Christmas is coming, and we are having fun preparing. A few weeks ago, my Mom came from Calgary to visit, and we had an early Christmas feast with her (as she's going to Australia for two months, and we won't see her over the holidays). With her, we went to the Santa Clause parade here in Montreal, to start of the holiday season.

Last week we got our Christmas tree (from IKEA - $20 and then we got a $20 gift certificate, so it's like getting the tree fro free). Also we took out our outside Christmas lights and Kubus helped me with their arrangement. Last year we had blue lights hanging in a tree outside, but in the spring, squirrels thought the lights were nuts, and bit through the cord, taking them away. We still have them up there, but the cord cannot be connected to an electrical switch anymore. I still can't believe the amount of wildlife around in our neighbourhood...

Later that week, I wanted to make a gingerbread house with the kids, but I was too cheap to buy a kit. So instead we made it out of materials we had at home. That was fun, but the house is not as nice as I thought it would be. So I bought a kit anyway and today we put it together. I think I like my house better... what do you think?

Also, Kubus wrote his first letter to Santa Clause. He told me what to write, and I wrote it down. He wrote a wish list for all of us (even Joxer and Guapa). Then he signed it and drew a picture of the dollhouse he wants.

Yesterday, however, was the best part of all of the Christmas preparations. Every Friday evening, Kubus goes to Polish school, and yesterday night was his Christmas concert. He had to sing and say a few lines of a poem and dance. It braught tears to my eyes, to see Kubus singing so loud, saying his poem infront of all of the other parents and Santa Clause. He was so not-shy, so loud, so happy, so good - I was so proud! Then at the end, Santa gave each kid (even Robert) a package full of candy, cookies, oranges, and toys. After the concert, there was a party, and the kids from the polish school (along with Robert) were running around like mad, and having the best time of all.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Even though we knew the terrible twos were coming, we didn't think that our angel Kuba could ever be terrible... oh how wrong we were. But with all the tough moments (especially because of our new edition to the family... Robert), there were so many more precious moments. A week before Robert (our new baby) was born, Kubus was fully potty trained (so we never had two babies in diapers). Kubus, from the very start, was a very loving big brother to Robert (sometimes too loving, which left Robert with a few BooBoos). Now, near the end of Jakub's third year, he loves Robert more and more, and the two of them play with each other all the time. This year, Kuba loved to go to Art Class and Swimming Class. He made new friends: Samantha, Haden, Anita, Esteban, Adrian. He knows the whole alphabet, and is starting to read simple words. He can also write a few of the letters. He knows all the colours, shapes and can count to twenty (but his favourite numer is 30). Also he knows a little bit of math: some adding, telling time (with a digital clock), geometrical shapes, patterns etc. He loves to do puzzles, excericises with stickers, colouring, reading, playing with lego, playing with trains and trucks, swimming, climbing, jumping, running, running, running (he can run all day - I predict he will be a marathon runner, like his daddy, when he grows up). Just recently he loves to play on the computer. We started him off with colouring on PAINT and writing letters in WORD, but now he really likes (and we like it too) Poisson Rouge. Now that the "terrible twos" are done with, what will the next year bring? To see pictures of Kuba's third year, click here.

Kuba had a fantastic and adventurous second year. He saw Newfoundland, Calgary, Edmonton, Montreal, Ottawa, Boston, and many more fantastic cities. As a family we moved to Montreal (from Edmonton) and he adjusted perfectly. He has new friends here: at daycare he has Robert, DeNeige, Emma, Tea; across the street, he has found friends - Frederique and Luca (twin brothers); in the "older" catagory, he was charmed by Jenny and John; and of course his favourite two dogs Joxer and Guapa. Kuba talks a lot, understands even more, jumps, climbs, swims (kind of), runs, recognizes many letters and knows how to count to three. He loves to be outside, trains and "lody". Of course he has been showing off his "character" - in preparation for the terrible twos of next year. To see picutres from Kuba's second year click here.

Kuba's first year was very eventful. At six weeks old, he visited Victoria. At four months old, he went to Poland and met all of his family. He rolled over at about six months old, started to sit at about five months, and started to walk around nine and a half months. His first tooth came out when he was five months old, and at his first birthday he has 12 teeth (after many days of sadness). He loves swimming, walking at the dog park, eating, chasing the dogs, searching through the kitchen cabinets, and asking questions: "Ba? Ka? Pa?". We can't wait to see what the next year will bring. Click here to see the pictures from Kuba's first year.