Cold and snowy in Vancouver.

You wouldn't believe how cold and snowy it's been in Vancouver lately. We've had wind chills of minus 19 degrees Celsius, crazy cold. It sure is a winter wonderland out there. Roger even got to come home early from work today due to the extreme weather conditions in greater Vancouver. It's too bad that Malcolm is too young to enjoy all the white stuff. I, on the other hand have been enjoying myself thoroughly. It's been fun running and jumping in the snow. Who would have thought that I would like the snow this much.

Here are some pics of the neighborhood, it's a winterwonderland. The first picture is blurry, but look at my paws, covered in snowberries, Roger had to defrost my paws in the kitchen sink.

Christmas is here already.

So we went to Grandma and Grandpa's house yesterday to partake in the annual 'putting up of lights' dinner festivities. Every year we go to grandpa's house to put up the Christmas lights and tree. And guess what happened yesterday? Can you believe it snowed! The greater Vancouver district got almost 20 centimeters. I got to run and frolic in it today. Boy, you wouldn't believe a dog from Cuba would be so excited about running and jumping in the snow. Roger took a video clip and pictures of me in the tennis courts. Here's a taste.

Lots of visitors for me and Malcolm.

I've been pretty lucky lately, as lots of people have been by the house to see the new baby. I know that they're not really here to see me, but nonetheless I get some attention. It has been strange to have Tracey home all day long, gone are the days where I get left alone, whoo hoo! It may sound sad, but I really enjoy having company at home. Roger actually stayed home today too, eventhough it was a work day. His back has been hurting since Malcolm arrived, I think it's to do with all the hunching over and poor posture while feeding Malcolm. He's been doing some exercises and visiting the chiropractor, it's been helping so far. Tracey has been feeling under the weather, she felt chills and was running a bit of a fever. She's taking a nap right now, I hope she feels better soon.

I'm doing fine, other than the fact that I can't go outside. Well other than my bathroom breaks, the weather has been too horrible to stay out for very long. This is a picture of Roger's friend Nick, he's bashing fists with Malcolm.

Adjusting to baby life.

The weather has been terrible the last while in Vancouver, it's been raining hard everyday. There's actually a water advisory here, all drinking water has to be boiled due to the turbidity. I'm hoping the rain will end soon, but the newsman says that there's another storm coming in on Sunday. I guess I wouldn't mind the rain so much if Roger wasn't so diligent in brushing and blow-drying me after we go for our walks, sheesh!

Being home with Malcolm and Tracey all day is sure different than being alone during the day. I'm getting used to them now. The crying takes some getting used to though. Malcolm will hopefully settle into a routine soon. Last night was the best night so far, we were able to get three, two hour naps through the night. Roger said that after a few months Malcolm should be getting better at sleeping through the night. Let's all hope that's true. Here's a picture of he and I together:

New ice hockey jerseys for Roger's team.

Roger help design the new logo for his ice hockey team. The jerseys finally came in on Friday last week. The jerseys are quite big, so just for comparison he thought he'd try them on Malcolm. What do you think? To save money they ordered a reversible style that's white on one side and dark on the other. As you can see his team is called the Siege.

Oh no, Golum is at our house looking for the ring!

Malcolm looks a lot like Golum don't you think? Yeah, I know Malcolm is a lot cuter, but I couldn't resist putting up this picture...."my precious!" Oh, here are some other pics too:

My baby bro, a week old today!

It's been a week since my brother was born, how time zooms by. Malcolm went to the doctor on Friday for his first check-up. The doctor said that he's doing very well, in fact he's surpassed his birth weight by over six ounces. The doctor said that he weighs a bit over seven pounds now. It's gotta be from all the nutritious milk he's been drinking. I can't believe how often that boy eats! Anyway, although the family is a bit sleep deprived, including me... we're all doing quite well. Here's some new pics:

Five days old now!

Wow, it sure is an adjustment having a new baby in the house. Roger and Tracey are up every two to three hours, feeding, burping and consoling my little bro. At first I was so confused. I can't help but try to look in the crib to see why he's crying. Roger told me that because he's so young crying is the only way he communicates that he needs something. My sleep schedule is all messed up too now. Since I also get up with Roger and Tracey every time they go to Malcolm, I am sure tired. It's strange to think that only last week, I could sleep all day and just save up my energy until Roger and Tracey came home from work. Somehow since they stay home all day, my nap time has disappeared.

Roger was going through his baby pictures and came across one that very much resembles Malcolm. The picture on the left was taken 34 years ago when Roger was in the incubator. The picture on the right is of my new baby bro. Can you see the resemblance?

My little brother has finally arrived!

I'd like to welcome Malcolm J. to our family. He arrived on Sunday morning at 11:22am. He was 6lbs and 12 ounces. I'm happy to report that both baby and mom are doing very well. Can you believe that Tracey literally arrived at the hospital already fully dialated and ready to deliver. As I recall, that morning was pretty crazy, unlike any other Sunday I'd ever seen. Tracey woke up really early, around 5:30am and told Roger that something was happening. Less than an hour later she started to have contractions that were 2-4 minutes apart. I'll never forget the repeated: "Ow, ow, ow, ow....." sessions she had. After enduring this for a few hours, Roger urged Tracey to get ready to go to the hospital. At first they thought they'd be sent home, but after the assessment the doctors and nurses told Roger and Tracey that she would be having the baby very 'soon'. What they didn't realize was how 'soon' in fact that would be. So after about a little more than an hour of pushing, out came my baby brother. Here are some pictures of him, isn't he cute.


Roger, Tracey and Malcolm are now at home resting. For those of you who are wondering, the J. was given in memory of Roger's Mom who passed away last November. Hey this picture is remarkable, he's got Roger"s hands, right down to the bent pinky finger.
Thank you to those of you who visited the hospital, I was sad that they didn't allow dogs to visit. Also, thanks to everyone who have extended they heartfelt congratulations. Now we're just one big happy family.

No internet for almost 2 weeks!

Well Telus finally fixed out internet problem at home. We've been unable to connect to the web for over a week now, I'm glad they finally fixed it.

My baby brother is due in two weeks, crazy huh! Everyone has told Roger and Tracey that their lives are going to change, I guess that applies to me too. Tracey's belly is ever-so-big, it's been months since she's been able to see her feet, in fact I noticed the other day that anything directly below her is virtually invisible to her. She's been feeling some tightness and strain, I guess that's to be expected since the baby is over six pounds now. Roger said that the visit to the doctor went well. Next week is Tracey's last week of work, then she'll be off for a year! Whoo hoo....I won't be alone at home for a long time.

Here's a picture of Tracey and me when she was 37 weeks pregnant.

Whew, I'm done!

Well, I did it. I graduated from Advanced Obedience at Absolute K-9. I'm sorry to report that I wasn't head of the class this time, but I think I wasn't the worst either. Roger and Tracey said they were proud of me. Here's my grad picture, a picture from the class and a picture of me afterwards. I don't know when I'll be going back,.... Whew! I guess it's over for a little while. Although, I did see Roger pull out the long line.... we know what that means, more training on my own. I better start working on my recall. Oh, Roger put a link to the dog training place, remember to ask for Jaime, she's great. Woof, woof.

An exciting week ahead.

I'm a bit worried, this Wednesday is my final test for my advanced obedience class. I hope I can do most of the tasks, and I know Roger and Tracey will be so proud if I can at least attempt all of them. I'll try my best.... I hope I pass the course, it not as easy this time. Oh here's a picture of me with my head out the window.

I did do something naughtly this past weekend.... I chewed and destroyed Tracey's cell phone charger. I know I've never done anything like that before but for some reason it was very irresistible. Tracey and Roger said that if I had chewed the cord while it was still plugged in, it might have shocked me. I don't know what that means, but it sounds painful. I don't know why I did it, maybe it was because Roger and Tracey left me home on Saturday. I know they went to their pre-natal class, but Saturday of all days! Hmph!

The only saving grace was that I got to eat some yummy turkey.... Thanksgiving dinner at grandma's house was so delicious. Uncle Glen dropped so many turkey bits on the floor for me to enjoy... nevermind all the turkey bits that grandma gave me... mmmmm... Tryptophan"s making me sleepy. zzzzzzzzz oh, here's an update of Tracey's belly... Only 5.5 weeks to go.

Marla, nice to meet you.

So, I got to meet Marla tonight... wow is she very cute and oh so tiny. Yeah, I know she'll be bigger than me in a couple of months, but for now I'm bigger so there. I'm very happy to meet her. Roger's hoping that some of that 'retrieving' instinct will rub off on me, fat chance! Anyway, here's a picture of my new friend.

Week 4 in my advanced obedience class!

Well it's week 4 of 6, and tonight I'll have to go back to my advanced obedience class. There's only two more classes after this one, wuf wuf! There are so many big dogs there, sometimes I'm a little scared I'll be stepped on. Here's are some pictures of me at class. The first picture we're doing a "stand/stay" and in the second, well you can see from the look on my face, I'm not having the most fun. Also it's hard to tell in the picture, but I'm the teensiest one. We did some more jumping today, Roger was impressed that I could make it over the little jump. The class is sure more difficult than the previous one.

Roger's friend Ryan is expecting a new puppy tomorrow, all the way from Calgary. It's a Nova Scotia Duck Toller. Here's a picture of her. I can't wait to meet her. She's a chubby little puppy huh?

Countdown till the baby comes.

Here's a countdown ticker to when my baby brother is coming.

Tracey is 31 weeks pregnant today!

Happy Friday! Today marks Tracey's 31st week of pregnancy, only 9 more weeks to go until my little brother arrives. It won't be long now till I get to meet him. Roger and Tracey will also be having their 1st wedding anniversary on Monday. They'll be celebrating it on Sunday though, with Brunch at the Sylvia Hotel and Dinner at Gotham! Mmmm, I hope they bring me back some steak! It's already been a year since Roger and the boys wore kilts.

Oh, this is a clip of me running around the living room, we call it "run like hell". The laminate floor can sure be slippery.

Video of me when I was 14 weeks old.

Roger found some old video of me when I was still with my siblings. I believe this was taken the day Roger and Tracey adopted me. I'm the brown one, the other two b/w Havanese puppies are my sisters. I can't believe I've already lived with my new loving family for 14 months now.

The end of summer.

I can't believe it's already September 1st. Kids are going back to school, the weather is getting cooler and it now means that the ground is chilly on my little paws when I go for my morning walks with Roger.

Roger and Tracey bought me a whole bunch of new treats including a new Kong bone, you can see it in the pics above. I really like it, but I hope that Roger wouldn't jam the treats so tight inside. He's been making all my treat balls more difficult to access. He's even resorted to putting one of my treat balls on the bannister where I have to get up on my tippy toes to reach.

Tracey is officially into the third trimester now, she'll be 30 weeks pregnant on Friday. I can't believe there's only two and a half months left before we'll have another addition to the family. I hope the new baby will be nice to me, I don't want him to yell at me or to pull on my tail. I'll keep my paws crossed.

Back from Whistler

This is a picture of me and my friend Samba. We spent four days together wrestling, playing and rough-housing. Samba is Nick and Fabiana's dog, he is a Maltese, Bichon Frise cross. We're good buddies. As you can see from my picture, after all that activity we were pretty tired. Samba is a crazy barker, he even barks at his reflection, I think he'd even bark at the wind if he could see it. I think everyone had a good time at our Whistler getaway. I'm sad to see all the people go, but to be perfectly honest it's too tiring to wrestle all the time. That pink shirt wearing little punk is relentless. Anyway, things are pretty much back to normal, Roger and Tracey went back to work today and we resumed the regular routine. Tracey told me that we're going to Kelowna for the long weekend, where ever that is. We're going to stay with some friends there. I'm looking forward to running around in a big yard, whoo hoo! I have heard rumors that there's a swimming pool there.... ooohhh scary!

Baby's room almost finished.

Here are some pictures of the almost finished baby room. All the Snoopy bedding arrived, can you see the mobile, doesn't it look very nibble-worthy? Unfortunately Roger and Tracey won't let me gnaw on it. Darn! Don't I look cute in the crib? Oh, btw I'm also starting my advanced obedience class on Wednesday. I don't know what to expect, but keep your fingers crossed for me.

Roger and Tracey working on the nursery.

Roger and Tracey have been off all week. It's been renovation central at the house. Roger finished painting the baby's room, painting the murals and even putting in the baseboards. It's been a loud and disruptive several days. I think everyone is glad that the room is almost finished. I think they still want to re-do the dresser. They decoupaged it with some pictures of snoopy, but I don't think they're entirely happy with it. The room is bright yellow, I think the Home Depot paint sample called it bicycle yellow. It looks really great, I just hope the baby likes it.

Tracey's friend Michelle also sent us three boxes of baby clothes. The little baby has more clothes than Roger, and he's not even born yet! Anyway, Roger and Tracey are very well prepared, they are doing their best to be ready.

Here are some pictures of the room and me helping. That's all for now.

My Graduation.

Well, I did it. I graduated from Basic Obedience yesterday, and not only that I graduated top of the class. Roger and Tracey wanted to put the graduation picture and a picture of my certificate on the blog. It was a difficult and long eight weeks, but I did it. I'm very proud of myself. I even managed to defend my title as "Musical Chair Champion" again this term. Jaime thinks I'm ready for the next class, which is way more advanced. I think I have to do things like broad jump, long sits and downs, and even better healing without a leash, sheesh who do you think I am Lassie? Anyway, I'm glad it's over, I'll have about three weeks to prepare for that one. Meanwhile, Roger and Tracey will be working on the nursery, painting, decorating and trying to settle on a name. They had an easier time naming me! Oh, I'd like to send a shout out to Lane who was visiting from Calgary. He wasn't able to stay very long, but he was nice to me. Next time maybe he can stay longer. Take care and all the best to you.

Tracey's glider/rocker arrived!

Tracey's glider/rocker is here. Grandma and Grandpa bought Tracey a new glider for the nursery. I was testing it out, boy is it comfy. It was putting me right to sleep. The chair goes well with the new floor don't you think? Grandpa ordered it from Costco online. It's very generous of them to get us such a nice gift. We've been lucky so far, many of our friends have offered to give us their baby items. Thanks to Steve and Krista, we got a crib, jolly jumper, and a bouncy chair, etc. Time for me to go to sleep.

More pics of baby Hur.

Got some new pics of the baby!

Well here it is. The first real pic. of the baby. Tracey and Roger went to the ultrasound clinic and did the 3D/4D scan where they can actually decipher ultrasound pics into real photos. Can you see the baby's face and hands? Roger said that the baby was shy and eventhough Mom tried to do some coaxing, the baby kept putting his hands to his face. In the picture you can see the two hands and face pretty well. I can't wait to meet my new little brother soon. Yep, that's right, little brother. So much for those of you who thought it was a girl. Now if we could only think of a name. I like the name Obiwan, but I guess that would get confusing. I'm sure Roger will post some new pics soon.

They left me home alone all day!

Can you believe they left me home alone all day? I was home almost 9 hours by myself! Tracey and Roger are lucky that I can hold my business, afterall they could have come home to a real mess today. They promised me that they won't do it that often, so I don't have to worry too much.

Oh, this is a picture of Tracey's belly at 22 weeks. Don't mind the little dent around the belly, her sweatpants were too tight. Soon she won't be able to wear Roger's clothes either.

Uh oh, today is Wednesday right, I better get ready for my obedience class. Ruff, ruff!

Roger and Tracey are back to work.

Well Roger and Tracey are back to work now which means more time alone for me. I was getting used to having them around for the week. I know I'll have to wait till November to have someone home all the time. I'm really looking forward to it. I've never really had a chance to interact with a real human baby before (however, I did gnaw on Janey and Bill son's feet once).

Here's the picture that Roger posted on the Mazda 3 forum, he updated the profile picture. What do you think? The force is strong with me huh?