Why Canadians need heated seats

My brother Ryan sent me this yesterday and I loved it. When I read Kara's blog today I thought it would be cute to post the video. This four legged Canuck is having his own Canadian right of passage. Too bad Kara's husband didn't have heated seats when poor Hunter had his.

Enjoy

Now we're in trouble

It's more like a drunken wobble or a 'make-your-bottom-half-go-faster-than-your-top-half-so-you-don't-fall-over' stumble but we're still calling it walking. Check it out.

Get crackin'

I have no idea if cracking eggs is something that all two year olds can do but I think it's pretty impressive. He rarely gets shells in the bowl and I can't say the same for my egg cracking skills.

On the move

About a week or so ago Isaac started crawling. Actually commando crawling where he shuffles around on his belly. Of course we were so proud of his accomplishment and would gaze lovingly at him while he worked his way from one point of interest to the next. That warm and fuzzy feeling lasted about a day. While I'm still proud, his accomplishment represents the next step in the chaos that 2 mobile children brings to a household.

#1- I never know where he'll be when I leave the room. He's taken a liking the the corner behind the lazy boy chair so if I can't see him, that's the first place I'll check.

#2- He's now able to get to where Oliver is playing so we have begun having to deal with a little sibling rivalry. Sharing and taking turns are new lessons to be learned.

#3- We've had to start baby proofing when we have only recently got used to easy access to all our drawers and cupboards again.

#4- Isaac's mobility puts a bright shining light on my sad excuse for housekeeping. I'm embarrassed to see how dirty he can be only an hour after he gets dressed. I've been vacuuming and mopping more than I ever have but with the dog, the cats and the dust, I just can't stay ahead of it. He's like my very own mobile swiffer cloth.

He's such a cute swiffer though. I just can't enough of his chubby cheeks!

Happy Mothers Day

To all the Moms out there.......

Just when you think it can't get any worse....

I didn't think there was a way to make a poopie diaper change any worse than the obvious. Leave it to my son to find a way.




Yup, Jump and Squish. I think the squish is self explanatory...

And honestly, he came up with that name on his own.

Orlando memories in HD

About 5 days before we left Orlando I bought myself one of those 'Flip' hand held HD video cameras. So far I'm pretty happy with it and I find it really takes great looking movies. This one is a little montage of Oliver highlights from our last few days in Florida. It's about five and a half minutes long so it's not going to be of interested to alot of you but I know the family will be happy to check it out.

Please ignore my constant call of 'Oliver' in trying to get his attenion. It annoys me so I'm sure it will you! 

Enjoy :)

Oliver's need for speed

We finally got to Orlando on Saturday afternoon, only 3 days late, after a long and painful trip. Painful mostly due to lack of sleep, aching body parts and a little sickess among our party. Since we lost the first few days with my parents we jumped right in to sighseeing spending Sunday at Disney's Animal Kingdom, shopping with my mom on Monday and then to Disney's Magic Kindom on Tuesday. It's been a busy few days so we plan to lay low for the next couple. Nick's Mom and Sister come tonight but they are here for 2 weeks so we're in no hurry to hit the bricks and be total tourists.

I haven't really had time to sort through pictures from the first few days so I'll leave you with this video. This is Oliver's first roller coaster experience. It was Goofy's Barnstormer in Toontown at the Magic Kingdom. I knew he we would love it since he loves everything fast and has no fear. Enjoy!

Bust a move....

Bounce

The other night Nick wanted to get Isaac into the Jolly Jumper for the first time. We had Oliver in it at just about 8 weeks which is a little early but he had freakishly strong neck muscles and could hold his head up right from birth. While his neck did ok, Isaac wasn't nearly as enamoured with it as O was.

Then Nick got an idea.... long story short, he still loves it.

If this doesn't answer your question....

Since I started this blog, Statcounter tells me the vast majority who just stumble upon me are looking for the answer to some form of 'how do bulldogs get along with babies' type question. I think that many of my posts have answered that over the last year but just in case there is any doubt, check out this short video. I know, I know, yet another video of my kid... but what I can I say? I'm a proud mama. I had forgotten about this one since it was taken when O was just 6 months old. I'm pulling it from the archives to share with the world. If you are a Facebook friend, you may have already seen it.


Enjoy!

The boy loves to dance

Sibling Rivalry

I was going through my picture file tonight and came across some old video of when Tank was little. I'd been looking for this one in particular for a while and am glad I finally found it. I've mentioned before that my cats aren't too happy with their 'little brother' but this shows visually how their relationship really is. Zazu beating up on Tank, and Tank's tail just a-waving. "All I wanna do is play? Why won't you play with me??"

Note: Zazu doesn't have claws so no animals were harmed in the filming of this video.

Enjoy!

Yeah!!

Oliver came up with this all by himself, the 'yeah' part I mean. And he says it every time. My kid's too cute.

From 4 legs to 2

As of yesterday afternoon Oliver is no longer a quadruped.

He took his first steps a few days before Christmas. Then he would walk between Nick and I but not without real encouragement and prodding. Yesterday we were watching him in the living room and Nick said something to the effect of you should really just walk already! Well, strangely enough he did. I'm not kidding. O just looked at his dad almost to say, "fine, I will" and walked over to his activity table like it was nothing. If I hadn't seen it myself I wouldn't have believed it.

He's been walking all over the house since then and doing pretty well. He's still pretty wobbly and I'll say it's still not his primary mode of transportation but we're claiming that he's officially a walker. Here is a really short video for the family.

They say you learn something new everyday

This is what we got O for his birthday. Nick's mom had mentioned a while ago that she got all 3 of her boys good old Tonka trucks for their first birthdays and I thought it was a fantastic tradition to pass on to our little man.

Right, fantastic. It would have been if I'd just left well enough alone and let him push it around. But I didn't. If any of you reading this has been a parent for any length of time you will see right away what the problem is. He loves riding in it. And now, he keeps trying to climb in and promptly went ass over tea kettle over the front of the thing. You think I would have thought of it before I started this game but NO. One of these days we'll have more forethought on these ideas. We ended up having to put it away on him which is very uncool when it comes to a newly given birthday gift.

Yup, maybe I should have listened to the box when it said age 3 and up. Maybe I'm just a bad parent. Forgive me, I'm still learning.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder

Nick complained to me the other night that even though the blog is called Babies and Bulldogs, the baby posts far outweigh the bulldog ones. That is true. I guess like most parents, the first born dog somewhat falls out of favor in photos and stories once the human baby comes along. With that in mind today it's all about Tanko.

I always joke that Tank is the biggest celebrity in town. When we arrived last summer we couldn't go anywhere him without a mob of kids (and a few adults) swarming us. Most told us they had never seen a bulldog in real life which makes sense since they are not exactly a cold weather breed. The first question we always heard was 'Does he bite?' I always found that a funny question to ask about a pet but I guess his toothy smile could make people wonder. Now a year later the mobs have stopped but I don't think I've ever out with him that I don't hear 'Hi Tank!' from someone.

Tank is faring very well in the north. He's always loved the snow and will frolic when there's some one the ground to play in. Watch him 'sliding' by the house next door. He'd do this over and over.


I was worried that we would have a problem with him in the cold and he would have to use pee-pee pads in the front hall. I wasn't pleased about that considering how long it took us to train him. I even bought him boots and a coat to keep him toasty so I wouldn't have to deal with that. As it turned out, it wasn't a problem and he won't have anything to do with his cold weather gear. We just don't keep him out too long.

The only downside of having a bulldog is that not everyone appreciates their unique um... shall I say beauty? I can't tell you how many times people have told me he's the ugliest thing they've ever seen. I hate hearing that because to me he's a gorgeous boy. Some lady in Iqaluit said, 'he's got a face only a mother could love' to which I replied. 'Yup, and I do'.

Update

I wanted to post a short video update on O's walker. Now that he's up and running in it I'm so thrilled that we went to the trouble to get it and drag it up here. He loves it! It keeps him busy when I'm in the kitchen and he insists on being near me. That means I love it too. My only regret is that he doesn't have more room to really go. The basement I grew up in would be perfect.

Going Commando

This one is for the Grandmas.

My book tells me it's called 'Commando Crawling' because he's dragging himself along instead of being on his knees. Whatever you call it, he's on the move. I never know where I'm going to find him but he seems to really like being under the coffee table.

Watch out world, here comes Oliver!

The dreaded 'Look at my kid and love him' post.

I made this video about a month ago for my fam so they could enjoy O's newest accomplishment. I'm sure some of you have already seen it so I'm sorry to subject you to it again. Actually NO, I'm not sorry! My boys are just too cute. You'll watch it again... and you'll like it :)

Wow, I've turned into THAT mom. I swore I wouldn't. And yes, I have several pictures of him in my wallet too.