wants to kick back and relax. That may mean that we leave him in the school over the lunch hour; it may make for easier transitions. The same might be good for Malcolm too... we'll see. He likes his school, and has said so a number of times, although he's found a new language to grumble about: Flemish. Now that he is learning a third language (at the same time as developing his second) it makes him realize the many similarities between English and French, and I think appreciate them... the big challenge with him is to build his confidence; he has a streak of perfectionism in him that can easily block him from going ahead with a school exercise unless he is very sure of what is expected.
We'll see how they both adjust to staying in school all day tomorrow, in fact, when Maggie and I head out to the Leonard DaVinci exhibit at the National Basilica of Koekelberg here in Brussels. It's the fifth largest church in the world, and for a couple of months is the home of one of the largest-ever exhibits of the work of Leonardo (see the website http://www.expo-davinci.eu/ for more information). We're going with Christophe and Nathalie Cloes for the day, and it promises to be a fascinating time.
(a little later)
Well, Duncan's up again complaining of discomfort... He's in a warm bath right now, and it looks like he's staying home tomorrow, as he feels quite feverish to the touch and is not right in the kishkas, as they say. I can't seem to find any kids' tylenol, so we'll keep our fingers crossed. Two weeks incubation seems about right for his first illness in a new school...
It's been quite sunny this week, so much so that we've had a great time in the pool, and spending time outside. Apparently Brussels is not known for its sunny weather (a huge understatement) so we're taking advantage of it.
Maggie had a job interview today for a teaching assistant position at the International School of Brussels... it looks promising; she's overqualified for the position, but it would be a good growth opportunity in other ways, and an entree into the school.
Now it's time to get to bed. I've been playing around with the camera that is built into my computer, and I'm publishing a little clip on youtube; I'll post the link here when it's finished uploading.
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