Pictures from the party - Part 2

No real need for introductions here. As the title says, these are more pictures from Lucas's first birthday party.

Lucas's cousin Meagan (sorry, there's like 8 different ways to spell that so I'm using the version one of my ex's used) strikes a pensive pose.


Today's theme must be thoughtful poses, as we next jump to Francesca who looks as if she is concentrating.


The first kid car accident of the day as Brandon and Thierry appear to have had a fender bender.


Here's a picture of the living room just to give you an idea of all the activity.


Before you accuse me of making this Megan's blog (gonna try and work in multiple spellings in the hope that at least one is right), the reason I'm using this picture is to show off her eyes. One of the things I've heard repeatedly is that Lucas and Meaghan have the same eyes. I'll give them this, they both have very striking blue eyes.


Ha, I just noticed this one. Logan appears to have his own version of the "say cheese" smile. Hoorah!


I posted a bunch of cake pictures way back when, but here's another one of Lucas chowing down on Elmo.


In addition to the cakes, Marilu made a bunch of Elmo-themed cupcakes. Yes, our house looked like Elmo came in there and just plain exploded.


I don't care what kind of slander Lucas has to say about him, Tyler has one infectious smile (seen here with his mom and dad).


I can't tell what they are looking at, but this picture of Lucas and Thierry amuses me. Something about their poses, I guess.


"Ok, I'm here. Let's get to the presents!"


And that wraps it up for Part 2. Most of the rest of the pictures from the party cover the gift opening so I'll probably only include a couple of those in Part 3 since they get kind of redundant.

Cruise update: Last full day at sea. Sigh. With any luck, I somehow came into possession of my own rum plantation at one of the ports, and I have no need to return to Canada or my job. Keep your fingers crossed. As a side note, this is my last postdated entry so the next one will be written "live".

Pictures from the party - Part 1

If you recall, I posted some pictures of Lucas from his birthday party on June 14 since I figured it would be a while before I had a chance to get to the rest of them. Considering it's now June 30 (and July 8 when this actually shows up), it turns out that was a good idea. So, for your viewing pleasure, this entry and tomorrow's entry will be devoted to all of the other happenings at the party.

Woohoo, some of the stuff Lucas can't use yet is finally being used by other kids! In particular, the slide (which he still needs assistance with) and one of his cars (which he still tends to slide off due to short legs).


Apparently, Lucas felt the need to claim his castle, even if he still needs a helping hand (Marilu in the background) to ensure he doesn't tumble off of it.


I can't tell whether Genevieve is playing with Elmo or just leaning on him as she tells another kid off with the tongue hanging out of her mouth.


Our next-door neighbor Tyler mugs for the camera.


Logan and his mom Sherry (Sherri? Sheri? dang multiple spellings) also pose for the camera. Well, technically, Logan is posing while Sher(r)(i)(y) stares lovingly at Logan, but you get the idea.


I don't recognize the cup Lucas is using here so I suspect he might have absconded with another child's food/drink. It would certainly explain the guilty look on his face. Of course, I'm probably wrong, and Marilu will make sure I realize that once she reads this.


Half of Kelly's head and her newborn Carson, who I believe was the youngest baby at the party.


I just realized it's going to take 3 or 4 parts to accurately represent the party since I have to pick from around 160 photos. As such, I'm gonna wrap this entry up and add to it some more tomorrow.

Cruise update: Sigh...unless I've left the ship to become a catamaran captain in the last few days, we're somewhere in the Atlantic on our way back to New York City. I'm sure I'm slightly down, knowing the trip will soon be over, but if I know me (and after 37 years, I probably should), I'm awash in adult beverages that are helping keep up my spirits. (egad, yet another pun).

One happy kid

As you saw on the holiday photos a few days back, riding on my shoulders makes Lucas happy. You only saw photos in those entries so here we see a video from June 13 of him having a blast up there. Much laughter ensues...



Then his mom gets in on the act. This photo would be perfect if only I was, you know, looking at the camera. Or not, depending on what you think of my face.


To wrap up that day, Lucas checks out some of the beer I bought for his birthday party. That's my boy, grabbing the Guinness!


Cruise update: I think our port today is Tortola in the British Virgin Islands. I may be confusing it with Grand Turk though. Whichever one it isn't, I'll be there tomorrow.

Pblpblbplbplbplbpblb (I think that's how it sounds)

June 12 brings us to one of the more amusing videos of Lucas lately. He'd recently learned how to make the raspberry sound (ie, blowing while his tongue is out, for those of you unfamiliar with the term), and in the video below, you see him going to town with it. Funny stuff.



Lucas has also taken an interest in trying to tear the vent from the wall after successfully doing it once. I've put it back up, but the wall is pretty much eaten up underneath the vent so it's on there pretty loosely. In this photo, Marilu does her best to keep Lucas from getting to it. No doubt, being a woman, she'll give me some grief about showing her butt in a picture. :)


Cruise update: I'm working from memory here, but I'm pretty sure today is a full day in St Thomas. We get in early and don't leave until evening so it should be a fun day of exploring the town. And probably drinking and sunbathing as well.

Happy Fourth of July

So, it's July 4th, where are we right now? Hmm, according to the itinerary, we're stopping in San Juan, Puerto Rico late in the day for several hours. We signed up initially to go on a tour of the Bacardi distillery, but the itinerary got changed at the last minute so I'm not sure if that's still a go. Whatever the case, I'm not at work and I can sleep in as much as I want so it's all good.

All that aside, Happy Fourth of July! Much like Canada Day, Lucas has dressed up for the occasion. We took these at the same time as the Canada Day pictures so he was a bit grumpy taking the photos until I propped him up on my shoulders. That's apparently a crowd pleaser.


Just to get an idea of what we were dealing with, here's a video of the squirmy wormy.



And finally, a couple of pictures from his pool where he's stylin' in the latest US fashion.

Cookie Monster

In the photos below, Lucas is wearing one of my favorite outfits. I like the color blue so that's probably a part of it, but the big ol' Cookie Monster face is just great on its own merits. All of these photos are from June 11.

Flashing the trademark "say cheese" smile.


This comment will likely not mean anything to anybody but me, but this next picture always reminds me of an old song that had something to do with tears and a clown. No one wants to see a clown cry, Lucas. Okay, no more obscure references today since I think that one was from 1982 or so.


Standing with almost no help from mommy.


And we close out with a standing "say cheese".


Cruise update: Unless things went awry, we should still be at sea. Once again, my sleeping and/or inebriated comment from yesterday should apply.

Spaceman Lucas

I hadn't paid much attention to this photo from June 9 the first time I saw on it. Then I noticed two things. First, the expression on Lucas's face. "C'mon, guys, I need more power!" Second, he's standing on the seat. I don't know why, but something about those two things cracks me up.


Cruise update: we should be somewhere at sea today. Odds are I'm in an inebriated state or sleeping. Either one works for me.

Happy Canada Day

If you're reading this on July 1, Marilu and I are probably somewhere in or near NYC on a cruise ship, attending my friend Jason's wedding and awaiting the ship to cast off around 4 PM. However, that doesn't stop Lucas from wishing everyone a Happy Canada Day!


Here's a couple other cute shots from that series. Lucas was in a "I WANT THE CAMERA" mood so the majority of them were him trying to wriggle out of our grasp. For future reference, though, the shoulder ride always makes him happy.

A few before we go

NEWS FLASH! Lucas took his first steps earlier today. I wouldn't exactly call it walking since he dropped almost immediately, but it's the first time he's actually taken a step rather than just look wistfully in a direction before reverting to hands and knees. His first time was 2 steps, which I missed, but after Marilu called me and I ran upstairs, I did see him take a single step. I doubt he'll be running marathons by the time we get back from the cruise, but it's good to know he's taken a step in the right direction (haha, I kill me with the puns).

Since we'll be heading out tomorrow morning, I wanted to post one last entry before I go. Like I said before, there will be entries that appear while we're gone--I've already done one for both July 1 and July 4--this will be last "real time" entry. Nothing terribly noteworthy, just some more random photos from early June.

I think I've mentioned it previously, but Lucas can now crawl up the stairs himself. Here's a photo and a video of the accomplishment from June 6.




Later on that day, I joined Lucas in the tub for his bath, hence the reason the water is up so high. Since no one really wants to see me in a tub, I've edited as much as me as possible out of the photo. :)


On June 7, the three of us, along with cousin Tanya, drove down to Syracuse to do some shopping, primarily for Lucas's birthday party the following weekend. Obviously, this didn't make for a lot of photo opportunities, but I still did sneak a couple in. For starters, how about these two from the Waterloo outlet mall?



The second photo makes him look a lot more scared of Buzz Lightyear than he actually was. Which, come to think of it, was not at all.

I took this last photo since he looked so content sleeping on the drive home. Can you all say, "Awwww"?


That's all for now. Keep an eye out for more entries over the next week and a half, and I'll talk to you again "live" when we get back on July 10. Later!

Vacation!

For those of you not in the loop, Marilu and I are headed off to a 9-day cruise to the Caribbean this week. We fly down to NYC tomorrow afternoon and leave on Tuesday. We're going to be on a Princess Cruise Lines ship, and our ports of call are San Juan, St Thomas, Tortola (which just changed this week from St Maarten), and Grand Turk. We'll get back to NYC next Thursday and will fly back to Ottawa the same day.

So what does this mean for the blog? Not a whole lot. One of its features is the ability to postdate entries so I'm going to create several of them today that will then appear at regular intervals over the next two weeks. Of particular interest should be the July 1 and 4 ones, in which Lucas will be dressed up appropriately for the day.

I'm also going to post another picture-filled entry today, but that will have to wait since Marilu just called me for lunch for the second time, and I'm not one to miss out on hamburgers. Ta-ta!

This and that

Just a smattering of random photos from early June. First, Lucas and his friend Tyler (son of our neighbors) stand at the window and watch the rain pour. It's been a VERY wet June as we've had rain at least 5 days out of each week, maybe even more than that.


Lucas takes the unconventional route of playing with his toys INSIDE their storage area.


Here he wonders why Thierry just won't leave his soother alone. (EDIT: Marilu pointed out to me that Lucas had grabbed Thierry's soother and the poor kid was just trying to get it back from my thieving son.)


And that'll do it for now. Check for more this weekend!

Creepy Crawlies

Yesterday morning, my mom and I brought Lucas to his weekly playgroup, and they had a guy from the local reptile farm do a presentation/show. It was a fun time, and the kids really seemed to enjoy it. Apparently it doesn't matter to Lucas if animals are cute and furry or slithering and scaly, he loves them all equally as you'll see in the pictures below.

The first animal shown was the last thing I'd ever want to see, a tarantula. For those of you who don't know, I HATE spiders. HATE them. I mean, really, really REALLY hate them. In fact, while I can kill them if I see them in the house, I'll be more than happy to let Marilu do it if she's nearby. That said, I figured we'd let Lucas touch the tarantula before he grew a few years, came to his senses, and realized how insane that is.


Next up is a video where he got to touch a lizard of some sort. I don't mind reptiles so he can play with those all he wants. Well, except poisonous ones or the types that eat you.





Sitting with Grammy and checking out a snake (I think it was a black racer.)


Yet another thing I wouldn't go near: a black Emperor scorpion. Oh, hell no.


Two-fisted petting of a caiman. Better get used to this type of reptile, Lucas, if you plan on visiting your Gramps in Florida very often.


This is probably my favorite picture from the show. Lucas is just plain enthralled with the tail of the reticulated python.


I also get a big kick out of this next video. Lucas had just finished touching the python and it slithered its way up the group of kids. All of a sudden, here comes Lucas, hauling ass across the floor after the giant snake. :)





And finally, this is what happens when someone takes the snake that could eat Lucas as an appetizer away from him. Don't worry, he got over it pretty quick.

Lucas and the calendar

The calendar we have on our first floor has pictures of animals on it. As you can imagine, whenever Lucas sees it, he wants to touch it.


Sometimes we're even so nice as to pull it off the wall and let him see it up close. Lucas enjoys these moments.





However, when you put him back on the ground and he attempts in vain to reach the calendar, well, as you can see, it's not a pretty thing. (I'd suggest clicking on the picture to see the bigger size since his face is priceless.)

May Photos

Just wanted to give everyone a head's up that all of the photos I've taken, from the day Lucas was born up until the end of May, are now online. So if you want to see the ones that didn't make the cut for the blog, check 'em out here.

Closing out May

It took a while, but we're finally at the end of the photos from May. Here are the highlights from the 31st, a day in which we took a surprising amount of pictures.

Lucas makes being cute look easy.


You've seen the smile below a few times previously in this blog. Lucas is doing it enough now that we've nicknamed it the "say cheese" smile since it originated with him doing it every time we went to take his picture. Nowadays, he does it randomly.


This one is a cross between his "say cheese" smile and his "give me the camera!" pout. If you ask me, he kind of looks like a Japanese cartoon character.


Kicking back and watching TV in his Elmo chair. Not that he actually stays in it for over 10 seconds, mind you.


We come to the video of the day, in which Lucas not only gets messy while eating at dinner, but he has the presence of mind to mug for the camera.





Finally, in case you forgot what his mom and dad look like, he's a self-shot of us.

Health Update

Since I didn't post yesterday, I realized I should probably give you an update on Lucas and his fever from Wednesday. He was up most of Wednesday night, though he seemed more restless than in pain. Nonetheless, we brought him in to see his doctor on Thursday morning. By the time we got there, he was acting normal and everything checked out at the doctor's office. No ear infections, normal temperature, etc. We kept an eye on him throughout the day, and he acted normally. Thankfully, he slept through last night without any issues so at this point, I'd say it looks like the fever is history.

For what it's worth, we probably could have gone without visiting the doctor, but it being his first fever and us being new to sick kids, we figured better safe than sorry.