Rest in Peace, Koshka.

Dear 'Negative Space',

We will miss you.

'Koshka' (aka 'Kitty')

 June 2006 - May 1st 2010

Wasn't It Just Christmas?

I have been robbed. Someone stole my time. I am pretty sure it hasn't been almost a year since last Christmas. And I can't believe, for that matter, that it is December. Maybe it has something to do with the unseasonal warm weather we have been having since September. I don't know. All I know is that the end of the year is fast approaching, and I have no idea what happened to the rest of it.

November was a busy month for us. In fact, now that I think about it, I can't think of a particular thing that made it more busy than usual... it was just busy. It seems to be the story of our lives right now. I think we have been waiting all year for things to calm down a bit, and it never seems to happen. Maybe that is why things seem to have gone so quickly.

So anyway, highlights from the month...
- Not really November, but close enough... Halloween was fun. Oliver was a cow. The same cow that Lena was last year. Lena was 8 months old, Oliver was two months. Go figure. Lena was a Kung Fu fighter. Thanks Hayley for the black and gold silk outfit from China! I didn't take pictures. I forgot. Oh well.
- My fabulous, if I might say so myself, Christmas tree went up two weeks before Thanksgiving. I know that's not kosher for some Americans, but I couldn't care less. In fact, if it had been left up to me I would have had the tree up around Halloween, but Evan reined me in.


- We figured out a portion of just how much information Lena soaks up. The day we put up the tree we heard Lena saying something over and over again when she was playing with one of the decorations, a french horn. "Too-ba, Too-ba. Mamma... Too-ba. Oh Wow! Too-ba!" "That's a french horn, sweetie. Can you say 'horn'?" "Hoh-w" "Good girl. What is that called (pointing to the horn)?" "Too-ba!" So the french horn became a tuba. On closer inspection of her show, it turns out that a tuba is a frequently featured instrument, along with a flute, an oboe, and a trumpet. Lena also like to pull the icicles off the tree and play them like a flute. "Foo! Foo!" There are definitely worse things that she could be picking up from TV shows.


- The stray cat got taken to the shelter. Our cat was on her best behaviour for us for the next week. Awesome.
- Oliver started eating solid food just before he turned 3 months. Yes, I know you aren't supposed to feed solid food to babies younger than 6 months, but, quite frankly, he is growing faster than I can produce food for him to eat... and its not like there is a shortage on my end either. He loves it, cries when there is no more left, and leaves virtually no mess. No adverse reactions to either rice cereal or applesauce. Other babies must be pansies if they have to wait for 6 months to swing around. Kind of kidding.

- Oliver grew. Nothing new there. Today Evan took the kids and went to the gym. He checked Lena into the childcare and the girl behind the desk was very confused as to why he wasn't checking in Oliver too - the minimum age is 6 months. Yes, our boy is a giant. Poor kid. He looks like he should be walking by now, and since he obviously isn't, it just makes him seem like a really lazy, fat chunk to anyone who doesn't know him. Sometimes I feel sorry for him, and then I realize that he will probably never have a problem with bullying, unless you count the fact that he may be the one doing it.

- Evan finished all of his midterms. Hurray for having my husband (somewhat) back. Bring on finals in two weeks. And Christmas break... we are so ready for it.
- Oliver started giggling. I don't have a video of it yet, but as soon as I do I will post it. I love that he is interacting more with us. I love that Lena has also discovered making her brother laugh. Oliver loves her and Lena loves him. It is so cute to see the two 'playing' together. She even shares her blankets and toys with him. She doesn't share with just anyone, as I am sure the nursery leaders and kids will attest to. Although, I don't think she has gone so far as to share her monkey yet.


... and that wasn't even half of our November. More to follow! I'm off to bed.

Trashy McFeline Update:

--to read more about how the nastiest cat in town forced itself into our lives--
--visit our friend's & neighbor's page here--

Although I truly wanted to let my imagination run wild with ways to mitigate the cat "problem"... Hannah talked me into taking it into a shelter.

Unfortunately, on the way to the animal shelter my practical side got the best of me and I had a bit of an epiphany...

Why was I going out of my way to take a rather gross not-really-a-kitten-anymore cat that I didn't want to a place full of animals that nobody else wants?

So I had a little bit of a training session with the cat and explained that it pretty much had two choices.

By choosing option one, it could go with the more conventional stop, drop & roll, where it would quickly learn about gravity. In case it preferred to postpone the effects of gravity, I gave it a crash course (pun intended), in the principles behind Bernoulli's theorem and the mechanics of flight: lots of speed, right attitude, and a tail to hold it steady.

Then I pulled into the fast lane on the freeway, carefully rolled down the passenger's side window, did the pre-flight checks, (landing gear, flaps, tail, engines,) and positioned the box it was riding in in the "eject" position.

... man that cat can JUMP! ...

At home, Hannah told me that Lena searched for the cat for all of 5 minutes...

"Kii-iii, wheah d' go?!" (Kitty, where'd you go?)

"Oh no! Wheah cat!"

"Caaa-aaaat" (the "t" is actually silent)



Then she got absorbed in a book and forgot all about our little visit from the stink fairy.


Disclaimer: No animals were harmed in the actual making of this post. Some, however, may have been harmed in the research material for it. We take no responsibility for damaged windshields, broken headlights, paint chips, spray, splatter, or plopping of animal bits or other material that you may have come in contact with as a result of your reading said post. Also, this didn't really happen. The cat was taken safely to the shelter, of sound body... we can't vouch for the mind.