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!