Tadhg celebrates the end of the decade!

Tadhg celebrated the end of the 'noughties' by spending New Year's Eve in his baba and papa's house with all of his cousins. Mom and dad spent some time with all the kids at the beginning of the evening before going to the New Year's Eve party in the Croatian hall while Tadhg had dinner with his cousins and grandparents.

After dinner, mom and dad came back to celebrate Irish New Year's Eve before putting Tadhg to bed and going back to the party. Tadhg won't really remember the nougties but it was his first decade!

Tadhg and the cat

Tadhg and family had a relaxing St. Stephen's day after the excitement of Christmas day. Tadhg was up early as usual and enjoyed following Auntie Kay's and Uncle Mitch's new cat around the house. Tadhg loved cat feeding time and was fond of asking Uncle Mitch for cat treats to throw at the cat. The cat grew fond of Tadhg once she knew Tadhg had some treats!

Tadhg celebrates his third Christmas!

Tadhg was very excited on the build up to Christmas and has become extremely familiar with Santa Claus, Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer, Frosty the snowman and even the baby Jesus! All of Tadhg's cousins stayed over in Auntie Kay's on Christmas Eve so all the kid's were up and excited on Christmas morning. Tadhg loved being with his cousins and spent most of the morning running around the house.

All the kids were excited when baba and papa came over as it was finally time to open the presents! Tadhg was much more aware of what was going on than on previous Christmases and delightedly ripped open his presents. Tadhg's favourite present was a fire truck with lights, sounds and movement! The fire truck sirens could be heard from all over the house for the rest of the day.

Tadhg was so excited that he refused to go down for his normal midday nap which meant he collapsed into his bed at night time. Everyone enjoyed a great, and tiring, Christmas day.

Tadhg's night before Christmas

'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;The children were nestled all snug in their beds,While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads;And mamma in her 'kerchief, and I in my cap,Had just settled down for a long winter's nap,

Tadhg the fire fighter!

Tadhg loves spending time in Canada and being so close to his Canadian family. In his baba's house he especially loves to play with all the toys in the basement. One of his favourite toys is the fire fighter car and hat. Tadhg loves to drive (be pushed) around the pool table in the basement.

The fire truck was first used by Tadhg's Uncle Nick, and then by his cousins and now Tadhg gets to use it. It's definitely a toy that has stood the test of time!

Tadhg settles into Auntie Kay's

Tadhg quickly settled into Auntie Kay's house and enjoyed his first morning in Canada having tea with Auntie Kay and reading with Uncle Mitch. It was an early start for the travelers and will take a while before they get adjusted to the time zone.

Tadhg flies to Canada for Christmas

On Sunday, Tadhg made the long journey from Prague to Canada via Frankfurt. Tadhg was a great traveler as always and loved driving the sports car in the play area in Frankfurt airport. The air stewardess on the flight from Prague to Frankfurt was very nice to Tadhg and gave him a Lufthansa Reindeer toy which Tadhg quickly took to.

It was a long trip (additionally so considering the 2 hour wait in Frankfurt) and everyone has happy to arrive in Toronto to be greeted by Uncle Mitch.

Tadhg and the witches!

Tadhg has spent a lot of time at the Christmas markets over the past month. His favourite stall is at the very end of the market and sells, among other things, little witches sitting on their brooms. When you make a noise near the witches their eyes light up red, their legs kick and they laugh in a convincing witches cackle.

Tadhg has a strange relationship with the witches, he loves to go to the see them but is a bit scared when they light up. "Witches" is the first thing Tadhg asks for when he goes to the market. Saturday was Tadhg, mom and dad's last day in Prague before flying to Canada for Christmas so they went to the witches stall and bought a witch to bring to Canada as a gift. Tadhg was both delighted to have a witch, and a little bit scared!

Tadhg's snuggles

Tadhg usually complains about going into his bath, and then after a fun time in the bath, he complains about coming out! Mom and dad try to make it fun to come out for the towel down and recently started "snuggle-snuggle time" during the big dry-off. Tadhg likes it so much that he is happy to come out of the bath and shouts "snuggle-snuggle" at which point mom and dad both have to snuggle up with Tadhg as he's snuggled in his towel. Tadhg often grabs t-shirts during snuggle-snuggle time and won't let go!

Mom and dad like snuggle-snuggle time too.

Tadhg visits the Christmas bazaar

The Diplomatic Ladies Association of Prague's Christmas Bazaar was held on Sunday in the Hilton Hotel's conference centre. This is an annual event where most of the embassies in Prague organise a stall to sell gifts/products from their country. All proceeds from the event go to charity and it is a great chance to get some unusual Christmas gifts, or some essentials from home.

It has become something of a tradition that Tadhg's mom works on the Canadian stall during the bazaar and it was no different this year. Tadhg and dad came in to see mom late in the afternoon and wander among the stalls. Tadhg enjoyed getting a traditional Canadian chocolate chip cookie, but wasn't happy to see mom wearing a Canadian apron! "Take it off, mommy!"

It was an enjoyable trip and a good way to get even more into the festive spirit.

Tadhg's snowman socks

On Saturday, Tadhg and dad went shopping and came back with a pair of snowman socks. Tadhg loves them as they have detachable snowman heads which he can take off and make talk to each other (snowman chit-chat). Mom and dad like them because they are winter warm and have anti-slip soles for running around the house.

It's only a week to go before Tadhg, mom and dad fly to Canada for Christmas. Tadhg is looking forward to the trip and talks about flying to Canada "on the airplane!".

Tadhg's bedtime reading

Tadhg enjoys a read before bedtime but usually with mom or dad reading. On Thursday night he was happy to sit in bed reading some bedtime stories all by himself!

Tadhg recently got a new Buzz Lightyear t-shirt which has quickly become one of his favourite shirts. Tadhg loves running around in his new shirt shouting Buzz's tagline "To infinity and beyond!"

Tadhg celebrates Saint Nicholas day

December 6th was Saint Nicholas day which is a big holiday in some parts of Europe (Scandinavia, The Netherlands, and lot's of Central and Eastern European countries including Prague). Tadhg's mom and dad are not very used to the Saint Nicholas day tradition, but decided to celebrate this year as they will be in Canada for Christmas.

On Saturday night, stockings were hung by the book case with care, in the hope that Saint Nicholas soon would be there. On Sunday morning, Saint Nicholas had left some gifts in Tadhg's stocking. Tadhg had to be guided towards his stocking but was soon very keen to see what was inside. He had a great time peering into his stocking and was very excited to find a new tractor and Lego fir buggy.

Later in the day, the whole family took a trip to the local Christmas markets to see people dressed up as Saint Nicholas along with an angel and devil as is the tradition in Prague. Luckily Tadhg was a good boy, so he didn't get a lump of coal!

Tadhg gets a new hat and scarf

Since being diagnosed with strep throat on Monday, Tadhg has spent every day at home with mom and has been on a strict antibiotic regime. He seems to be over the worst of the infection now and has his usual appetite back.

The official Christmas markets opened in the Prague Old Town Square and Tadhg, mom and dad went into town to check them out. It was a beautiful sunny day and Tadhg enjoyed looking at all the stalls, decorations and the big Christmas tree. Tadhg got a new hat and scarf in preparation for the winter season.

On the way home, they stopped at their local Christmas market and Tadhg pointed out the baby Jesus and Joseph in the nativity scene.

Tadhg is sick

Tadhg hadn't been eating so well for a few days and had a bit of cough, so mom and dad took him to the doctor on Monday. The doctor took one look at his throat and immediately saw he had a bad bacterial infection. Mom and dad were surprised as Tadhg had been in great form apart from eating less than normal and his cough. The doctor prescribed a course of antibiotics and Tadhg started on them straight away.

Mom was sick as well, so both Tadhg and mom spent the week at home. Tadhg was happy not to be going to school for a change and happily waved bye-bye to dad when he went to work in the mornings. Mom and dad hope he doesn't get too used to this as he'll be going back to school next week when he's over the infection!

Tadhg visits the Christmas market

The local Christmas market at Namesti Miru opened on the weekend and Tadhg, mom and dad wandered around to check out the stalls. Tadhg enjoyed the huge Christmas tree and looking at the crib. He learned to say "Baby Jesus" and "Joseph". Dad and Tadhg had a sweet Trdelink which is a traditional lovely Czech Christmas food.

Tadhg was mesmerized by all the shiny ornaments, toys, games, decorations and other Christmas gifts on offer. He didn't want to leave and had to be bribed to make it home in time for bed.

Tadhg's goalkeeping hands!

On Sunday morning Tadhg tried on dad's gloves and had great fun with them! He liked to run around waving his huge hands in the air. Tadhg may reassess his soccer career options and look at goalkeeping instead of star striker!

Tadhg helps to hang the Christmas decorations

On Saturday, Tadhg, mom and dad decided to start hanging up their Christmas decorations. As they are usually in Canada for Christmas, they prefer a minimalist approach to decorating. Tadhg was amazed at the starlights dad hung over the windows and enjoyed helping make paper snowflakes (although Tadhg was more interested in playing with the scissors!).

Christmas stockings for Tadhg, mom and dad were taken out from storage and hung from the bookcase. Mom and dad are thinking of celebrating Saint Nicholas day this year. This is on December 6th and is a big festival day in Czech Republic when kids get dressed up as Saint Nicholas, an angel (for the good kids) and a demon (for the bad kids). The angels hand out sweets and the demons hand out coal. It's a fun festival and is bigger than Christmas in some countries! This year mom and dad are thinking of putting small gifts in Tadhg's Christmas stocking for Saint Nicholas day. They are not sure of the tradition so will have to make it up as they go.

Tadhg's dinner play date

Tadhg's dinner play date was in the Red Flower restaurant in Vinohrady, the Prague suburb where Tadhg lives. Tadhg met up with his buddies Jake, Petru and Smaranda and enjoyed playing in the little play house in the restaurant play area. When dad came in after work Jake and Tadhg enjoyed playing the Grand National horse race game on dad's leg!

Tadhg has started sticking his tongue out when posing for pictures. He thinks this is very funny and enjoys laughing at himself!

Tadhg commemorates the Velvet Revolution

Tuesday, November 17th, was the 20th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution and the end of communism in the Czech Republic (or Czechoslovakia as it was 20 years ago). This day is now commemorated as a national holiday in the Czech Republic, so dad got the day off work and was able to spend the entire day with Tadhg.

Tadhg and dad were ready early in the morning and went to Sea World Prague (Morsky Svet) with Jake and Jake's mum. Tadhg had been here once before when he was much younger and wasn't overly impressed. On this visit Tadhg was able to appreciate the fish, baby crocodiles, frogs and lizards much more and had a great time running around.

After lunch and a nap, Jake and his mum came over to Tadhg's house for an afternoon play date. Tadhg enjoyed showing Jake all his toys and having a snack together at Tadhg's toddler sized table and chairs.

It was a busy day and Tadhg was happy to lounge on his sofa with dad playing with his toys before getting ready for bed. Tadhg and dad both enjoyed being able to spend a week day together again. It's hard to believe it has been 20 years since the end of communism in Tadhg's adopted country!

Tadhg celebrates mom's birthday

On Sunday, Tadhg celebrated mom's birthday. In the morning, Tadhg, mom and dad met their friend Zuzana for brunch in Bohemia Bagel. On the way back they saw two performers making gigantic bubbles with sticks and bubble mix. Tadhg was amazed to see the huge bubbles floating across the square.

In the evening, Tadhg, mom and dad went for a birthday meal in their favourite local restaurant, Grosseto. Tadhg digged into the salmon and pizza and enjoyed wishing his mom a Happy Birthday!

Tadhg's family playdates

Since dad went back to work, mom has taken over the play date responsibilities. One of her innovations for winter play dates is to have a family play date in a kid-friendly restaurant every Friday. The mom's and kid's meet at the restaurant at around 4pm and then the dad's join them for dinner after work. The first family play date was in Ambiente restaurant and was a big success. Tadhg enjoyed having a normal play date and then meeting dad for dinner.

Recently Tadhg has taken to trying on mom and dad's shoes and trying to walk around in them. He gets a real sense of achievement when he manages to get both shoes on and take a few steps in them!

Tadhg has his first mince pie

Mince pies have been a Christmas tradition for Tadhg's dad since he was a little boy and his mom (Tadhg's grandma) made homemade mince pies every Christmas. Tadhg's dad always tries to have some mince pies around Christmas even if he can't get homemade ones, and so was delighted to see them stocked in his local Marks & Spencer deli.

When Tadhg saw his dad having a mince pie after dinner he was very interested in trying one himself. Dad agreed to share his precious pie with Tadhg. Tadhg obviously takes after his dad as he very quickly got a taste for the pie and his idea of 'sharing' was to eat the pie himself and give dad some crumbs off his fingers!

Tadhg's home cinema

Tadhg never watches TV apart from football (soccer) matches with his mom and dad most weekends. However, mom and dad have allowed him to watch kid's videos on YouTube and Tadhg really enjoys sitting on the sofa with his snack (or snuggling with mom or dad) watching his favourite videos.

The first videos Tadhg watched were 2 to 3 minute scenes from Sesame Street. Tadhg quickly got to know the main characters and started asking for Elmo, Bert, Ernie and Cookie Monster. Recently mom and dad discovered that a lot of Disney movies are available on YouTube as well, so Tadhg has been watching Peter Pan, Snow White, Cars and most recently Toy Story.

Tadhg's favourite right now is Snow White. He loves the queen disguised as an old peddler woman giving Snow White a poisoned apple and often re-enacts this scene in his best old crone voice! He also loves the 7 dwarfs and frequently sings out 'Hi Ho, Hi Ho' when marching around the house!

Tadhg gets dressed up!

Tadhg, mom and dad have developed a routine recently of going to Bohemia Bagel for brunch on Sunday mornings. There is a nice little play area which Tadhg enjoys messing about in (although all the toys are old and mostly missing pieces - Tadhg's favourite is a car with no wheels!). Mom and dad enjoy the North American style bagel brunches and mom usually stocks up on a dozen bagels for her lunch during the week.

On this Sunday, Tadhg decided to get dressed up in his Sunday best and try on the fancy shirt his Auntie Kay got him on his last trip to Canada. Tadhg doesn't wear shirts very often and enjoyed having something with buttons on! Mom and dad thought he looked very smart especially with his new brown shoes (and luminous orange laces!).

Tadhg's blue bear

Tadhg's mom and dad are fond of taking pictures of Tadhg when he is sleeping as he looks so cute. They have amassed a large catalogue of pictures of Tadhg sleeping which they enjoy looking at and marveling at how angelic their little man looks asleep (he's not always so angelic when awake!).

Tadhg has slept with his 'blue bear' since he was a tiny little baby. Mom and dad introduced blue bear into Tadhg's night time routine to give Tadhg some company at night and he has since become a critical part of Tadhg's sleepy time routine and is taken on all overnight trips. When Tadhg is sleepy he asks for blue bear and always spends some snuggle time with blue bear in the morning before getting up.

Mom and dad sometimes worry that if they misplace or lose blue bear, Tadhg won't be able to go to sleep. There have been a number of crisis moments when blue bear can't be found at sleepy time, but he has always been recovered in time...so far! A back-up blue bear may have to be purchased, if they can ever find out where he came from!

Tadhg celebrates Jake's birthday

Tuesday was Tadhg's play buddy Jake's second birthday. Jake's birthday party was in Zofin restaurant, the same restaurant where Tadhg celebrated his second birthday with his other friends Sarvesh and Petru back in September. The restaurant is now close for the winter season as it's getting too cold to sit in a marquee, but it was opened especially for Jake's birthday.

Tadhg enjoyed playing with the toys as always and had a great time jumping on the trampoline in the middle of the restaurant. Tadhg also said bye-bye to one of his play buddies, Nathan, who is moving to Australia with his mom and dad. It was great to see all the toddler friends together in Zofin again. This most kid friendly of Prague restaurants will definitely be missed over the winter season.

A big Happy Birthday to Jake who joins all his other buddies at the big boy age of two!

Tadhg does yoga

Tadhg has often watched mom doing her yoga routine and on Sunday decided to join mom in her exercise. Tadhg pulled out his blue exercise mat and set himself up right beside mom. He enjoyed perfecting his sun salutations and his upward and downward dogs and is as flexible as mom.

Mom enjoyed having a yoga partner but found it difficult to keep good form with Tadhg's happy screams and giggles!

Tadhg's jack-o-lantern

On Saturday after Uncle Ger and Auntie Amy left for Dublin, Tadhg helped mom carve a pumpkin into a jack-o-lantern. This has become a family tradition from Tadhg's first Halloween when the jack-o-lantern was bigger than Tadhg (who wore his baby pumpkin outfit)! Tadhg enjoyed pulling the seeds and innards out and wanted to do some of the carving, but wasn't allowed to play with the carving knife!

Mom did a great job and made a slightly scary jack-o-lantern face. Tadhg enjoyed sitting on the jack-o-lantern and trying to pull it's head off! After Tadhg went to bed mom and dad watched a typical scary, Halloween movie. Everyone had a great Halloween day.

Tadhg's halloween party

Tadhg and his buddies had a Halloween party in mom and dad's favourite local organic shop and cafe, Bio Zahrada. Tadhg wore his new Peter Pan costume. Jake was batman, Petru was a native american, Smaranda was a baby tiger and Nathalie was a baby pumpkin. Mom decorated the cafe with some photos from previous Halloweens and read from Tadhg's Halloween book.

The kids got a bit crazy and the waiter had to ask to keep the sound down a few times. Everyone had a good time and Tadhg was glad his Uncle Ger and Auntie Amy were able to join the party on their flying visit to Prague.

Tadhg returns to Model Railway world

Wednesday was a national holiday in the Czech Republic (Czechoslovak Independence Day) so Tadhg and dad got to spend a week day together (school and the office were closed!). Tadhg and dad wanted to do something special, so they decided to return to the model railway exhibition. Mom had the afternoon free as always, so she came too as did Tadhg's buddy Petru and his mom, dad and sister.

Tadhg enjoyed pointing at the little trains, cars and trucks that rattled around the tracks and roads. He decided to have a snack in the movie room where you can sit in train seats and watch movies of trains (this is a great place if you love trains!). After his snack he zoomed around the basement area on an oversize scooter!

Tadhg and dad enjoyed being able to spend a weekday together. It was just like old times!

Tadhg's Peter Pan costume

Regular readers of Tadhg's blog will know that Tadhg is a big fan of Peter Pan (and Captain Hook). So mom ordered a Peter Pan costume for Tadhg to wear on Halloween. After shopping around for a play knife to complete the costume, on Sunday Tadhg tried it on to make sure it fits.

Tadhg looked great in the forest green outfit complete with belt and knife. Unfortunately, the hat which came with the costume was a bit small and anyway Tadhg refused to wear it. Tadhg is all set for his Halloween party and enjoyed reading his Peter Pan books wearing his new outfit (although mom and dad think he may have preferred being one of Captain Hook's pirates!).

Tadhg's Fire Truck!

Mom and dad got Tadhg a belated birthday present of a fire truck. Mom, dad and Tadhg went shopping to see what toy Tadhg wanted. As soon as Tadhg saw the truck in the shop he knew what he wanted. The fire truck has two fire men (newly christened Fireman Sam and Fireman Bill) and has a whole repertoire of fire truck sounds.

Tadhg loves driving it around the apartment and is fond of sitting on the little truck. He also likes to bring the firemen around to chat with his other toy men!

Tadhg gets new shoes!

Tadhg continues to grow and grow and consequently his clothes and shoes keep getting tighter and tighter. With winter approaching, mom and dad decided it was time to get Tadhg some new, bigger shoes.

Tadhg had a pair of dpk Czech made shoes last winter which he enjoyed, so Tadhg, mom and dad returned to their local dpk shop on Saturday and picked out a new pair of shoes with funky orange laces. Tadhg tripped a little bit when he first put them on but quickly got used to them and was running around as always.

Tadhg's night-time routine

After a lot of trial and error, Tadhg has settled into his night-time routine. He has some wind-down time on his 'hedgehog' cushion reading his favourite books before getting changed into his PJs. Then it's straight to bed with a bottle of water while dad reads his night-time book 'Debbie's Dream'.

After one reading, Tadhg says good-night to dad and dad waits "right outside the door". Tadhg then goes to sleep by himself and usually sleeps all through the night. This routine definitely beats the many nights where he screamed himself to sleep!

Tadhg's velvet dungarees

Tadhg was given a present of blue, velvet dungarees last Christmas which were a bit big for him at the time, so they were stored at the back of his wardrobe. There they lay forgotten about until now when Tadhg dug them out and liked the soft, velvety feel. Luckily they just about fit Tadhg so he was happy to put them on and run around the apartment.

Tadhg tries chocolate pudding

Tadhg hasn't been exposed much to chocolate as mom and dad have focused on giving him a healthy diet. He has tried it a few times with mixed results.

Mom got an organic chocolate pudding for Tadhg to try. Initially he thought it was fruit yogurt and got a bit of a shock when he tasted it. After a few spoonfuls he decided a liked it....but only a little bit as he had enough after half the pot.

Mom and dad don't want to cut chocolate out of his diet forever but are happy that he prefers fruit for now.

Tadhg gets some post!

On Monday, a mysterious package arrived in the post. Tadhg was very excited when he knew it was for him and had great fun opening the brown paper envelope to see what was inside. When he eventually managed to get it open he was delighted to discover a pirate book sent from his baba in Canada. Tadhg enjoyed opening the package so much that he wanted to put the book back in and open it again!

After a few openings and closings, Tadhg actually read the book which was about a little pirate starting school - very appropriate!

Tadhg's library

Tadhg is getting used to his new schedule. After breakfast in the morning, dad takes him to playschool around 8:15. He spends the morning in playschool until mom picks him up at 12:15. Tadhg's usually had some lunch in school so mom and Tadhg may have a snack before nap time. Tadhg then takes his nap betwen 1:00 and 3:00. Mom organises an indoor or outdoor activity for the afternoon before dad comes home from work at 5:40 for dinner time. After these busy days, Tadhg is glad to get to bed at night-time.

Tadhg continues to enjoy reading from his expanding library and is happy sitting on his hedgehog reading by himself.

Tadhg flies a kite!

On Sunday Tadhg, mom and dad met up with Eva and her mom at Riegrovy Sady park. There was a little wind blowing so Tadhg and dad brought along their dragon kite and tried to fly it. The wind wasn't really strong enough so the kite didn't stay in the air very long but Tadhg and dad enjoyed running up and down the hill trying to launch it.

Tadhg prepares for the cold

The weather has started to turn decidedly wintry so Tadhg decided to try out his winter clothes. He took a shine to mommy's hat and scarf and decided to march around the house wearing them. Tadhg looked like a little Jamiroquai but is sure to be warm on his wintry outings.

Tadhg's 2nd birthday celebration - part 4

Tuesday was Tadhg's actual 2nd birthday. Tadhg marked the celebration with a fourth (and final) birthday party in his school with his schoolmates. Mom and dad were allowed to stay in school for the special occassion. Mom had made some special birthday cup cakes and the teachers organised birthday hats and decorations for the celebration. Tadhg's class sat around the table enjoying Tadhg's birthday cakes and Tadhg's teachers brought out a special birthday present for Tadhg (another truck!).

Tadhg was a bit nervous about returning to school after his long weekend away, but enjoyed the birthday hats and the lovely birthday present from his teachers. It has been a long celebration for Tadhg's birthday celebration with lots of parties so it was almost an anti-climax on the day itself. Mom and dad celebrated with some champagne at the actual time of Tadhg's birth and marvelled at how much their little guy has grown in the last 2 years.

Tadhg flies home to Prague

Monday was Tadhg's last day in Dublin. In the morning he waved bye-bye to Uncle Eddie and Maria (and thanked them for putting Tadhg, mom and dad up for the weekend) and went into Dublin to meet his friends Jamie and Amelia and their mom. Jamie is a real little boy of 3 now and has started school as well and Amelia has grown into a real little toddler. Tadhg enjoyed visiting as Jamie and Amelia had loads of toys to play with.

In the evening Tadhg, mom and dad flew back to Prague. Tadhg was sleepy when they arrived in Prague and fell asleep in his buggy on the way home. Everyone was happy to get back home after a great weekend in Dublin. It's been a busy few months of travelling but now is the time to get fully into the schedule of school for Tadhg and new job for dad.