Tooth #3.

Malcolm's tooth has been very wiggly for a while now and tonight Roger noticed that it was barely hanging on. The only problem is that Malcolm was deathly afraid of any notion of tying dental floss to it and pulling it out. You see, he hasn't been the most brave when it comes to pain. This is the kid that cried about getting his flu shot before any needle even came out. I guess the threat or idea of pulling his tooth out was way more scarier than the actual reality. So after some poking, prodding and tears the tooth had almost fallen out by itself, to Malcolm's surprise it didn't hurt at all. Really, all along what Roger and Tracey have been telling him, silly kid. So there it is, his first tooth that has actually fallen out by itself without the need for needles, freezing or an actual extraction by the dentist. Our favoriate quote from tonight: "That didn't hurt at all." As I said, silly kid. In other news Melody has picked up another cold, we're not sure from where, but her temperament has been less than glowing. We've had a few tantrums, runny nose, and some sleepless nights. I feel sorry for Tracey cause she's been up with her multiple times a night. Also, that girl is firmly attached to her hip, there's nothing that Roger can do to help. In fact, this morning she woke up crying for "Mommy" and went on for about 40 minutes. She's stubborn all right.

Whew what a weekend.

Saturday was a pretty tough day for Roger and Tracey. Both kids woke up miserable. Definitely a good night's sleep was not had by all. You'd think that swimming lessons on Friday would tucker them out, but to no avail. They both went to bed later than usual and did everyone pay the price. The morning was filled with double time-outs and even some blood drawn between the both of them. I think the most disappointing moment of the weekend happened when Malcolm outright lied to Roger's face. Let's just say that it involved a piece of Lego, throwing followed by an outright denial. It's heartbreaking to know when a boy can tell a boldface lie to his father without batting an eyelash, no guilt, no remorse just carrying on like nothing happened. Luckily for the whole family the afternoon was much better. No more tantrums, no more bad behavior. As Roger and Tracey always say, the kids are way better when they are out of the house. So they ventured to Pier Park in New Westminster for a walk and some fresh air. Luck would have it, as soon as they arrived rain started to pour. Roger and Tracey both looked at each-other and could only smile, it was par for the course. Despite the wet weather they stuck around and toured around the Quay. Here are some pictures from the day. No-one said it was supposed to be easy. There's no doubt in this world that the hardest job is parenting, they can both attest to that.

T-Ball begins.

Malcolm's first official step into organized baseball. He and Roger have actually been practising all week at the park. He's been smashing them off the tee at practice so it wasn't surprising to see that he did quite well at the plate at Sunday's game. He's got some of the fundamentals down, now he'll have to grasp some of the finer points regarding the rules of the game. Anyway, we very proud of him. He did very well. Thankfully the rain held off which wasn't the case for Opening Day at the park a day earlier.

Here's the Mayor of New Westminster, Wayne Wright throwing out the first pitch. As you can see it was a very wet day:

Busy start to activities for both Malcolm and Melody.

Friday marked the beginning of swimming lessons for Malcolm and Melody. Malcolm seems like the oldest in the class, we're all keeping our fingers crossed that he passes this time around. He's had some difficulty putting his head under the water, so let's hope he can overcome it this time. Melody is taking a parent and child class. She seemed pretty enthusiastic about swimming, much more than skating. The other good thing is that our friends Aaden and Wendy are also taking the class. Aaden is more than overjoyed about classes. Here are some pictures from Friday's class.

Sick...

So early last week Roger discovered some lumps and bumps on my body. At first everyone had thought that they were various sebaceous cysts that I've been dealing with for the past year, but this was different. The main difference is that they are all over the body, with a rather large mass behind my neck. Roger and Tracey took me to the veterinarian for a biopsy. The results were in today and luckily the doctor said that the results were negative. Whew what a relief. Andrew and Deana were nice enough to let me stay at the house in Whistler while I was recovering. I was really happy to be with so many people. I went from room to room to say hello to everyone. They were all so kind. Here are some pictures from our trip.
Whistler 2013 from Obiwanhavanese on Vimeo.
A great time was had by all. Certainly the kids got along so well. It's actually nice to see. As we get older we can share more experiences and memories.

Spring Break trip to Seattle.

So the family spent a few days in Seattle during Malcolm's spring break. They stayed in a very nice hotel in downtown Seattle called the Maxwell Hotel. The hotel had a pool, was conveniently located, and even served cupcakes in the lobby. It was a nice trip for the family. The kids got some new shoes, they got to see their cousin Vincent and were able to spend some family time together in another city. It was a busy few days, the Seattle Outlets, Chihuly Museum, Space Needle, Science Center, shopping,  Top Pot Doughnuts, Pike Place Market and some other Seattle sites. Here are some pictures from their trip, if you want to see the whole set click the link. (I think Tracey has been cured of her need to travel, maybe in a few more months):

Spring Break 2013.

Roger noticed another abscess in Malcolm's mouth yesterday and immediately called the dentist for an appointment. He managed to get one for this afternoon. Upon initial examination the Doctor said that it had to come out. Roger and Tracey weren't entirely surprised to hear this knowing the size of the inflammation. We're hoping that this will now quell some of the nightmares he's been having. So for almost a week straight he's been waking up periodically through the night crying and carrying on. He does have a bit of a cold, but the nights have been terrible in the last while. Everyone has been suspecting that the infection has had something to do with his sleep disruption. I guess it remains to be seen. So despite the crying and complaining about his tooth and the extraction, he managed to bounce back in a few hours and feel better, as evidenced by the picture below. Here's the one from last summer: Link Malcolm has been wanting to see some totem poles, so what better place to visit than the Museum of Anthropology at UBC. Today was Roger's day to take off with Malcolm (for Spring Break) and they decided to go to the museum. Not wanting to leave Melody out, they kept her home from daycare and had a good day out. They even managed to go to the beach and play in the sand for 20mins or so before heading out to lunch at Cactus Club. Here are some shots from the field trip.

Happy 8th birthday to me.

Whoa, 8 years old, they say that is 56 years by human accounts. I don't feel that old, perhaps it's true what they say, age is only a number and that you're only as old as you feel (and I still feel young). I've lived with this family for a long time, I've watched two wonderful children grow up from babies to toddlers and now to full fledged children. I've even seen different homes, travels to different places and have met people who are no more. In a dog's life many things change, but I'm glad that everyone here has always shown me love, respect and kindness. They have always treated me with care and consider me one of the family.

Student led conference for Grade 1.

Tracey and Roger attended Malcolm's first student-led conference this past Friday. They got to see first hand what's he's learning in school. Malcolm showed them both how he's reading, writing journal entries, performing science experiments and he even showed us some math skills. They were really proud of his achievement with respect to his reading, he's has really come a long way compared to the beginning of the year. He's able to read many of the books by himself. Certainly his sight word recognition has improved. Reading his journal entries, his drawing, sentence structure and even spelling have gotten so much better. Here are some pictures from the conference on Friday. We're all very proud of you Malcolm. Special thanks to your teacher Mrs. M, she's doing a great job.

Hate when the kids are sick.

So Malcolm and Melody missed a few days of school last week because they were sick. Most of all, it's been fevers and terrible coughs that have been really affecting their sleep. Tracey and Roger have been up multiple times a night dealing with the kids sickness. They even coughed so much that it caused them to vomit, not very nice. Suffice to say, the weekend hasn't been the greatest. We're all hoping they're on the mend and will be able to go back to school tomorrow. At least the weather was good on Sunday for the kids to go out and get some fresh air.

Also, I'm happy to report that I'm all better. The skin infection has cleared and I'm back to normal. I'm not sure what was going on, but I had developed multiple cysts on my body. The cysts have either burst and disappeared. Tracey thinks they may have been some sebaceous cysts, no one really knows. There was some significant chatter about whether they were cancer, but I'm relieved to know they were not.