Baby Gallory

Look at my treasures!!! The B-E-S-T one... Julian has been collecting postcards since he was born. Dziadek Wojtek has been steadily adding to his collection, along with one postcard from Brevyn. The Toucan is the most prized image. Must be the crazy colors. My Boy!!! By the way, hint, hint, JULIAN COLLECTS POSTCARDS....

David, Megan, and Adam joined us for the New Year's Eve celebration. Julian had his first taste of fireworks, and Adam insisted on all of the proper regalia. Fun was had by all. On the New Year's Day morning, we had a crepe feast brunch, just like in the good old days... Uncle Addie sure is fun!!! What are these things called, again? Hmmm... Not sure how I feel about all the banging and flashing... I wonder just at point will they take it away from me? Eggless Crepes Master at work.

Whoa!!! Santa is into trains, TOO!!! As all Polish folks do, we celebrated Christmas Eve with the traditional multi-course supper AND Christmas morning with an all-out breakfast. Attempting to marry all of the traditions, we opened the gifts from family on the 24th, and left cookies and milk for Santa along with carrots for the reindeer hoping they would stop over. And they did! Santa even set up Julian's electric train to go around the Christmas tree and additional gifts which he brought. It was a rare treat to spend the holidays with Ciocia Klepa and Babcia Krysia Old Trains - meet New Trains. New Trains - Old Trains. Bonding with Ciocia Klepa

We are still a bit shocked by the fact, that one can go to a playground in late December and not have to contend with snow. Paw Paw wanted to show us a playground he remembered seeing in Covington, a neighboring town. After a bit of twirling we made it, and were not disappointed. Julian was beside himself with joy because of his gift from Paw Paw and Nona - an electric train! It will be a while before he can play with it by himself; he is used to the wooden trains and tracks and can't quite comprehand the need to be gentle.

To celebrate Dad's and Megan's birthdays, we went to The Court of Two Sisters for a wonderful Jazz Brunch. The court of Two Sisters is Dad's favorite New Orleans hoidy toidy restaurant; the food it serves is out of this world, and full of surprises. I was delighted to find a sour cream herring, which was no worse than the best ones I had in Poland. What it was doing on a Cajun-style buffet in New Orleans is anybody's guess. The band sang "Happy Birthday" for the celebrants, and they were served a slice of an awesome cake. After the meal we took a stroll around the French Quarter, ventured into the French Market, and, of course, took a trolly ride. Thank you, Nona, Paw Paw, and Adam for making it a truly memorable celebration.

Julian is in the first row, secong kid from the right. J-man's preschool prepares a Christmas program every year. Hats off to the teachers; I know it is impossible to get ONE kid to stand still for 5 minutes, try 3 classes at the time! Each level got on the stage and sung 3 or so songs. Some kids got smacked with jingle bells by their neighbors, and some fell off the steps, but overall the 30 minutes went without a glich. Before the program, Julian's class was seated in front of the stage waiting their turn. Little Man's head almost fell off he was trying to find me and Dad in the crowd so hard. It brought tears to my eyes; it was so important to him that we were there. I ran across the auditorium to reassure him, and to show him where we were sitting. And to think that in a few years so many of these kids (NOT Julian, of course:) will want nothing to do with their parents! Doesn't seem fair somehow...