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.