Trip to Stanley Park.

It's been a while since I went to Stanely Park, in fact I think it was Malcolm's first time. The weather has been so horrible with so much rain lately. We had to take advantage of the first sunny day. Here's some pictures of our walk on Sunday.
Here's a picture of me on the 9:00 gun plaque, oh and my new blue leash!
By the end of the walk, I was tired. Look, I even got to ride on the stroller with Malcolm. People were mentioning how lucky I was. Malcolm was checking out all the boats in the harbour.

Exersaucer....

Malcolm is able to sit in his exersaucer now. He wasn't able to do it before, but now his muscles are stonger and he's begun to reach and grab for things. He still isn't tall enough to touch the ground, but Roger and Tracey put a pillow under his feet and he does just fine. How much stuff does one kid need anyway? Not that I'm jealous; I got a cool new toy for my birthday last week. It's a cube that has different coloured balls that fit inside it and when I'm lucky some yummy treats get put in there too.

Today is my birthday!

I'm 2 years old today, 14 in dog years. I was born in Victoria, British Columbia on March 15, 2005 and came to live my new family Roger, Tracey and her cat Cleo a few months after. It's been a slice so far, especially with the recent addition of my little brother Malcolm. Even though, I don't get a cake Roger and Tracey got me some extra special treats today. Woof, woof! Happy birthday to me!

Hey Uncle Lane from Calgary sent some nickname submissions for Malcolm:

The Malconator
M-Ball
Butros Butros Malci
Baldy McMalcolmstein,
Sleep debt Magee
BNO's excuse to stay sober

Thanks for those. I think Roger's favorite is Baldy McMalcolmstein. Roger was going to type all the Nicknames uncle Lane had, but thought it best not to make the blog submission R-rated; however, his all time favorite is "Soft Man". For some reason, some of the girls in Korea referred to him as such. Oh well... Here's a shout out to all the readers out in Alberta! Howdy! Woof, woof.

Malcolm is 18 Weeks old...

Malcolm is 18 weeks old today. Time sure is going fast. Roger is finally feeling better now and will most likely resume work on Monday. Also, Malcolm is heading to the doctor for the remainder of his four month shots, let's hope everything goes well. On the weekend we went over to grandma's house to celebrate Nicole and Manjit's birthdays. Nice presents were exchanged by all and best of all I got to eat some ham scraps. I love family dinners. It's always turkey, roast beef, pork, ham, or some other yummy treat. Here are some more pictures:

Roger's been home sick with the flu.

On Tuesday afternoon Roger came down with a severe case of the flu. Tracey said that his temperature was 40 degrees at one point, we could have fried a yummy egg on his forehead. He's feeling much better now, and we're all glad that his fever has broken. I'm keeping my paws crossed that the flu bug doesn't affect Malcolm or Tracey, so far they seem fine. Here are some more pics:

Here's Malcolm in his new Bumbo chair, I think he's begun to find he has fingers.... Fascinating!:The kid is smiling in his sleep, cute huh?

Malcolm is 4 months old today!

Another milestone... my brother has made it to the 4th month. The celebration is a little bittersweet because it also means that he had to go see the doctor to have his vaccination shot (and another one next week). Tracey and Roger said that Malcolm took it pretty well. Dr. Lin commented how strong his legs were. Here are his measurements at four months:

Length: 61cm/24inches
Weight: 6.82kg/15lbs
Head: 42cm/16.5inches

Here's a picture of Malcolm trying on some watches:

Update on the family.

Well after a period of unstability and uncertainty, (mainly due to the addition of a new baby and well... my feeling ill), I'm happy to report that all is well in the family household.

Even though, I cross my little paws every night that Malcolm will sleep through the night... it has yet to happen. It's really a roller coaster ride you know. Mainly, Malcolm has only been getting up once throughout the night to feed. The implementation of the routine has made things a lot more manageable for Roger and Tracey.

I've noticed that he's picked up lots of nicknames, here are a few that I've heard over the last four months:
"duder", "buddy"(that one gets used a lot), "budder", "MJ", "Malk", "Bud", "Pumpkin"(Grandma likes using that one), "M", "Poopy Guy", "Poopster", "Bangu-boy" and one that I hear when he's especially unhappy, "Crankster". I'm sure we'll be using that one next week cause Malcolm has to go in for his four months shots on Monday.

Tracey has been attending some events at the local community centre, a baby sign language class and a parent and tot drop in session run by the community nurse. The sessions have been good, she's been able to meet other Moms in the area. I think she's planning to take a Yoga class in a few months too.

Here are some more pics:
Here's a picture of me on bath day:
Tummy time!

Malcolm is becoming pretty vocal.

My brother can make all sorts of sounds now, he can coo, babble, squeal and even shriek. Roger and Tracey are only getting up once throughout the night now, which is a marked improvement. I don't bother to get up, cause it's just too cozy in bed. I've learned my lesson... after all they just come back to bed as soon as they feed Malcolm anyway. Roger is taking a vacation day to stay home with us today. Tracey is going out with Irene, I think I overheard that they'll be going to a movie. Anyway, here's a sample of Malcolm's vocalization.

Dietary supplement.

As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, Roger has been adding a yummy homemade supplement to my regular kibble. He told me that it's made from 1/3 protein (boiled chicken), 1/3 rice, and the last 1/3 made up of boiled/mashed sweet potato and organic probiotic yogurt. Roger makes a batch and adds it into my meals twice a day. He said that for the first time in a long time, I've been finishing my whole portion without a scrap leftover. That's what's probably attributed to my weight gain. As you can see from the picture, I'm VERY FOCUSED and am waiting for the magic release command! C'mon, Roger "okay" already.

Here's a picture of Malcolm at the controversial Olympic clock in front of the Vancouver Art Gallery, only 1090 days to go....

Malcolm is 15 weeks old today.

He's been sleeping longer, we're almost afraid to mention it to anyone cause it's been going so well; after all we wouldn't want to jinx anything. Last night he slept from 9:30pm to almost 5:30am (with an 11pm dream feed)... then decided to sleep until 8:30am so we could all catch up a bit. Here are some pics:

He looks like a red jedi in this one:

Longest sleep ever!

I'm happy to report that Malcolm enjoyed an extended sleep session last night (the first time ever!). Tracey and Roger put him to bed at 9:30, he had a dream feed at 11:00 and he slept until almost 5:00am this morning. Whoo hoo! The dream feed idea is advocated by Tracy Hogg in the popular book, The Baby Whisperer. It is called dream feed because you don't actually wake the baby. You basically take the baby out of the crib and give it a breast or bottle and don't even change it unless he's really soiled and then put them back to sleep. The dream feed has been working really well so far. Malcolm drains the bottle and drinks at least 3.5 ounces every time. We've also been using a great swaddle blanket, called the "Miracle Blanket" that swaddles him very snugly so he can't wriggle his arms out. Most night we've found that Malcolm gets his arms free and wakes himself up because of all the flailing. Here's a picture of the "Miracle Blanket" (a special thanks to Janey and Bill for loaning it to us) Roger is actually bidding on another one on Ebay so we can have a backup, just in case.

Malcolm's Baek-il party.

February 13th, 2007 marked Malcolm's 100th day. To celebrate the occassion we took Malcolm out for dinner with the whole family.


Here is some history behind this auspicious event in a baby's life:

In premodern Korea infant mortality was high because of a variety of diseases and other health problems that did not respond to herbal medicines. Newborn babies were treated with extra care in an effort to preserve their lives. This generally included taboos against visits by outsiders for the first 21 days of the baby's life, and not formally recognizing the new family member until it was fairly certain that the child was going to survive.

A long time ago it also became customary for families to wait until the 100th day to officially celebrate the birth of a new child with a baek Il (baek eel) or "100th Day Party," making this one of the most auspicious social events in Korean life. Relatives and close friends were invited to participate in the happy event. Baek il parties are still the custom in Korea, and continue to be one of the more important social events that take place regularly throughout the year. Many families, in fact, stage three baek il - one for the father's family, one for the mother's family, and another one for the father's school friends and work colleagues.

Baek il are marked by feasts that include a variety of special foods and drinks. Guests are expected to bring gifts. Families generally take platters of rice cakes and other specialities to their closer neighbors, who respond by bringing gifts for the infants. "100th Day Parties" are always occasions for taking numerous photographs that go into family albums. (In earlier times it was customary to take frontal pictures of baby boys in the nude as a public record of their maleness.) The second milestone in the life of a new baby is its first birthday.


Excerpted from the forthcoming book, "NTC's Dictionary of Korea's Business and Cultural Code Words" (NTC/Contemporary Publishing Company), by Boye Lafayette DeMente. DeMente is an author of more than forty books and currently works as a consultant on Korea, China, and Japan. For more information about his currently available work, check out the Internet site (http://www.dancris.com/~phxbooks/).

By Boye Lafayette De Mente

Funny!

I think Grandma Nan is trying to turn Malcolm into a garden gnome. She made him a hat and I swear that he's the spitting image of a garden gnome I've seen before, what do you think... separated at birth huh?

It was Grandpa Mel's birthday on the weekend, the family enjoyed a Chinese dinner feast! Grandpa Mel got a nice wallet and tickets to a show from Roger and Tracey. He received a gift certificate for the Casino from Glen, Manjit, Nicole and Joseph. I was a bit naughty at the dinner, it was a perfectly laid plan actually. I told Malcolm to distract the family by smiling and looking cute and I sneakily jumped up to the table and got a few good licks in on the cheesecake. I must have licked the cake about three times until Grandma Nan and Tracey noticed, next time I'll have to get Malcolm to distract them for longer... he and I are going to be a great team!

Weight watchers?

Tracey said that I've lost three pounds. My stomach has been feeling a bit strange lately, but as for the sudden weight loss, I'm not exactly sure why? Roger did mention that he felt that I've been eating less and that I've had less appetite. Roger has even gone to lengths to upgrade my dinner by adding some chicken, yogurt and rice to my kibble. I managed to scarf all that down no problem. With the dietary supplements, they hope that I'll gain back the weight soon, cause I know what the consequences are... another trip to the vet. Tracey took Malcolm and me on a big walk to the park, it was nice to get outside and run around, she even let me run around in the tennis courts.

Malcolm is doing well. He's a little chubster, here's a picture of him trying Roger's ice skates on, a little big don't you think?

upgrades to blogspot.com

You may have noticed a bit of an upgrade to the site, well some aesthetic changes anyway... don't fret all the information is the same just packaged a bit differently.

I was trying to write the number 7

Roger and Tracey were wondering what I was trying to write on the stairs again.. I was trying for the number 7, but got distracted when I heard a cat outside. Now that I see the picture, I think the number is backwards? I hope I'm not dyslexic. Here's a pic:

Oh, Roger, Tracey and Malcolm, went to visit Janey, Bill and Ty on Saturday afternoon. They discussed Malcolm's eating, activity, and sleeping schedule with them. You see Roger and Tracey are trying to put Malcolm on a better routine so he'll start sleeping through the night. It hasn't worked yet, but it's only been a couple of days. We're all hoping that he'll start sleeping for longer stretches soon. Here's a picture of Malcolm and Ty together.

Don't see what the big deal is?

Roger and Tracey were impressed that I positioned my kibble in such a way that it resembled a perfect square. I wasn't too happy with it, because I was trying to position the kibble to look like the star constelation; little dipper. Maybe I'll blow their minds next time and write out something, like "STEAK PLEASE", bet you that would freak them out! Usually Roger isn't so impressed that I bring my food bits to eat in the living room and on the step, but this time they were more amused. Here's a pic of the food:

Oh, here's my favorite picture of Malcolm, Tracey took it the other day.. doesn't he look happy?

As promised pictures from our pre-natal class reunion.

Roger, Tracey and Malcolm went to the pre-natal class reunion yesterday at BC Women's Hospital. They were reunited with the groups from their classes last year. They said that it was nice to hear all the different stories and experiences all the other parents went through. Almost every baby arrived early except for one, they all seem to be doing quite well. Also coincidently, three babies were born weighing the same as Malcolm, 6 pounds 12 ounces, neat huh! Here are the pics as promised.

Down the line:

Here are William and Malcolm together:

Roger's going to BNO.

For those of you who don't know, BNO stands for Boys Night Out. Every last Saturday of every month Roger and his friends get together to chew the fat, eat, drink and partake in some male bonding. I wish I could go, but Malcolm and I have to stay home.

During the last few months BNO was temporarily suspended, but now that it's 2007 they've brought it back again. I think Roger said that they may go to the Giants game or maybe even go-karting. Although they try to plan the activities, they often just play it by ear.

On Saturday morning, Roger, Tracey and Malcolm are going to have a pre-natal class reunion at BC Women's Hospital. This will give them a chance to see all the other babies and parents that took part in the classes. I'm sure that there will be pictures of the event soon. In the meantime here are some more pics: