Few things have happened in the past few months. First of all, we bought a house. It is an old and tiny ex-council house. It has three very small bedrooms, one reception and a single bathroom. I would not have looked at it twice if it did not have one major advantage - its proximity to one of the top twenty schools in London. It is an excellent primary school that we really like. We decided to make a conscious choice and buy a house that will give our Munchkins a good chance of getting into that school. The school takes only thirty kids a year. Siblings of the current students have a priority. On average they take up 10 to 15 available spaces a year. The rest of the spaces are allocated based on the proximity of your house's front door to the front door of the school measured by the straight line. There are approximately twenty houses close than ours to school. Hopefully, not all of them would have kids of Big Munchkin's age. If everything goes according to plan we should be moving to the house at the end of January. It requires some renovation - complete bathroom renovation, removing its ghastly wall-paper and removing prehistoric carpets. We are hoping to stay there just long enough to get both kids into the school and them move to a bigger place further away.

Moving to a new house presents a new set of challenges to me. My main source of stress is the need to find a new form of childcare for Big Munchkin. It would be her third nursery in a year, and I don't know how she will handle it. I went to see 4 or 5 nurseries in the area and I did not feel comfortable about any of them. I felt a bit better about a playgroup nearby. It would give me at best three mornings a week. But Big Munchkin has to be potty trained to go there, and she is not. So far my attempts to potty train her failed miserably. I'll try again during this Christmas holidays. If I can't get her at least somewhat potty trained by the end of January, I have no childcare arrangement for her. I am not sure how I am going to handle her being at home all he time. My husband is suggesting getting a nanny for two days a week, but nanny is expensive and the bureaucracy around getting a nanny is too complicated. If you have a nanny here you have to pay not just her wages, but her taxes, her pension fund contributions, her vacations etc... It is too much trouble for me. Plus, I always felt that the main point of Big Munchkin going to the daycare was that she can socialize with other kids. Getting a nanny would not do anything in that respect. Anyway, I have no definite plan for action. Lets see what happens.

I officially took Little Munchkin form his swimming classes. I loved those classes, but he hated them. It did not make sense to continue. We quit. I've been taking him to another pool on Sunday as our 'family activity'. All four of us have been going swimming on Sunday mornings. He is enjoying it. I think I'll just stop at that for now. Last month has been a bit boring for him. With my mom visiting, I've pretty much abandoned the little guy at home. I have been taking Big Munchkin to museums and playground, while Little Munchkin was left at home in the care of his grandmother. It was very nice for me not to have to drag little guy around, but it was a bit boring for him. My mom is leaving next week, so our life would get back to the usual routine.

Big Munchkin reached the age of philosophical questions. About a month ago, I got a first taste of it. My husband was late from work. Big Munchkin and I went to sleep. I was already half-asleep when Big Munchkin suddenly sat up and asked me "Mommy, what happened to the Red Person?". Now, it is dark. I am alone at home with two kids. I had watched too many horror movies when I was a teenager. I am afraid of the dark. What would your reaction be on a question like that? After I got over of a minor panic attack and stopped looking for a Red Person in the dark corners, Big Munchkin repeated her question. Only at this point I tried to think logically and tried to understand what she can be possibly talking about. Then it hit me. The only thing I call a Red Person - is the 'red person' on a traffic light. She was asking me what happens to the Red Person on a traffic light!!! "Sweetheart, he turns into a Green Person". "OK, Mommy". And she went back to sleep leaving me to contemplate what the future holds.

Few days later she asked me another question. This time it was around five a.m. The question was "Mommy, was is behind the door?" This time it was easier to understand that she must have been referring to my mom taking Little Munchkin downstairs. The Little Guy wakes up around 5 a.m and mom was taking him down for breakfast. "Sweetheart, Babyshka and your little brother are behind the door. There is a light underneath the door. Could you please go to sleep now". "OK, Mommy". Good thing that she trusts me.

Even without philosophical questions, her speech have progressed dramatically. With the exception of 'graizins' aka raisins, she makes very few mistakes. Some of the little conversations with her are hilarious. "Munchkin, did you make a poo?" "I don't think so, mommy". "I DO think so, I can smell it!!!" Still she did not get to the stage of a friends daughter who told her nanny "Don't you talk to me like that".

My husband and I took a full advantage of my mom being here. We went out a lot. It was really nice to be able to go out without kids. I hope we will do it more often after the move to the new house is complete and our life gets a bit more settled.

Now the Christmas is coming. I did not send many cards this year. In fact I sent very very few. So, if you don't receive one, I will try to call before Christmas. If not, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.