We went to Sherbrooke to visit our friends (Beata and her daughter Karolina). We took our other friends along (Asia, Jurek, Amelka, Natalka). It was supposed to rain, but the weather changed, and it turned out to be a great day. Here are some pictures from the trip, a little hike we did, and then a swim in their ultra clean pool. I love to go visit Beata - there's always so much to do.

I figured out how to make Konrad sleep most of the night - make him very warm. I put on his winter clothes, his parka (it's summer now) when he goes to bed and put in a soother in his mouth (which eventually he spits out after he's asleep). This way, he can't move around too much, he's very warm and snuggly, and his hands are confined so that he can't pull out the soother from his mouth. With a blanket, he would always manage to kick it off and would end up uncovered. I thought of the "Parka" idea when I was trying to ignore his crying on a sleepless night sometime in the first month of his life. Ever since then, Konrad has slept very well, and consequently has been in a good mood throughout the days. (Oh, and never change a baby's diaper at night... it just wakes them up, leave it until the morning.)

It works so well! Try it yourself if you have trouble with your baby waking up every two hours at night.

Robert always like to do what Konrad does. If he's in the crib, he'll climb in to be with him. If I'm giving Konrad a bath, he'll quickly take off his clothes and jump in. And of course, when I lay Konrad in the living room, soon his brother Robert will match his brother in every move and pretends he's the baby. Of course, Konrad loves all the attention, so it's all good.

Konrad is seriously such a great baby. Thanks to him, I can handle my three boys (or should I call them little monsters). He lets me do what I need to do with Robert and Jakub, but then also gives me extra energy with his twinkling eyes and always smiling face. I love him so much, I can't even express it in words.

And of course, he is advance beyond his age (3 1/2 months)... hahahahaha. Here he is in a swing, and his first attempts at sitting. Today, I also felt a couple bottom teeth coming out.

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!

Sunday March 15th: "You better get all your work done Alex, he's coming. I can feel it!"
Seven days later the prophecy remains unfullfilled.
Sunday March 22nd, the due date: If he doesn't come today then we have to see the doctor to schedule an induction.
Monday March 23rd: At the doctor`s. Everything is as fine as it could be so no induction needed. The doctor schedules one for a week later just in case.
Tuesday: Nothing
Wednesday: Nada
Thursday: Boring. Until about 8pm, when Bogusia starts to get some really good contractions. It`s not nearly enough to go to the hospital yet, but he`s coming for sure. Bogusia tries to put it off until morning so the kids can go to school, but by midnight it is apparent that we have to drop them with the neighbours. 2am and we`re at the hospital. At 4:30am Konrad is born without much difficulty at all.

The doctors keep Bogusia in the hospital for the requisite 24 hrs and we`re home just after lunch on Saturday. The existing kids, the dogs, the grandparents, and the uncles get their introductions and are natually impressed by the handsome new baby.

By the way, Konrad means `Brave Counsel`, but we chose the name mainly by sound and suggestion from our friends and family. One of my superiors, named after the god of wine, was shocked that we hadn't researched the meaning of the name just in case it meant "fig tree" or something more ridiculous. Luckily it turned out well but thanks for the good advice!

The middle name, Mariusz, simple means "Male". It was chosen as the closest thing to Bogusia's recently-passed grandmother's name Maria.

Have a look at some pictures of Konrad: