Christmas Photos!

Hi all

We had a lovely Christmas Eve dinner with Rob's brother and his family, my folks, Dave, Linda and Jeremy! Peg and Don brought dinner, which was incredible, and we all had a blast. Loic loves his cousins Iain and Ryan (even after a slight dinosaur related argument) and loves to copy whatever Ryan does. The big hit of the evening: wearing a salad bowl on your head!

Loic wants his own salad bowl

Ryan shows him how it is done

Silly boys with Auntie Peggy

Grown up Lolo wearing his bowl :)

We had a whirlwind visit up to Powel River for Christmas dinner with my mom's folks, which was also really nice.

Hope everyone had a merry Christmas!

E

Santa!

So, Loic can say "Santa!" now so when we heard that there were dog (and baby!) photos with Santa being put on for a dog fundraiser, we went to see Santa! Loic was much more interested in the "woof woofs" that were present, and didn't seem to mind Santa.

And, a flash from the past:

He has changed so much in a year. He is now running, chatting away and is still as happy as he was as a little baby. Awwwww!

Procrastination 101

Now that I a Mature Student (because I am over 30) and am back taking classes through BCIT, I have had to remember how to write a paper! Let me say, it does not get any easier with time or age. A teacher I know was taking classes later in life (she was probably 30 too) said that she would pour one glass of wine and sit down to study; I have adopted her philosophy and have my one glass of wine ready to go for when I actual get back to my paper...

In other news, Loic turns 16 months old tomorrow and where, oh where did the time go?!

He is such a funny little boy now - Rob and I both picked him up from Kim's house today and he got so excited he started to dance and yell "Mama! Dada! Mama! Dada!" Sooooooo cute.

He is now asleep wearing his fleece pj's and a fleece sleep sac - nothing cuter than a clean, sleepy, cuddly baby covered in fleece!!

E

ps - back to some more recipes soon, have a few parties to go to which require food!

Hawaii 2010

We went to Hawaii for my Big 3-0 and we had a very good time. Loic was great on the plane, thank god for the portable DVD player, and while he stayed on Vancouver Time (aka got up before the sun for the whole week) he was really happy and funny all week. He loved the beach and would run into the waves while he screeched with laughter. He is too funny!

Hawaii 2009 - 3 months old

Hawaii 2010 - a toddler now with G Ma and G Pa :)

Diggin' in the sand

Awwww - a photo where Loic is actually wearing his hat!!

He LOVED being pulled by my Dad on the boogie board in the sand

Baby Beluga

Well, not a baby beluga but a beluga none the less!

This morning my mom, Loic and I went to see Jody at the aquarium. We had a great time! We saw Jody feeding the fur seals, the sea lions and best of all, I got my wish; I got to pet a beluga! He felt like a cold hotdog which was not quite what I was expecting. Jody has a really neat job and we love going to see her at work :) Thanks for the fun morning Jody!

My mom and I then took Loic to the rest of the aquarium where he pointed at everything and chatted away to the fish. So cute! That baby is so much fun to take places and he always has a great time wherever we go.

I got a delivery of 15 frozen whole chickens today from a neat farm I found in the valley. The people were great and I am really happy with how the birds are raised. My mom and two co-workers all got some birds. Can't wait to roast one for dinner this week.

E

Pumpkin Patch - 2010

Today we went back to the Laity Pumpkin Patch, the best entertainment $3.00 buys. We met our friends Tracy, John and Ben as well as our old neighbours there for a fun filled pumpkin themed morning!

Last year we carried 3 month old Loic around while this year, we ran behind our 15 month old who laughed, pointed, pet and poked his way around the patch :)

He loved, loved loved the turkeys, pumpkins and donkeys. So cute!

**The next photo is a flash from the past**

Baby Loic at the Pumpkin Patch in 2009 - was he ever this little?!

Now onto 2010!

Checking out the goats, sheep and giant rabbits

An example of fine parenting - feeding your child to the donkey :)

Baby and Mama

Oink! Oink!

Such a good walker!!

"I'd like this one please!"

(We did buy three to carve this year)

He tried to pick up each and every pumpkin in his path

A great quote and Paco

I saw this quote today and really like it:

“Women need to know that breastfeeding quiets a noisy or fussy child, relaxes an anxious child, comforts a sick, injured, or frightened child, and conveys unequivocally that the child is safe and loved.”
Katherine Dettwyler in Breastfeeding: Biocultural Perspectives, p. 203

Love it!

And as for Paco, he is still with us. We are in no hurry for him to go but I can't figure out why 100 people haven't applied for him! He is just great. He is just the right mix of terrier, chihuahua and other to make him an all around great little dog.

This weekend we are going to go and see the sea lions and I plant bulbs in the garden.

E

L.A. pics

We have been home for over a week now, but have been very busy so I haven't had a chance to post these pictures! Paco, our little L.A. rescue dog, is doing very well. He is a busy little boy but will make someone very happy. If you know of anyone looking for a very nice little dog, send them my email address. Now onto baby pictures!

Loic and I in the sand. Loic hated the sand day 1, but loved it day 2!

So cute!

Day 1 - not loving the sand yet!

A sea of Pluots (Plum-Apricots) which were delicious!! Really, really good.

Back from L.A.

So, three of us went to L.A. and 4 of us came home...Jody and I brought home a little dog named Paco, who is up for adoption! Paco is a 10 month old chihuahua x doxie x terrier who is a total love. Email me for more info if you are interested :)

Waiting for Jody to have a day off to post L.A. pics...no rush Jody :) We had an AWESOME time!

E

Hi ho, hi ho, it's off to L.A. we go!

Tomorrow morning, at 5:45, Rob is driving Lolo, Jody and I to the airport for our trip to L.A.!

We will be back on Thursday with many photos and stories to share!

E

Lions and Tigers and Walrus - oh my!

First of all, thanks to Aunt Tiny for the ride-on giraffe! Coolest toy ever and Lolo LOVES it! He climbs on himself now :)

Bad iphone photos, but you get the idea!

Jody watched Loic all day today and they had a great day! These aunties of his spoil him :) She took him to Winners to buy the halloween costume I had picked out...prepare yourself for the cutest thing that you will ever see. Seriously. Ready? Scroll down.....

A cute fuzzy WALRUS!!!

Can't.Handle.The.Cuteness.

Rob put him in it when he got home tonight and we all died laughing, the Walrus joined right in. He thought that it was pretty darn funny as well. It has little flippers for hands and feet - we will break out the real camera tomorrow night to take real photos. Trick or treating here we come!! (And yes Jody, we can all split the candy :))

E

It was bound to happen and exciting news!!

Well, it has finally happened. We had a giant baby poop incident tonight, at the dinner table. Loic hadn't gone #2 in over 24 hours (a bad sign for sure) and at dinner he made some, ahem, suggestive faces. So, after dinner, he was covered in rice so I decided to take his pants off before taking him down the hall for his bath when It Happened. There was poo everywhere. He had it all down his leg and while Jody screamed "I have to be in front! I have to be in front!" while trying to shield my body from the poo leg, I was laughing hysterically while we all ran down the hall (3 adults, one baby, multiple dogs). Rob took control of the situation and dumped the baby, clothes, diaper and all, into the waiting tub. After an underwater changing, we emptied the tub, washed it, and started again. We lost an outfit (too small anyways) in the process. Funniest 5 minutes ever.

Also, I was at my class today (BCIT Leadership training) and Jess watched Loic for us. They had a great time! She took him to see Jody at the aquarium, fed him two meals, went to the park and generally had a great time. Thanks Jess!!! Oh, and Loic napped for three hours without me nursing him (he is growing up and will soon leave me for college...)

Now for the exciting news: Erin is getting married! She got engaged today, on her 30th birthday. A giant CONGRATULATIONS to Erin and Tom!! And as an aside, if you get married in the UK, France or elsewhere requiring a plane, can you do it before July 25th? That way we don't need to pay for Lolo's airfare :) Just kidding, any day is fine, any location is fine and we can't wait!!!!!

E

PNE 2010

It was at the PNE 7 years ago that we met Tyler, who was at the VAS booth in a crate. Every since then, Rob and I try to go the PNE every year and we always have a good time. We took Loic this year and he just loved it! We watched cattle penning, ate doughnuts and fried food, looked at the animals and went on two baby rides with him - what a riot.

He loved the merry-go-round and shrieked when I took him off!

Sitting in the train with Dada!

Waiting in line with Dada

Loic now has a cold :( meaning none of us slept last night. I had *3* cups of coffee today just to keep on my feet. Here is hoping that tonight goes better for all three of us. The saving grace? Jody didn't hear a thing! I was really worried that she would hear the scream-fest going on upstairs.

E

Happy Gotcha Day!

Soulful, kind eyes

It was 7 years ago today (!) that we brought Tyler home from the Vancouver Animal Shelter. Oh what a ride these past 7 years have been!

Tyler is an accomplished dog - he has made it into the Masters level in Agility and for the first time this year, he qualified for Nationals. He also teaches Rally Obedience with me and is a Rally super star. But best of all, he is a truly lovely dog. Agility and Rally are nice to do with him, and he loves the sports, but his best qualities are his kindness and his sense of humour. He is also in love with Loic, which really makes my heart melt to watch.

Who would have thought that the scared, totally neurotic, scared *#$less dog that we adopted 7 years ago would turn into the world's nicest family pet? Not me! I am so, so glad that we took a giant chance on him - it has been worth every moment. (Not to mention every $, I can't bring myself to think of the $ that we spent trying to help him overcome his demons. Still totally worth it though).

Here is to another 7 or more years Tyler - my trusty sidekick who is game for any activity but likes nothing more than to cuddle under the covers :) My big softy who quietly and gently kisses baby Loic and lets Loic hold onto him while he learns to walk. What would I do without this dog?! He gives meaning to the term "heart dog" for me and I treasure him, even when he is being naughty :)

E

Twice in one day!

Get your mind out of the gutter! :) Loic and went to the park twice today. We went this am because Rob was working on the house and we are a bit of a distraction and then this afternoon, we went back with Jess! I brought the camera this afternoon. Oh, and guess who is walking while only holding on with one hand? If you guess Rob you are wrong :)

Walking is sure hard work!

Cheeky little monkey on the swing

"Wheeeeeeeee!"

At the top of the slide with Jess

New teeth

Loic is teething again, poor little man. He is not taking this round of teething well, but is still full of good humour (for the most part). The fun twist this time is that he thinks that 4:30 am is time to get up! What happened to my baby who slept for 12 hours a night?! This will pass, but in the mean time, we are using baby advil to help him sleep without pain.

Loic has been with the nanny three days a week for the past two weeks and is doing quite well. This week he wasn't keen on napping, teething, but last week he napped at her house like a pro. I take my lunch break a little early so that I can go and change him into his pjs and nurse him and then put him down for his nap. I am so, so lucky to be able to keep nursing him during the day and to be able to keep putting him down for his naps.

Will post pics soon! We are going to go to the PNE on Sunday, the farm tomorrow and I have a rally demo practice too - plus much gardening to be done! It will be a busy weekend!!

E

I fell. Off a pitchfork

Today was not my best day.

While gardening, I managed to fall off of my pitchfork and slam, back and arm first, into my all-stone wall. Jess watched this all happen and while I fell to the ground screaming "I am hurt! I am hurt!" she thought that the terrible smacking sound was my head. Luckily it wasn't, it was just the rest of my body slamming into the wall.

When I managed to get up, I realized that I had hurt my arm, my hand and my back. Fun times. I am now *really really really* sore and to make matters worse, I think that I broke my toe stubbing it on a box. My toe is black and I can't move it.

I really scared myself and I can't quite figure out how I managed to fall in such a terrible way! I was digging with my pitchfork and both of my feet slipped, sending me backwards into the wall.

A big thank you to Jess, you helped a lot today!! Afterwards, we couldn't stop laughing because I think that I scared us both a lot and we were quite relieved that I didn't hit my head.

Off to have a hot bath, more advil and then bed. Who knew that gardening could be so dangerous?! My sod removal project is on hold until I am not longer sporting bruises on half of my body.

E

4 ladies, 5 dogs and 1 baby in Whistler

What a great day!!

Today, Loic and I joined three friends of mine and five dogs and headed up to Whistler for the day. We had a blast! We started out by having lunch on a patio - the dogs had to be tied up under a bush but they didn't seem to mind. We then walked up to a nice lake, swam, walked back, ate ice cream and headed home. Phew! A great time was had by all.

Toby and Ryan, waiting for us to finish lunch. What good boys!

Then we all hiked up to a very nice lake (can't remember the name of the lake) and went swimming! We had to set up at the dog beach, which didn't have a great spot to sit but that didn't matter because all we did was swim.

Loic LOVED the water

Sitting in the warm shallows with Toby and puppy Kepler

Swimming and laughing with Aunt Jody

Swimming and laughing with Aunt Jessica

Splashing and laughing with Momma

A miffed and wet Toby (I threw him in to cool him off :)) watching us from as far away from the water as he could get!

Tired and well behaved dogs waiting while we bought ice cream

While Tyler would have loved the dog beach, he would have been a nightmare during lunch and the ice cream stop so he stayed home with Rob today. Toby was a star, nothing phases that dog! And Loic could not have been happier or better behaved, even when we were stuck in traffic on the way home and he was tired and hungry. I sure have the world's nicest baby boy.

E

Loic's First Haircut

After much deliberation on my part, and an increasing number of people asking if Loic was a girl, we went today and had his baby hair cut. I felt like crying (where did my baby go?!) but Rob was a trooper. And so was Loic! While he didn't smile during his haircut, he also sat very still and didn't cry either. Good boy. He now looks like a little boy and not like a baby, which makes me sad, but I have to admit that he sure does look handsome!

Getting started, sitting on my lap :)

I can't handle the cuteness!

This look says it all!

We didn't get a good after shot, had to rush home for a nap, but we will take one later today and I will post it. He really looks like a little boy now and not like a baby! And I think he looks a lot like Rob now too :)

E

Aquarium Visit

This week Rob and Loic went to the aquarium with Rob's friend Nick and Nick's little girl, Isla. Isla is about 4 months older than Loic (we hope that they get married one day, but no pressure kids!). Auntie Jody met them and took them in to see the sea lions! A great time was had by all, except me, because I was at work. Oh well, someone has to pay the bills around here! :)

Loic and his future wife perhaps?!

Speaking of work, I don't think that I have forgotten how to do my job! This is good, because I was worried that I wouldn't have a clue what to do...

Rob is finished his two weeks of holidays at the end of the week and is going to miss hanging out with Lolo all day. Loic is spending a few mornings with the nanny this week and that is going well. When I got him at lunch she said "he really is busy, isn't he!" Ah Lolo, can't slow him down!

E

It is all good

Back to work went just fine this week; it helps that Rob is off for two weeks and has done a wonderful job at being a stay at home Dad! We even had roast beef for dinner one night this week!! Work is really busy, which is great because it keeps my occupied and doesn't let me worry (too much) about Lolo bean.

The following in a blurry iphone picture of Loic and his friend Morgan, who is two and a half. I think he might have a thing for older ladies...

How forward of you Loic!! :)

3 days left

of my mat leave. I have been off for almost 13 months and I can honestly say, where the heck did the past 13 months go?!? Rob has the next two weeks off, so my back to work won't be as stressful for me, which is really nice. And nice for Lolo to have some daddy and baby time!

Party Pictures!

We had an awesome time last night celebrating Loic's birthday with friends and family. Here are a few shots from the evening!!

A new toy!

Sitting with Grandpa, waiting for the cake!

Dinosaur cake (amazing tasting and looking)

He liked the first bite, but wasn't into it after that, silly boy :)