For the last few months Robert has gone to an art class / music class combination. He absolutely loved it! For the first thirty minutes they would paint, do projects, do collages etc. Then in the second half, they sang, danced, played instruments. Initially Robert didn't want to do anything, but after only one class, he loved it so much. If fact he talks about it all the time now, and he wants to play the games he learned there. He is also very proud of his artwork and wants to show everybody and display it all around the house. What a great way to spend Thursday mornings.

Here is his favorite game / song:

Jakub recently finished his swimming course with his school. It was great, and he got put in with the "expert" swimmers. There was only three people in that class, two girls and Jakub. The teacher was really good and pushed the kids to their limits. Jakub loved him and loved the class. On the last day, instead of getting the kids to go down the slide and play in the boat (like the kids in the beginning classes did), the swimming instructor suggested to his three kids whether they wanted to go jump off the diving board. Man, were the kids really excited (including Kubus). Before, Alex suggested to Kubus on many occasions to go jump off the diving board, which Jakub promptly rejected. But this time, when there were other kids, and it was a teacher asking to jump, he JUMPED. I was amazed! Later the teacher asked them if they wanted to jump off the big tower... and they did. Imagine 5 year olds on the big jumping tower. He was so scared, but he did it! I was so proud. Jakub has really come out of his shell recently, and he has so much courage... more than I ever had (I never jumped off the tower to this day).

In the last few weeks, Konrad has had some real progress. At two months, he started to roll over when placed on his belly. He laughs and follows me with his eyes when I move about the room. He can sit on his own (for a few seconds for now). He loves his jolly jumper and can be on it for half an hour to an hour without complaining. And the most important of course: HE SLEEPS THROUGH THE NIGHT!!!!!!! (9:30pm - 6:30am). He is a genius baby :)

Here is some fun photos of Konrad in his second month. He has become such a cute baby.

For all of you out there that think that I have three clones of each other in three different sizes: SMALL, MEDIUM, and LARGE...

When changing his diaper today, I decided to try Konrad's powerful legs. He's already been bouncing off my lap many times, and he seemed to be in a particularly good mood today. Here he is... only three weeks old!

Whenever Robert seems to be tired or cranky, especially when it's the afternoon, we tell him that he needs to go take a nap. But somehow he has learned to associate this with the fact that he needs to cheer up and he won't be "punished" to go take a nap. So when we tell him that he soon will go to sleep, he says: "I'm happy" and automatically puts on a happy face, with the cutest smile you could imagine. Even sometimes he says "I'm happy" through his crying tantrum. It's really really really cute!

This last Friday, in the early morning (Jan. 23, 2009), my favorite Grandma (Babcia Marysia) passed away in her home in Warsaw. I am full of sadness, but also I am happy that she is finally at peace. Everybody dies eventually, and she had a most wonderful and fullfilling life, full of joy, sadness, and full of LOVE.

Babcia was the most loving person I know. I can't imagine her angry, or impatient with anyone. She was always joking around, always happy, laughing. She was humble in the way she lived, she never really needed anything more than to chat with her daughter, her son, her grandchildren and of course her neighbours (for the most up to date gossip).

My first memory of my Grandma was when she came over to see me when I was sick as a little child (probably 3 or 4 years old). She made the best ham sandwiches, which obviously made me 100% better.

Then I remember staying with her and Grandpa when my Mother went for a month to Canada to visit my Father. I remember their little appartment, with the huge round table, in the living room, sitting around it, eating either the best food or some sweats my Grandma served. This was the tradition - come over, sit around the table, eat, chat, chat some more. Once in a while, she would read cards to me, predicting my very exciting future.

I always watched Dynasty with my Grandma. We would make fun of all the extravagant cloths, the jewelery, and she would always catch me up if I ever missed an episode. Then she would pull out a chocolate bar, or some candy or cookies out of her big cabinet, and she would say... "I saved this just for you, but don't tell anyone." She would always have secrets with me. For instance, she would pull out some major money out of some secret hiding place (usually a jar or an empty wine glass) and give me the money saying... "Go buy yourself a present, but don't tell your grandpa, or your uncle where you got the money from..." I'm sure she did this with all her grandkids, but she just made me feel so special.

I remember her hair... her curling iron (still warming it up on the gas of her stove), her lipstick, all her creams (favorite being NIVEA), and her awesome skin which was the softest you can imagine. She always had to make herself up for pictures (put on her red lipstick and some colour in her cheeks); she never smiled for pictures, but when I think of her, that is the only way I can remember her... smiling, or laughing.

She was so excited for me when I met Alex. She really wanted to see a picture of him, and as soon as she did, she told me how handsom he was. Her words ment so much to me, so when she saw Alex, and approved, I was all the more in love with him, saw another side of him... So when we came to see her, Alex in person with our brand new baby Jakub, she was in love, with Alex and Jakub. As always, she made the best food, the best conversation, and the best "secrets".

My grandma was the perfect grandma... I will miss you!

This last weekend, Karen came over with her two children (Zoe and Ryland). Zoe is 11, and Ryland is 8. Jakub really gets along with Ryland, but Zoe was also having fun with the "intellectual" Jakub. Robert was just loving it... After dinner Alex invited everyone to participate in an exercise video he just borrowed from a friend... P90X. Earlier that day, he tried it out and had lots of trouble keeping up with all the seemingly easy exercises. (This is a first for Alex, as he is in excellent shape). Anyway, since I'm pregnant, I had an easy excuse, but everyone else had to go on the floor and exercise. It was too funny!

After the exercise, Zoe suggested we play Settlers of Catan - one of our favorite games. But before we could finish, it got too late for Ryland (and Karen) and they started falling asleep. Zoe really wanted to finish the game, and Karen thought of a great idea... "Let's take a picture of exactly how the game was set up right now, and then we can finish at another time." I thought that was a very creative solution on Karen's part. Here is the photo, so when we're ready to play again, we can just look online to find out the exact setup.