April Flowers

Lucas has been going through a kinda bad spell, when it comes to his belly. Since Friday night, he's pretty much had nothing but diarrhea, and the past couple of days, he's been going a LOT. As a result, his butt is red, raw, and tender, which makes changing him a less-than-pleasant experience, because he's screaming in pain. We're hoping it clears up soon, but I think Marilu is going to call the doctor tomorrow if not. She actually called yesterday to the 24/7 "nurseline" after he's had some projectile vomting, but they said that since he wasn't experiencing any other symptoms, it was probably just something he ate. Or something like that. She could probably explain better. I'm just here to look good, folks.

On to the older pictures...

Not long after Marilu returned from Lab City in early April, we went to Lonestar to meet up with Wes and Kelly and their spawn, Brody. We took a LOT of pictures of the two of them sitting and/or standing on the table, and this was as close as we got to a "good" one. If, by your measure, demonic eyes equal good.


As we've seen, not all Lucas pictures are happy moments. It looks like he's not pleased to be in the car seat in the following one.


Some pictures of Lucas can be SO cute...


...while in others, he looks like he thinks you're an idiot.


Lil' Mr. Hefner prepares to retire to the sitting room for his evening brandy and cigar.


Lucas has taken a liking to Sesame Street's Elmo so my mom picked him up a little stuffed Elmo. This is his reaction after we opened the packaged and gave Elmo to him. Think he was happy?


I think that covers the period between Lab City and California. We should be sort of caught up in the next post, as we'll pick up last Monday, when we got back from California. See ya then.

California, Day 5

Sunday was our last full day in California, and the last day with any pictures since we left early the next morning. We started off the day by walking down by the Santa Monica Promenade and Pier and had breakfast at the exotic little place called McDonald's. After that, we hightailed it back to the hotel and made our way a few miles south to world famous and notorious Venice Beach.

It was the second time we'd been to Venice Beach, as Marilu and I visited it during our California vacation back in 2006. This was just one of the many things on this trip that made us realize just how much our lives have changed within the last 2 years.

It was actually a little chilly that morning, partially due to the wind coming off the ocean and partially due to the fact that California had a minor cold snap. Well, the latter is my guess, but when we came back to Ottawa the next day, it was actually warmer here than it was in California. Almost makes it seem better...if you can ignore the 14 feet of snow we had this winter.

The first picture I wanted to post is the only one we got with the boardwalk in it. There's a lot of crazy street performers and enough kitschy shops to be on par with Tijuana, but I went with a more panoramic view here.


Afterwards, we turned around, walked a couple of hundred feet, and took a picture with a slightly different background. Suffice to say Lucas is a well-traveled baby, having now seen both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans before his first birthday. And if all goes as planned, he should be seeing the Gulf of Mexico this Christmas since my dad isn't too far from it.


After Venice Beach, we traveled about 20 minutes south to Torrance and visited with Tim, a family friend that grew up with my dad. Unbelievably, we were able to get Lucas to look at the camera in this next shot, even though both of us were in the photo. Will wonders never cease?


I don't know if I've ever mentioned it, but Lucas is fascinated by facial hair, probably because he doesn't see it very often. My last few attempts at cultivating a goatee have been somewhat disappointing so he will have to rely on others to get his quota of facial hair. Below is a cute picture of him grabbing on to Tim's goatee.


And that wraps up the California trip. I'll return tomorrow with pictures since then plus several others that were taken between the Lab City trip and California. If you recall, I didn't have time to get them all up. In addition, I'll be uploading several videos from the California trip, including the one that goes with nekkid Lucas.

Later!

California, Day 4

Saturday, otherwise known as Day 4 (I'm not counting the day we arrived) was my first non-work day so we made the most of it by driving all over Southern California. On Friday night, we stayed overnight in the cradle of surfing, Huntington Beach. Our hotel was in a fantastic location, right on Pacific Coast Highway, across from the beach, so we walked along the beach Saturday morning up to the pier and a little shop/restaurant area. Since Marilu had never eaten at an IHOP (International House of Pancakes for those of you unaware of such quintessential American businesses), that's where we had breakfast. Even Lucas got to join in the fun as he had a pancake with a face made of strawberries and whipped cream on it. Here we see him trying to eat the creamer container from Marilu's coffee.


I took the following shot from the Huntington Beach pier. There were a LOT of beach volleyball nets set up, and an equally large number of people playing beach volleyball. Since I'm not the kind of person who voluntarily gets up at 8 in the morning on a weekend, these people perplexed me, but to each their own. At least I could blame Lucas. Oh, for the single guys out there: beach volleyball girls? Uh, pretty hot. Not that I was paying attention or anything. :)

(If you click on the picture to expand it, you can see our hotel way in the background.)


After Huntington Beach, we drove a little north to Lomita in order to visit Lucas's great grandmother (my grandmother on my dad's side). In this first picture, Lucas and my grandmother take a look at each other.


All we're missing in this next picture is my dad, and we'd be representing four generations.


And here's Lucas with his mom and great grandma. For you Eastern Canadians, if you look close, you may notice the St. John's shirt my grandmother is wearing. See, we don't all think of your country as a third world nation. One of these days, I even think you should be allowed to use our restrooms. *ducks and hides*


Finally, we drove up to Santa Monica, which is where we stayed that night. The first thing we did was head down to the world famous Santa Monica pier. The pictures are so-so since Lucas spent the majority of the time ignoring the camera and gawking at the sights around him. Who can blame him? There was a lot going on.


We then walked around the 3rd Street Promenade, a fairly large restaurant and shopping district. It was in this area that we bought Lucas his first piece of expensive clothing, a $50 hoodie with a monkey on it from the creatively titled children's store "This Little Piggy Wears Cotton." Expect to see that in tomorrow's update.

We went to a sports bar for dinner at a fun place called Yankee Doodle's. In a preview of his eating habits since we returned to Canada, Lucas got pretty messy with his dinner.


I'll wrap up with this great shot of mom and son from Yankee Doodle's.

California, Day 3

I only took 3 pictures of the little monster on Day 3, and they are all of him playing in front of the mirror. Here's the best of the lot.

California, Day 2

Day 2 found me at work and found Lucas visiting his first zoo. It was the small Santa Ana Zoo, but that was about perfect for him since he doesn't really need the grandeur of something like the San Diego Zoo. I mean, why bring him to pandas when he doesn't know any better and a goat is new to him?

Here are several pictures from Marilu and Lucas's trip to SAZoo.


Lucas and the giant frog!



Apparently, the turkey does not amuse Lucas.


Lucas was fascinated by the goats as you can see by his face here. Marilu didn't bring him into the petting zoo since she was afraid he might aggravate the animals since he doesn't understand the concept of "petting." However, in a year or two, I think he's going to have a blast with the petting zoo, based on his reaction here and with the dog in Labrador City.


Next to a monkey statue.


Speaking of monkeys, Marilu bought Lucas a little stuffed monkey as a souvenir. You can see part of it in the photo below. I've named it Sazoo, in honor of the Santa Ana Zoo.


That night, we had dinner at Macaroni Grill, a fantastic Italian restaurant we enjoy visiting whenever we get down to the States. Here, Lucas colors on the paper tablecloth. Marilu fed him some macaroni and cheese we bought from the kid's menu, and every time Lucas would taste it, his whole body would shudder. I think he wasn't used to eating something so salty. Nonetheless, it was pretty amusing.


Back at the hotel room, Lucas made this less than flattering face.


For the record, I do have a bunch of video from the trip. Since they take a lot longer to upload than the pictures, I'm going to wait until I chronicle the trip via photos, and then I'll put up some videos.

See you tomorrow for Day 3! (and 4, since I only have a couple of pictures for Day 3)

California, Day 1

The business trip went very well, and the vacation side of the trip wasn't bad either. Having a 10-month-old does preclude you from doing quite a bit, particularly at night, so we didn't get to see or do as much as I would have liked. For instance, during my 3 days working, I got off work between 5 and 5:30, we would eat somewhere, and then Lucas had to be in bed around 7. So there really wasn't much time to do anything in that 2 hour window.

I am glad he got to go since we saw my grandmother and a long-time family friend, but the vacations will be more enjoyable in a few more years when Lucas is able to stay up a little later. The plane rides were also somewhat painful. Even though he only had a few meltdowns, most of the time was spent trying to keep him entertained (aka "not crying"). Now I love to play with him quite a bit, but it gets tiresome after 4 hours or so. I tried to watch the movie There Will Be Blood on Air Canada's nifty on-demand movie service (very awesome service for those of you not traveling with infants), which is a 2 hr and 45 min movie. I ended up missing the last 2 minutes, even though it was a nearly 5 hour trip. So for you parents out there who haven't made a cross-country flight, don't count on relaxation!

I should add that I don't regret taking Lucas along. It's just something one needs to be prepared for. And with that, on to the pictures from Day 1 of the trip.

Lucas spent quite a bit of this trip with the soother/pacifier in his mouth. Normally, we only give it to him when he is going to bed, but it helped keep him quiet and calm on the trip so we were all for it. In addition, he's figured out how to put it in his mouth by himself. Here we see him "helping" unpack.


"Whazzup!?" If you look closely, you'll see Marilu bought Lucas a very Southern California appropriate outfit.


One of the best photos from the trip. Hands down...or should I say, "pants down"?

We're back!

Subject line says it all. As I assumed in last night's post, I'm worn out so I'll try and write more tomorrow night.

Return is imminent

It's Sunday night. We return tomorrow. Argggghhh!

I doubt I'll post any new pictures until Tuesday since tomorrow is going to be a LONG day. We leave at 7:30 in the morning so we'll be at the airport around 5:30. Then it's going to be a long 5 hours to Toronto. Our stopover on the way here was in Chicago so our longest leg was only 4 hours so this ought to be interesting, when it comes to Lucas. We'll finally get back into Ottawa at 5 EST, at which point I think I'll want to crawl under my bed and disappear.

The real fun part will be Tuesday morning, since I have to be at work for something at 8 AM. For those of you not familiar with the math, that's 5 AM Pacific time, which is what time zone my head will be in for a day or two.

Anyway, I'm off for now. Talk at you on the flip side!

California Update

Just wanted to let everyone know that we made it to California without incident. Lucas had a couple of moments on the plane, but for the most part, he was a good kid. If anything, the plane itself was the worst part of the trip as it was full, I was stuck in the middle seat, and the seat was like a rock so my tailbone was numb about halfway through the flight. Whatever, we're here.

Lucas was also a champ when it came to his bedtime. His normal bedtime is 7 PM, and by the time we got the rental car and got to the hotel (livin' large at Embassy Suites), it was a little after 7 PM PACIFIC TIME. Yes, the poor guy went to bed 3 hours later than normal. And you know what? He never whined, never cried, he just crawled around the room exploring. Hopefully, he'll sleep through the night and not wake up at 6 AM EST since that's actually later for him normally. If so, tomorrow could be a long day.

That's all for now. I can't update with pictures this week, but if possible, I'll check in a couple of times if there is anything interesting going on. Oh, and for those of you that know California, our first meal, just like our last trip, was at In-n-Out Burger. LOVE that place!

Playing catch up

First off, some news. I just finished uploading all the photos taken in March to the photo albums. Liked the pictures in the blog? Check out the March 2008 albums for hundreds more like them. That is, if you really can't get enough of cute baby photos.

I was just looking at how many photos and videos I've taken since the Lab City trip, and it's a bit overwhelming. Well, at least to get through them all in one night. So here are some of the best of the last few days. I'll get to the rest when we get back. You may notice that Lucas not only recognizes the camera now, but he tends to smile for it as well. Some of these are just priceless.

The whole series this next one is part of are fantastic, including the videos. Not only was he having fun, as evidenced below, but he was really amusing. It'll take too long to upload the videos tonight, but I definitely plan to show you them when I get back.


"I LOVE POTS AND PANS!!! GIVE ME MORE!!!"


He may make a heck of a mess while eating, but he looks adorable doing it.


And let's wrap up with "Dad and son."


In case you haven't been paying attention, the three of us are off to California for the next 7 days. I've got to train one of my company's customers from Wednesday to Friday, and then we'll just be relaxing somewhere near the beach on the weekend. Let me fix that...Marilu and Lucas will be relaxing the WHOLE time. Anyway, we'll be back on Tuesday night, hopefully with lots more pictures. Until then, ta-ta!

Closing out Lab City, Part 2

And so we come to the final day of the Labrador City trip, April 1. Pretty much all the shots are portrait-type shots with Lucas and Marilu's family, but some of them are quite nice, and I figured I'd devote this last Lab City entry to them. Not much to add here so I'll leave it at that.

One note, for those of you not already aware. We leave for California on Tuesday and come back next Monday. As such, I'll have one more big post tomorrow, showing many of the photos I've taken since the trip up north.




I said I wasn't going to comment, but this next one makes me laugh. Marilu's dad was giving Lucas some money, and for whatever reason, Lucas just started crying. I know I shouldn't laugh, but his face is too cute when he's crying. And Marilu did a great job capturing his feelings in this photo.


Marilu took several photos of Lucas and her parents, but for whatever reason, none of them were "just right." If the picture wasn't fuzzy, someone was looking away, or in extreme cases, Lucas was hitting Marilu's mom...


I decided to go ahead and post this picture as the defining "Lucas and his grandparents" picture, because even though neither of them are looking at the camera, they are both looking at him, so it has that "caring" feel to it. And it's symmetrical. Or something like that. See why I said I wasn't going to comment?


And that's that for the Lab City trip. Hope you enjoyed Marilu's pictures. See you tomorrow for one last big update before we hit the road (again, in their case)!

Closing out Lab City, Part 1

I've got lots of pictures for you today, as we wrap up the last 3 days of the Labrador trip. Since there are quite a few, I'm going to break the 3 days up into 2 parts but attempt to get both of them posted today.

(March 30)

This day found Lucas spending plenty of time outside. Here, Lucas sits on a snowmobile for the first time. I suspect this will be far from the last time he is on one.


Next up, I have a picture of Lucas sitting in the snow, bookended by 2 videos of him playing in and/or eating the snow.










If you look closely, you can see Lucas wasn't too keen on the idea of wearing a helmet for snowmobiling.


Lucas and Nanny McGrath take time to pose for a picture during meal time.


A picture and video of Lucas and Poppy McGrath on the floor.






(March 31)

Apparently, it's never too early to get the kids started on Tim Horton's coffee.


The last day, April 1, coming later today!

Continuing the Lab City Saga

My mom made it known to me via email this morning that I have been somewhat remiss in my capacities as Lucas blog poster the past couple of days. As such, let me lay a lot of pictures on you this evening.

(March 27)
I guess Ottawa isn't the only place that gets a crapload of snow. The good thing is that this was just a bad year for us; for Lab City, this is probably what they see in mid-July too. :)


(March 28)

Lucas having fun with Jonathan.


Sometimes a baby just needs to kick back. And what better place to relax than the local clothes basket?


(March 29)

Two fridge-related pictures. The first one looks like he was caught with his hand in the cookie jar.


The second one is a picture that would be well suited to one of those Successories posters. I call this one "Perseverance."


Lucas and Nanny McGrath.


Another shot from the infamous (and wildly popular) smoking set.


Yet more video of Lucas and the dog.




And now, a picture of him saying (theoretically), "Give me the damn dog!"


Three days to go, which I'll get to tomorrow. This should keep my mom happy for now. :)