Hilarious Website

For those of you who need a smile, please feel free to check out http://icanhascheezburger.com/

Very cute and funny pictures with even cuter and funnier captions. Here are a few samples of my favorites:

More Funnies

Even More Funnies...

And More...

A Thursday Morning Funny...

I couldn't resist:

Faux-Hawk

Never let it be said that Justin is not up with the times. Even though he is only five months old, he can still sport the latest hair-styles. Check out his Faux-Hawk:

Is my kid rad, or what?

At any rate, J-Man is feeling a little better everyday. However, today, he is still coughing quite a bit. His cough is more productive today and I am hoping that the yuckies are on their way out. J is sleeping a lot during the day, but he is eating well (bananas are his new fave) and he is still a happy boy. Even when he is sick, he is still a smiley boy. He definately gets that from Jeff. Justin slept through the night last night, which, hopefully, means this cold is almost outta here.

First Cold

Well, the J-Man is sick. He has his first cold. A phone call to the triage nurse confirms that this is just a cold - coughing and congestion. She did not seem too concerned - just stated that we need to keep him hydrated and elevated. She also says to take him into the bathroom while we shower to get the steam working on his lungs. The nurse did not recommend taking him into see his MD, but, if he is still not well tomorrow, I think I may take him just to sure. A five month old hacking on mucus is a sad sound indeed.



At any rate, J is just a bit cranky and off his feed, but, otherwise, smiley and talkative.



In other Justin news, he has been exploring the new frontier of solid foods. He is a big fan of peas and green beans. He liked carrots and squash a lot until he tasted the green veggies and now, while he will tolerate the yellow ones, he much prefers the greens. He was also not a fan of rice cereal until I mixed it with applesauce and now I have to cut him off.



Here are pictures of J's first meal of carrots:





It's a messy venture, but oh, so cute!

Racehorse Soapbox

I'll admit it...I have been just about a life-long Thoroughbred race fan. I love the stats, the bloodline research, the training aspects, and, of course, the beautiful equine athletes. In recent years, however, I have become somewhat ambivilent about the "Sport of Kings".

I will never forget the Breeder's Cup Distaff race in 1990 where a mare named Go For Wand fell, went down, flipped over, got up, and tried to finish the race while her broken leg clung to her by a thin flap of skin. And who can forget Barbaro, the amazing colt who broke his hind leg while running in the 2006 Preakness Stakes, only to succumb to complications from laminitis months later?

I was reminded of how fragile a young Thoroughbred racehorse's life is this past Saturday when the three year old filly, Eight Belles (pictured above), ran the race of her life, placing second in the Kentucky Derby (and beating 18 colts in the process), only to shatter both front ankles after crossing the wire. She could not be saved.

In watching the post-race interviews, it seems everyone has an opinion. Was the footing off? Was the filly unsound? What role did bloodlines play? (Eight Belles' sire, Unbridled's Song is notorious for fathering highly unsound foals)

Not once, however, have I heard questions about running such young stock in hardcore races. I have yet to hear anyone question the training techniques of big-time trainers, who start their horses under saddle at 18 months old. Could it be that the footing cannot be blamed? Could it be that putting such stress on such young legs could be a factor? These horses are beefed up with feed and steroids, exercised into firm muscle, and trained hard. All on legs that will not be done growing until that horse is five (or more) years old. It is not surprising to me that horses go down on the track all of the time. We just get to see the big name horses in the media.

The ironic part of all of this is, if a young horse breaks down on the track and can be saved, is often retired to the breeding shed, to be bred and to pass on conformation faults to hundreds of babies. It's the horses who start their careers as older colts and fillies and race until they are ten (or older) who are the sound ones - the ones who should be passing their stamina and soundness on to future generations.

I'll get off my soapbox now, but not before addressing Eight Belles' trainer's comment on the Today Show this morning. Mr. Larry Jones defended his sport by stating that horses have a bigger risk of hurting themselves in the pasture than they do on the racetrack. This may be true, but I see a major difference in a horse hurting himself while running, bucking, and playing versus being whipped across the finish line after running his (or her) heart out for over a mile against 19 other horses on ankles just a few inches in diameter.

Justin Update

Justin had his four month well-child visit yesterday. He met with the NP, Crystal, and wooed her with his cuteness. Here are the stats:

20 pounds, 14 ounces. 27.75 inches long. Above the 97th percentile in both height and weight.

Crystal reports that Justin is doing very well - very healthy and beautiful. She felt no resistence in his right hip and the ultrasound report came back with normal results.

Justin is growing so fast. He is grasping onto toys with both hands and is working on his coordination on getting said toys into his mouth. He is smiling and laughing more and more. He loves bath time. He is sleeping through the night from about 8:00 pm to about 6:00 am. He will even go to bed awake and soothe himself to sleep. We are spoiled to have such an amazing kid.