Olivia and Ethan held the top spots on Alberta's most popular baby names list, as the province experienced yet another year of record-breaking births in 2009.
Alberta made way for 51,443 babies last year, an increase of 38 percent from the number of births in 2000.
The list of most popular names in 2009 looks much like the previous year's, with Ethan, Liam and Jacob topping the list for boys and Olivia, Isabella and Ava taking the top spots among baby girls.
Ethan has been the most popular boy's name for nine straight years in Alberta. Olivia tied with Ava as the top name in 2008.
Each year, Alberta's vital statistics branch also takes note of unusual names.
Names with a Hollywood connection included Ledger, Sigourney and Sutherland.
And one baby — Ericlindross — may have been named after a hockey star. Eric Lindros played for the Dallas Stars and the Toronto Maple Leafs before his retirement in 2007.
Parents chose some unusual names last year, including Argyll, Bison, Boss, Chaos, Cherubim, Dice, Helix, Kal-El, Lightning, Morpheous, Mystery, Thunder and Whip for boys.
Unusual names for girls included Albertarose, Amazyn, Comfort, Epic, Fury, Fyre, Halleluya, Infiniti, Mischiefs, Mystique, Peanut, Twinkle, Victory and Whysper.
Names possibly inspired by literature, mythology, astrology or history include Aragorn, Archimedes, Cyrano, Draco, Michelangelo, Neptune and Voltaire for boys. Girls' names included Calliope, Cinderella, Gemini, Hermione, Pandora, Perseus, Phantasia and Virgo.
In a revealing new interview with PARADE, comedian Jerry Seinfeld speaks at length about his approach to parenting Sascha, 9, Julian Kal, 6 ½, and Shepherd Kellen, 4 ½, his three children with wife Jessica Seinfeld.
At the heart of their philosophy are the “poison Ps” — three rules the couple swear by.
First on the list is praise, something Jerry feels parents dole out more often than they should. “We tell our kids, ‘Great job!’ too much,” he says. Problem solving claims the second position, with Jerry opining that society “refuse[s] to let our children have problems.” He elaborates,
“Problem-solving is the most important skill to develop for success in life, and we for some reason can’t stand it if our kids have a situation that they need to ‘fix.’ Let them struggle –it’s a gift.”
As for Jerry’s final “poison P” — giving kids too much pleasure — the point was made by a mom ordering cookies for her three children not far from where the interview was being conducted. “Can you believe this?” he asks. “It’s 5:30 p.m. — when will they have dinner? At 8?”
As for why parents overindulge their children, Jerry goes on to share his “far-fetched” theory, which centers on the notion that kids today are not as innocent as they once were.
“We feel so guilty for destroying that innocence — which is what we did — so we’re now trying to repair that by creating perfect childhoods for our children. The reason we overdo it so much is because we feel so bad about it.”
The best way to ensure that children grow up to be good adults is to set a good example for them, according to Jerry. “Kids are not going to do what you tell them to do or think like you tell them to think,” he explains. “Kids are watching how you deal with that waiter or that handyman, and they are probably more likely to imitate you.”
Imitating Sascha, Julian and Shepherd has been comedy gold for Jerry, 55, who says that his children have provided him with “a great creative corridor” when it comes to his stand-up routines. “If I was younger, I’d have six kids by now,” he confesses.
“I love it. I love having a family and kids and all the madness. There is no aspect of it I don’t like. Even when it’s horrible, I love it. I didn’t realize how tired of single life I was and how ready I was for married life.”
The Vanity is her actual Valentine's Day present from Greg and I. Unfortunately, it requires tools to be put together so it will remain in this box until Daddy gets home next weekend!!
This was Finley unpacking her suitcase. It ended up all over the floor! I was concerned about what would be in it since Greg packed it all by himself. I usually don't trust him to do stuff like that - he did not a bad job...
Every year in Lake Louise they have a weekend dedicated to ice sculpture that takes place on Lake Louise and in front of the Lake Louise Chateau. The hotel we stayed at also participated in the ice sculpture craze...most were Olympic Inspired....and amazingly awesome!
This was the hotel we stayed in Lake Louise. I think it was called the Lake Louise Inn...It was a combination of hotels and motels all on one property. Plus it had a pool, 2 hot tubs and a steam room. We hit the pool Saturday night after supper but we only stayed about 20 minutes if that. Finley may love her baths now but pools she still hates! We got a great deal on the room and was upgraded to Executive Queen for no charge. Greg got it for 60 bucks a night, which apparently is around half of the regular night, on priceline.com which he seems to be addicted to!
This was the skating rink on Lake Louise. You entered at your own risk. Had to take a photo of the "zamboni" - it was so cool!
Greg and Finley standing on the skating rink...Her first time on the ice!
The beautiful winter scenery that is Lake Louise. Such a magical place regardless of the season. Love living so close to the mountains - we are so blessed to have them in our backyard.
We spent part of our visit walking downtown Banff! This was Finley in front of the big bear at The Fudgery which just happens to be the home of the BEST maple fudge in the entire world. It is so delicious but sits like rocks in your stomach. I don't recommend eating it for breakfast...haha. One thing I did notice about Banff and Lake Louise is their heavy promotion of the Olympic games in Vancouver. The lamp posts display olympic 2010 flags, every souvenier store is fully stocked in every type of olympic paraphenilia known to man. 
We spent part of the after at Johnston's Canyon which is a personal favorite hike of ours. We do it at least once a year and is usually our kick off hike of the spring to get us going! I had never been in the middle of winter. At first it's really strange because you don't hear any running water like you do in the spring or the summer. It's a very serene feeling. The photo above is water frozen along part of the canyon. Although the photo doesn't display it, some of the ice along the canyon was just the most amazing shade of blue. It was just a beautiful shade...you kinda tell above but not really, I just couldn't capture the beauty of it
Finley had a blast walking Johnston's Canyon! She was all bundled up in her stroller and loved every minute of it! Normally we backpack her but we figured it wouldn't be too busy, it would be safer in icy sections and we were only going to do the Lower Falls so we decided to use the stroller with the safety attachment to Greg. We hoped that she would nap but she would have no such thing!
Another beautiful sight in Johnston's Canyon. This is a better photo that captures the pristine color of the ice - especially at the top and part of the middle. In case you haven't noticed, I love water falls - frozen or flowing! 
I thought that it was interesting how random parts of the water were not frozen and running freely. I don't know how or why it happens but would be interested to find out. I found this shape to be more interesting then the others, it's kinda like a shape of a fish or possibly a leaf Look how clear the water is, gotta love fresh mountain water...
This is the pool of water that is below the lower falls. It was nice and unfrozen and beautiful!
This is lower falls frozen as heck. It was so cool to see it. We seriously thought that the water was going to come breaking through at any second. 
This is a photo from the cave at lower falls. You can see the water fall gushing underneath the ice and flowing out the bottom. The cave was insanely slippery on the inside. I nearly wiped out a bunch of times.
After a long day of sightseeing, hiking and shopping, we ended our day by having a delicious dinner at The Keg. The food was absolutely wonderful - nothing beats their bacon wrapped scallops. They are amazing and come highly recommended from both Greg and I. Although Finley looks happy in the above photo, she was pretty cranky the whole time. But that's a whole other blog about that....
This was our last day at the hotel before we headed back to reality. Greg may look sleepy but it was just disappointment as we had just found out about the Dion Phaneuf trade to the Maple Leafs. The disappointment furthered when we saw what we got back. Anyways, back to the photo above, you will notice Finley is wearing a McDonald's bib. I forgot to put a bib in her diaper bag, so when walking by the McDonald's in Banff, I stole a bunch so that we would be covered. Finley didn't like it much since it was almost impossible for her to pull off!
