Happy Victoria Day - long weekend.

The weather has been quite chilly the last few days, quite a brisk wind. Funny to think it was better in March, I swear we had some warmer days then. All is well with the family, Malcolm's potty train has been rolling down the tracks smoothly. Melody celebrated her 24th week today. All is good with her, she's just been fighting the naps and the night-time put downs still, but like before once she's down; she's been pretty good. You won't meet a happier baby in the morning. We're usually greeted by cooing, laughing and you'd swear some singing every morning. Luckily, we haven't had too many early mornings as she normally wakes up around 7:30am so. Here are some recent pictures of the kids:

Frisbee/Aerobie technique needs some refining, good thing intensity is there.

Malcolm had a great time at the Burnaby Village Museum yesterday.

Great fun at Queen Elizabeth Park.

Happy 24 Weeks to Miss Melody. As previously reported, things are going swimmingly well. What more can we ask, she's happy, healthy and developing nicely. We've especially noticed that her hand eye coordination is coming along, she can grasp things, reach for items and even has the skill to take things in and out of her mouth.

The family took a day trip to Queen Elizabeth Park today and Malcolm had a great time playing in the fountain. Really, good, clean fun not to mention economical. Malcolm's really come a long way, as he gets older he's starting to take more risks and stepping out of his comfort zone. Last year, he would have never stepped in the fountain, this year he was right into it. Now if we could only get him to eat some vegetables! Here are some pictures from today:

Happy Mother's Day.

We love you dearly yes we do.
We are all thankful yes that's true.
Knowing that being a Mom is certainly tough.
We hope that it all hasn't been too rough.
Today's the day we honour you.
You deserve big kisses, and lots of hugs too.
Happy Mother's Day, from Daddy, Malcolm, Melody and Obi.

Melody is 23 weeks old now, here's big brother and baby sister together:

Also big happy birthday wishes to Mr. Aaden, 1 year old!

Week 2 and all is well.

Malcolm has been doing tremendously well with the potty training. Although Roger and Tracey ask him all the time whether he has to go potty, he's been equally as good with initiating it all. Most of the time he's wearing pull-ups, but at home he's felt comfortable enough to wear big boy underwear. We're all very proud of him and his progress.

Melody is doing well too, considering she's cutting some new teeth. The night-time put down has still been a challenge, but as reported earlier "once she's down, she's down for a long time". The family managed to get out for dinner with Grandpa Harry and Annis. Please see the recent pictures below:

Whoa!

Pretty huge developments in the house this week. Melody's two central incisors are breaking through. Lucky for the whole family she has been quite a trooper through it all. She's been drooling big time and trying to keep her in dry bibs is a full time job. I'm also happy to announce that Malcolm's potty training has been going great, he's been so successful this past week. He's even been dry overnight many of the days; however, today we reached a true accomplishment: "He managed to do #2 on the potty!" We truly thought it wouldn't happen and he surprised us all by just doing it. We made such a fuss while dancing and parading around the room. We also gave him a huge new train set (that we had purchased several months ago) to mark this great feat. We surely are well on our way now.

Go Canucks Go, they're on to the second round.... Here's Melody's 21 week game face.
"Bring on round 2!"

Melody 20th week and the potty train has finally left the station for Malcolm.

Yup, that old saying of: "If it's not one thing it's another" hasn't been more true than in our household. We've had a recent triumph over the last two days, Malcolm has finally started using the potty! After a few hiccups, he's been pretty good at #1 in the potty. Now #2, that's a whole other issue the family will have to tackle over the next while. So on to our other issue, all of a sudden we've been having trouble putting Melody down to sleep for the night. She fights and screams the house down when we try and put her down. The last two days have been met with tears and some very vocal opposition. The silver lining is that once she's down, she's down for several hours. So, it's all a work in progress. No one said that it was easy.

Tobogganing fun Mount Seymour!

Malcolm had a pretty great time yesterday with Roger, Uncle Steve, Auntie Krista and Melan. As you can see from the photos below the weather was perfect, sunny and warm. Malcolm got to try out his new snow pants for the very first time. Tobogganing turned out to be pretty fun by the looks of things. Although, Roger was pretty tired and sore from carrying Malcolm up the mountain countless times.

19 weeks and counting.

Melody has been fighting the nap and bedtime lately with no rhyme or reason. A little more effort and persistence is needed when trying to get her down. Good news is that she's still sleeping like a champ at night. Her feeding schedule has also been topsy turvy. Also, Roger and Tracey are bringing Melody into the doctor for her 4 months shots on Monday, let's hope all goes well.

In other news, Malcolm has officially started potty training. Roger and Tracey have been making more of a concerted effort to get this train moving. So far there hasn't been too much success, but we're all hoping Malcolm will catch on quickly. Oh, also something very exciting with all the colds and sniffles, Malcolm has finally learned to blow his nose, such a relief not to hear him sniffle all day long. Who would have thought it would take such effort to teach him how to do it.

Vancouver Auto Show 2010.

From what I've been told, Malcolm thoroughly enjoyed himself at the Auto Show yesterday. He got to do one of his most favorite things, sit in the driver's seat of many, many cars including a $168k Jaguar. It's strange to think that one day he will be behind the wheel of a car, as he is only three (twelve more years to go). As you can see in one of the pics, he looks quite at home... adjusting the rear view mirror preparing to take his mommy for a ride in a new Mini convertible.

Good thing girls can wear boys clothes...

Although Roger and Tracey have given away many of Malcolm's baby clothes, they did manage to hang on to some stuff that was unisex. Look, they're wearing the exact same pair of overalls. If you can believe it both pictures were taken exactly at 18 weeks. Granted, Melody is a bit bigger than Malcolm, but as we watch them grow there are some very close similarities (with the exception of hair).

As parents, Tracey and Roger often wonder what both kids will look like as they get older. Funny thing is that Malcolm often asks as well: "What is Melody going to look like when she gets older?" and "What am I going to look like when I get older?" We all wonder.

18 weeks and counting...

At 18 weeks Melody is:
26" in length, 16.4lbs and has a 17" head!

As you can see, Melody is definitely thriving...she's a big healthy and happy bundle of fun. She's so cheerful most of the time that it is quite a shock when she cries or is upset. She starts every morning with lots of smiles and giggles- so far she is definitely a morning person...she doesn't get that from me.

It's the Easter long weekend and the family had hoped to do a lot of fun activities. Unfortunately Malcolm is sick with a bad cold and cough and is not his usual cheerful self. Everyone, except for four legged me, is planning to go to the car show tomorrow. Malcolm is looking forward to seeing all of the different cars and sitting in all of the driver's seats.

Earlier this week Malcolm decorated Easter eggs for the first time with his good buddy Aaden. He also had some of his playschool friends over for a playdate and an Easter egg hunt. The weather has been incredibly cold, windy, rainy and stormy the last few days so the egg hunting took place inside.



We are all looking forward to Spring and, paws crossed, warmer weather and lots of walks. Happy Easter everyone. May all of your bunnies be chocolate.

P.S. Thank you to WallpaperWeb.org for the original bunny picture.

Happy 4 months Melody.

Four Months and we're chugging along quite well. Not much to report this week, although now that Melody has hit four months the immunizations are due again. Tracey and Roger will be heading back to the doctor soon to get that squared away. Malcolm's cough is still hanging on, but has improved considerably.

Special thanks to Chad, Wendy and Aaden for bringing back one of Malcolm's favorite treats from down south: Goldfish pretzels!

Here's another picture of Melody, check out those catchlights, Roger got out his flashes and umbrellas again.

Warm weather is on its way!

It was tremendously warm yesterday, almost 20 degrees Celsius. With the warm weather brings more walks. We managed to get out after dinner and take a stroll around the neighbourhood. As you can see from the pictures, Malcolm doesn't walk he runs. I don't know where the kid gets all his energy considering he doesn't have a nap. Yes, the afternoon nap has fallen by the wayside much to the disappointment of Tracey. It was something that we could all count on, but nowadays Malcolm just isn't tired enough to have a rest. Tracey still tries to get him to lie down for a while, but most days he just plays in his bed and declares "I'm done my rest now!" after a few minutes. Don't you just love how Malcolm's feet don't touch the ground and their hair in full swing... such movement, awesome.

Melody's first LOL!

We got quite a treat today to commemorate Melody's 16th week, she laughed out loud. It was the first time we put her in the saucer and unexpectedly for the first time ever she did this:

Melody's first laugh @ 16 weeks. from Obiwanhavanese on Vimeo.

Happy sweet 16 weeks Melody.

Happy sweet 16 weeks Melody. Not much to report since the last post. Malcolm got some medicine for his cough and we should be seeing results soon. Oh, btw if you haven't got the impression that Melody is doing well here are some stats: Melody is already over 15 pounds, almost 25" in length and has a 17" head. With these measurements it indicates that Melody falls within 75-90 percentile, meaning only 10%-25% of babies of the same age are bigger and conversely 75%-90% of babies her age are smaller, wow.

Smile...cry....laugh

Funny to think that all the worries and anxiety that Roger and Tracey had about the new baby really evaporated once Melody conformed to a routine. Really, in the past several weeks and months, the more challenging issues have been with Malcolm. He's certainly a strong willed little boy. For the most part, Malcolm is a polite, caring, and energetic kid; however, that energy can sometimes quickly turn very emotional. We all understand the physiological changes and development that a 3 year old brain goes through. These changes can cause disequilibrium that can in turn bring on tantrums, tears, and the like.  It's funny cause when they ask Malcolm why he's upset (in the moment), he often responds with: "I don't know?" Which probably indicates that maybe he can't really control what's going on inside either. The most upsetting issue with all the tantrums and tears is that the very next minute he can be totally fine, without a worry in the world, singing, dancing and smiling. Meanwhile, Roger and Tracey are still trying to get over all the disruption and stress that has just transpired. I think in recent days everyone has been better about it all. Roger and Tracey have tried to be more neutral to the situation and in effect Malcolm has been better as well. No one ever said that raising kids was easy.

Happy Birthday to me.

Hard to believe half a decade has gone by
Seems like it's been just a blink of an eye
Life has been great with my family so far
I love everything, especially the rides in the car
We're a close family of 5 with new baby in tow
Roger and Tracey have sure lined their ducks in a row
With me, then Malcolm now Melody too
They said they're done, for sure, Whoo hoo!
Transition and change that's what life's about
I wouldn't change it for even a bucket of trout.
Hard to believe that I'm already 5
Hope this doesn't sound too contrived
Happy birthday to me
Happy birthday wee hee!

Happy 15 weeks Melody.

Melody's fifteenth week, whew! It's been great having the new baby in the house. Everyone is thrilled with what an incredible addition she has been to our family. I mean what more can we ask of a baby, she's eating well, she's sleeping well and she greets us every morning with lots of smiles, coos and squeals. She is an incredibly happy baby- I often hear Roger and Tracey remarking how lucky we are. Here is an example of Melody being her usual happy baby self. Isn't she just the cutest?

Melody's Balloon.

Melody loves tugging on the balloon, it makes her so happy.

Melody's Balloon from Obiwanhavanese on Vimeo.

Whew!

Well it looks like everyone is finally on the mend. The cold that has gone through the family has been the toughest on Malcolm. He's been coughing and coughing. It's been the worst at night and we've had some sleepless nights the past couple of weeks. As temper-mental as he's been, it's nice to get him to laugh and be funny. He's just not himself when he's got a cold. Let's hope it is the last one of the season.

Bowling and etc...

 Malcolm has been really tearing up the lanes on the iPod, so Roger and Tracey decided to try and take him bowling. Luckily there's a bowling alley within walking distance. Malcolm did quite well for his first time, but in hindsight one full game with 4 people was perhaps a little too much to ask for a 3 year old's attention span. He liked rolling the ball down the lane and despite the lack of velocity, he managed to hit a few pins.

Tomorrow will mark Melody's 100th day, Roger and Tracey were planning on a cozy Korean dinner, but with Malcolm fighting a cold it may be more difficult to arrange than first thought. She's been such a good baby. She's been sleeping and eating like a champ. As you can see in the photos below, she's really growing.

Malcolm and Melody Skate...

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!