Playing catch up...again

Since my last few posts have been on recent activity, I realized I'm starting to fall behind on older pictures. Gotta remedy that! To give you an idea of how bad it is, the oldest unposted pictures are from February 15. So let's get to those.

Feb 15 was a fairly busy day as we had a birthday party to go to in the morning and then we headed downtown in the afternoon to have dinner with Wes, Kelly, and Wes's family. The birthday party was #2 for Logan, son of Sherry and Adam. Man, it sounds like I'm writing a fantasy novel. "I am Uthgar, son of Lothor, King of the Mountain Tribe."

Anyway, we'll start off with a picture of Lucas and Thierry hanging out on the stairs. Feel free to relax, gentlemen.


One of the "commands" Lucas answers to pretty well is "hug." Here, we told him to hug Jetta while at the party. Since he loves dogs, this was a no-brainer for him.


Getting him to hug the right end is still a work in progress though.


We didn't take more than a couple of pictures from our dinner visit with Wes and Company. However, I think this one came out pretty well. As an added bonus, if you click on the picture to see the larger version, you can see the guy in the background is posing as well. Huzzah to you, good man!

More videos!

Here are a couple more videos from mid-February. First off, Lucas dances to his favorite show (at the time), Imagination Movers. He's much more interested in animated cartoons with animals now.



Later that day, we got a visit from Brody (as well as parents Wes and Kelly). Here, Lucas and Brody try their hand at playing the Rock Band 2 drums.

Mmm...videos

As promised, here's a couple of pictures of the wunderkind from yesterday. The first was taken at the Canadian Museum of Nature at one of the exhibits in the Fossil Gallery.



I think I'll just let you watch the second video and decided for yourself what the heck is wrong with our son. :)

Before and After - The Haircut

I took a picture of Lucas about 5 minutes ago to show off the new 'do. I'm also including a recent picture of him with a full head of hair to get the full "before and after" thing.

From March 6 (along with me looking like a dirtball).


Today.


Just like his previous 2 haircuts, I'm amazed at what a big difference cutting off some hair makes.

Canadian Museum of Nature

Today was a relatively busy day. We went to the Canadian Museum of Nature in the morning, ate lunch at the Elgin Street Diner (mmm, poutine), and then after Lucas's nap, we brought him to get the third haircut of his young life. Unfortunately, I only have pictures from the museum, but I'll try and take some of him tomorrow since he looks totally different with shorter hair.

This was the first trip for either of us to the Museum of Nature, not counting a wedding reception we attended back in 2003. I have to say that I was mighty impressed with the place. Some museums I've been to just seem to phone it in and put up half-assed displays. Not so with the Museum of Nature. Everything was first class, and I really enjoyed what I saw of it. If I hadn't been chasing Lucas around 75% of the time, I would have spent quite a but more time admiring the work they have put into it.

I think the highlight was the first floor, since that's the Fossil Gallery, and fossil = dinosaurs! I loved dinosaurs as a kid (still do), and Lucas appears to be following in my footsteps. You can't really see much of it here, but Lucas and Marilu are posing underneath the Tyrannosaurus Rex skeleton right at the entrance.


This next one is kind of dark, but I wanted to show off the Triceratops display.


Lucas gets up close with the Triceratops AND T Rex's.



Open up and say ah!


I love this picture of Lucas. He just has this patient, just-checking-things-out look to him, which completely masks the fact that he was a royal pain in the butt most of the trip. The terrible twos have definitely arrived early.


There was an area at the museum where kids could do crafts, and since they are currently hosting a primate exhibit--supposedly Jane Goodall will be in town for it at some point--the craft of the day were little monkey masks that kids could color. Lucas wasn't in the mood to color much so his remained mostly monochromatic, and he wasn't too keen on wearing the mask either. However, we did get lucky and get one halfway decent photo of it before he threw it on the floor.


One area he really enjoyed was a section on the last floor, the bird gallery, that was designed especially for kids. I think it was supposed to show what incubators are like for birds, but it looked a lot like a kitchen playset, and he was all over that.



There was also this kid-sized jeep, and he was happy to get behind the wheel. I'm not sure what the significance of it was, in relation to birds, but it kept the kids happy so I don't really care.


This last photo is from earlier this evening, after we got home from his haircut (and a thrilling trip to Costco). Unfortunately, you can't see the new hairdo since he was busy modeling a bike helmet. Tomorrow, I'm going to try and remember to post a related video of this since he was doing some amusing things with the helmet.

Montreal Pics

If you haven't read about our less than perfect Montreal mini-vacation, go read the previous post. That will explain why there are only a few pictures from the trip. And with that out of the way, pictures!

Here's a picture of Lucas after he accessorized at the hotel. You'll notice one boot on, a neck warmer, and his hat. That was all him. I suspect fashion designer is not in his future, and for that, I thank the gods.


On a side note, we stayed at the Embassy Suites in Montreal, and the room was fantastic. I almost always stay at Embassy Suites when I travel and this was probably the nicest room I've seen yet. We even had a HUGE jacuzzi tub, which Lucas absolutely loved. He took a bath (with at least one of us) all 3 nights as he had a blast with the air jets and all the bubbling.

It was tough to get good pictures at the Biodome since you weren't supposed to use a flash, and these little automatic cameras seem to work best when a flash is employed. Here's a decent shot of Lucas and me in the tropical zone, the first of four climates you walk through in the Biodome.


I get a kick out of this "action sequence" from a more moderate climate zone. I'd have to look it up to remember which one exactly. Suffice to say we grabbed him before he continued his progress in the last picture.





Finally, here's mom and son at the penguin display. That was probably our favorite part as you could see the penguins zipping around under the water through the glass not 2-3 feet from you. I had a much better picture with both of them smiling for the camera but due to the darkness in the room, the lack of flash made it too blurry.


And that's it for photos from our trip to Montreal. All of them were taken Saturday morning before Marilu's cold took a turn for the worse. If I get a chance, I'll try and scan in another "photo" I got on Sunday. While Marilu was resting in bed, I took Lucas to a nearby Build-A-Bear (or the French equivalent) and we made a stuffed giraffe. It came with a passport and includes a photo of the three of us: me, Lucas, and Marty the giraffe. Yeah, I took the name from Madagascar, and yeah, I was stupid enough to confuse the zebra's name Marty with the giraffe's name Melman. They say the mind is the first thing to go, folks. Anyway, if I can get a decent scan of the passport, I'll try and post that sometime this week.

Montreal

Hey all. We just got back in from Montreal a couple of hours ago, and I'm settling in as Lucas and Marilu both nap. I'd like to say it was a fantastic 3-day weekend, but unfortunately things didn't go that well. The trip there was fine on Friday night, and we got to see the Biodome Saturday morning, but Marilu got really sick with a fever and chest cold later in the day, which basically kept her bedridden all of Saturday evening and most of Sunday. I took Lucas for a few walks on Sunday, but we couldn't go too far since there was some police brutality protest march going on, and the police officers we ran into strongly suggested staying away from it. Probably for the best since the news reported the over 200 people were arrested.

It wasn't a complete wash since we did get to the Biodome, which was our main goal, and I got a lot of reading done, but I suppose it could have been a lot better. Oh well, nothing you can do about colds, and there's always next time.

On top of all that, we got home to find out that one of the idiots working on the new houses across the street backed into our Cavalier on Friday, caving in part of the driver's side door. We have all their information from our neighbor, and I'm sure insurance will cover everything, but still, what a fine thing to come back to.

As you can imagine, there weren't too many pictures taken in Montreal. I'll upload them in a follow-up post later today since the cable I use to connect the camera to the PC is still packed away. Talk at you again then!

Off for the weekend

Tomorrow afternoon, we're heading off to Montreal for a 3-day weekend since Marilu has her spring break this week. I don't want to leave you without your Lucas fix, so here are some more pictures from February of the little guy.

I like this picture of him in his carseat since it's a rare smile that isn't a "say cheese" smile. Just a nice, friendly smile.


For those of you unfamiliar with Ottawa, there is a festival called Winterlude every February. Among other things, the canal is turned into what is called "the world's longest skating rink." We went down one to check it out during one of the weekends in early February, and I took this pic of Marilu and Lucas.


Spaceman Lucas showing the Rock Band box who is the boss.


Speaking of the "say cheese" smile...


Words fail me here. He looks like something out of a breast cancer research ad gone awry.


We'll be back in town on Monday so expect more pictures then, possibly from Montreal, though at my pace, those probably won't see the light of day until early May.

Dancing for the Super Bowl

For once, I'm actually going to follow up on something I said I would do in a previous post! Hell has frozen over!

During the Super Bowl, there was a car commercial with music by the Smashing Pumpkins, and literally as soon as the music started, Lucas began dancing. He was so into it that I rewound it (god, I love PVRs) and played it again, with the same result. At that point, I ran and got the camera, played the commercial a couple of more times, and taped the whole thing. The first video is funny enough, but the second one had Marilu and I laughing out loud both then and when we rewatched it about an hour ago. Hope you enjoy!





The ending to that second video is priceless. Admit it.

Some February fun

Still feeling sick, but the cold medicine is keeping me going. Suffice to say, I can't wait until the weekend arrives. In the meantime, let's look at some pictures from the beginning of February.

Just like a rabid NFL fan, Lucas apparently felt ripping his shirt off during the Super Bowl broadcast was a great idea. This weekend, I'll try and remember to post a funny video of him dancing to one of the Super Bowl commercials.


Yogurt aftermath.


I guess today's theme is barechested babies. Here, monkey boy drinks his milk while crouched on his chair at the table.


I decided to buy Rock Band 2 with money I'd received for my birthday, and here, Lucas tries to show off his drumming chops. Of course, of all the pictures in this post, this would probably have been the ideal one to have seen him sans shirt.


Ok, maybe I spoke too soon on drumming. Mick Jagger, anyone? Let's just hope his lips stay normal sized.

Blecch.

I was going to post something tonight, but I feel sick as hell. I think Lucas passed something on to me since he's had a regular cold going on for the last week or so. Or maybe I have Fifth Disease too. Well, whatever the case, I'm heading off to bed at the unprecedented time of 7:30 (for me, anyway). Hopefully, I'll feel better tomorrow, and we can start seeing his February photos.

Night all.

Friendly Neighborhood Lucas

In the latest health news, a couple of other kids at Lucas's daycare have got Fifth Disease so it's more than likely he'll end up with it, if he hasn't already contracted it. Although I'd never even heard of it, apparently it's extremely common and to be honest, it doesn't even sound as bad as getting a cold. You get a rash, maybe get a runny nose and slight fever, and that's it. Lucas already has sensitive skin so who know if we'll even notice a difference.

The next couple of pictures are from way back on Jan 31, but coincidentally enough, that's the same outfit Lucas wore to bed tonight. Go figure. One of Lucas's favorite things to play with lately is Play-Doh. He even tries to say it, but it comes out as Bo-Do or something like that. Marilu could tell you better than I could since she hears it more often.

As you can see, he has a little container that contains all his Play-Doh items. We've bought even more Play-Doh stuff since then so that barely contains his current inventory.


He hasn't quite figured out how to get the lid off yet. I guess he needs just a little more finger strength.


I just thought this was a cute full-body shot of him in his Spider outfit.


Here we see him intent on working the Play-Doh in some sort of nifty shape.


And then inevitably, it all comes back to this. Every Play-Doh play session so far has been halted since he either tries to bite a piece off, or he actually does manage to get a chunk in his mouth and he fights us to prevent us from removing it. Oh, the timeouts he's had and no doubt will continue to have.


Just wanted to add that although he is speaking really clearly yet, he definitely is getting closer to being able to talk. He has some "words" that are very close in sound to the real word so he knows what he's doing. As far as him understanding us, he's doing fantastic. We can give him multistep tasks and he will usually be able to follow them. For instance, we can tell him to pick something up off the floor and throw it in the trash. He'll grab it, run into the kitchen, open up the cabinet door, throw the object in the trash basket, and then close the door. It's really quite neat to see him learning almost in front of our eyes.

Anyway, that's all I got for now since it's quarter after midnight, and I'm getting tired.