Before this post starts properly, I just wanted to point out that I've taken plenty of pictures over the last couple of weeks so I should have more than enough for updates in the near future.
This 4-day weekend was a fun one, I think, for Lucas. I took Thursday and Friday off for American Thanksgiving, and keeping with a tradition we started last year, the 3 of us (Marilu was "sick") went to a nearby mall to get a picture with Santa. It works out well since there aren't nearly as many people as there would be on a weekend. Even so, it surprised me just how many people were there for pictures with Santa. Must be nice not to have to work. We got a nice picture of the 3 of us with Santa done up as one of those glossies that go up on the fridge so some of you may actually see that in your mail soon. I'll also post it on here once I get around to scanning it.
Also, we brought Lucas out yesterday to sled around our tiny backyard. We didn't have the camera so nothing to see there, but I'm sure we'll have plenty by the end of winter.
In the meantime, let's take a look back at a couple of photos from early November. First up, Lucas hams it up for the camera. This is obviously pre-haircut.
Not too long ago, Marilu's dad bought Lucas a special jacket called a grenfell jacket. I wouldn't know what it was by name, but once you see it, you'll know exactly what it is. We haven't had weather cold enough to require it, but rather than wait, we finally decided to put it on Lucas and take a picture of it. As you can see, he wasn't in the mood to put it on. I'm sure he'll be happier next time.
Of course, this is what it SHOULD look like when it's on properly. :)
Last weekend, I decided to put an outfit on Lucas that had been sitting in his closet for a while. It's actually more of a costume, I guess, but it immediately shot to the top of his "must wear" list. If he sees either the top or bottom anywhere in the room, he starts making his grunts and other assorted noises that we need to put it on him immediately. I actually plan to put it on him for daycare for the first time tomorrow so that ought to be interesting. Anyway, below you can see a couple of pictures of just what the heck I'm talking about. I think you'll find it sufficiently cute.
Our little Spider-Man, back before he lost his Samson-like hair. I really gotta spend some time cropping and working on these photos. Lucas being off-center here is just plain lazy on my part.
This had the potential to be a cute picture, but then he apparently changed his face at the last minute. Now it's not so good, but it's the best shot of him at the door giving out candy back on Halloween. I'd blame my mom since she took the picture, but it's happened to me more times than I can count.
In photo news, I've finished uploading the following albums to PicasaWeb. Follow the links below to see all of the pictures that didn't make the blog. Trust me, there's a LOT.
Lucas is suffering through a slight fever, though it's nowhere near as bad as the last one. However, he's also got a very nasty cough, which sounds like it's coming from the chest, and when you combine the two, it's been giving him some sleepless nights. On the plus side, he is a very happy kid during the day, and the fever/cough doesn't seem to be slowing him down at all.
Last weekend, Marilu put me to work and we started preparing for winter. One of those tasks was to break down the table and chairs on the back deck. I hadn't really thought about it until I saw other people doing it, since this is the first winter we've had the set, but I suppose if we got another 14 ft of snow this winter, it's bound to come crashing through the glass top.
Anyway, the whole point of that paragraph is to serve as introduction to today's photo. After we took apart one of the chairs, Lucas decided he was going to kick back and relax in it. He's got a good start on a career in middle management apparently.
Yesterday, Lucas turned 17 months old. It was also the day we decided to get him his second haircut. If you recall, when he was born, he had a fair amount of hair, and it's been growing like crazy ever since. His first haircut was quite some time ago, maybe at 9 months, and as you've seen in recent pictures, he's become quite the raggedy-looking child. It's gotten so bad in the past month or so, that I could completely understand it if a stranger wasn't sure which gender he was. So something had to be done.
We brought him to a nearby "salon" named Goobers that was designed expressly for kids. The waiting area has lots of things to keep young kids entertained, such as a DVD playing G-rated movies, a table with activity books on it, and several other toys. The chairs where they get their hair cut are also pretty nifty. On one side, you have themed seats, as seen in the picture below. In addition to the truck Lucas was sitting in, there was a tractor and two seats presumably for girls, since they were pink vehicles (hey, to each their own if your boy wants to sit there). :) On the other side, there were 4 seats for kids who are a little older, as the chairs themselves are normal, but each one has its own Xbox 360 and a plasma TV. Where was all this when I was a kid? Though I suppose it would be hard to mount a huge 20" black and white TV on the wall for use with an Atari 2600.
After we got home, Lucas checked himself out in the mirror? Whaddya think? Pretty good look for him now, huh?
And finally, since he doesn't do it often anymore, his "say cheese" face.
As promised earlier, here's the video of Lucas, taken last night while he was in his bubble bath. It started out as a video simply to show him off as he put bubbles on his face, but then Marilu started asking him some questions, and as you'll see in the video, he's growing into a clever little guy. I won't spoil it anymore so check it out!
Believe it or not, Lucas is 17 months old tomorrow. Time sure is flying...
Sorry about the lack of updates this week. With the last post, I'd literally run out of new pictures so I've spent this past week taking pictures and stocking up on them so I'll have some new stuff to show you. Later today, I'm going to post a great video I took of Lucas while he took a bubble bath last night. You'll be amazed to see how far he has come. I should have that up by the evening.
Believe it or not, I'm almost caught up on pictures. We haven't taken any pictures of the little guy since I got back from England on Monday so once I get through all the ones Marilu took on my mom's camera, this blog will be as up-to-date as it can get. Guess I should take a buttload of pictures tomorrow, huh?
For now, some random pictures of Lucas taken while I was gone. We start off with your generic "aww, how cute" Lucas photo.
Spaceman Lucas!
Since I don't eat lobster, they waited until I left to have lobster night. Here, we see Lucas getting to know his dinner.
Then he becomes a little more personal.
"God, I thank you for this lobster that's in my mouth..."
For a few more pictures from my trip to England, as well as a more detailed description of the first time we visited England together, check out his blog here.
Short update tonight. I had a fierce migraine last night which put me into bed early, and as a result I didn't get a whole lot of sleep. So now I'm tired and want to go to bed. So a couple of pictures of Lucas and then I'm probably crashing.
Oh, and before I forget, Happy Birthday to both my mom and my dad. Mom was yesterday; Dad is today. Same year too. Crazy, huh?
This picture amuses me. Not sure why, but it does. Maybe the serious look? The overall disheveledness? Who knows?
We're Number One! Uh, with an oven mitt.
Lucas and Mommy reading.
More tomorrow when I'm hopefully less hazy and more alert. Have a good night (or day, depending on when you read this), all.
I should warn you up front that this entry is all about me and my trip to England. I'll try and keep it short (we know how well THAT usually goes), but if you're here solely for Lucas and don't want to hear about my time in London, come back tomorrow as I'll likely have some new pics of the wunderkind up. So, with that caveat out of the way, let's begin.
I spent most of the week at 2 customer sites and didn't do much in the way of touristy stuff until Saturday. However, I did take the opportunity to visit pubs almost every night I was there. For the record, English beer is spectacular. I now have nothing but disdain for bars here in Canada and the US since they tend to have 1, maybe 2, beers on tap that I would touch (yeah, I'm a beer snob) whereas I would drink just about anything at one of these pubs. You know things are good when Guinness is essentially a given at a pub.
Obviously, I had to have a picture taken of me drinking a beer so I did that at a pub called, quite simply, Cork in Welwyn Garden City, a small town north of London in which we did our training on Tuesday and Wednesday. Good thing the folds in my shirt make me look morbidly obese.
Of course, as I tried to set up the shot, I missed my mouth, resulting in this...
At the Tube stop at Piccadilly Circus, kind of like London's version of Times Square.
Posing in front of the Charlie Chaplin statue in Leicester Square with Jon, a buddy of mine from my Army days, who is currently working in southwestern England. We had a pretty good time on Saturday roaming around London and drinking much beer. And despite what you may think, we didn't plan to dress the exact same way.
A panoramic view of London from Trafalgar Square.
The gates of Buckingham Palace. The rain was coming down pretty hard at that point, which made the walk less than comfortable. This was our last stop for the day in downtown London since I didn't feel like chancing pneumonia.
Jon and I, hanging out at a pub in the Paddington train station, before he caught the train back to Exeter. Great selection of beers, as I had a Fuller's London Porter in this picture and stopped back in later that night for a Fuller's ESB. Them's good drinkin'!
Click on this next picture to enlarge it. Read the whole sign. Done? Ok, now explain to me what the hell is up with the monster pickle creature on the right side. I still don't get it (hence the picture).
A panoramic view of the Tower of London and the Tower Bridge.
I may be 37, but I was obviously too immature to refrain from taking a picture of the sign below at the Tube station. I'll let you figure out why.
On the morning we left, riding the Tube for the last time.
And finally, one last drink (well, 3 Guinness actually) at Heathrow before I got on the plane back to Ottawa. I'd definitely like to go back to London and England at some point in the future when I have more time to spend doing touristy things (bringing Marilu and Lucas, of course). All in all, it was a good trip and helped make up for all the soul-sucking parts of my job. Ah, corporate America, uh, Canada.
Tomorrow, back to Lucas!
PS: In case you were wondering, yes, I realize I need a haircut nearly as bad as Lucas. Whereas his is just getting long, mine is overly poofy. Ugh.
For those of you concerned about such things, I'm back safely in Ottawa after 8 days in the London, UK, area (for you US readers, I keep mentioning UK since there is a London, Ontario, so I wanted to clear up any confusion for those Canadian readers who think I've been hanging out near Toronto). The trip went well, and I'll put up a few more photos tomorrow, but here's one of the better ones for now, just to prove I was there. :)
Off to sleep soon since it's 8:40 here, but my internal clock says it's 1:40 AM.
We went for lunch at a sports bar/restaurant named Philthy McNasty's the day I was due to leave for England. (hopefully should be heading back very soon!) One of the highlights of the meal was Lucas trying out a lime wedge for the first time. Despite his face here--followed by flinging the lime away--he eventually went on to eat almost the whole thing.
Next update should be new stuff, maybe even some pics from England in case you don't mind a short break from Lucas-centric reporting. :)
