Objects in Mirror are Closer Than They Appear

Someone likes to keep a close eye on his mama...

I love looking up and seeing those little eyes staring right back at me!

First Day of Spring

To celebrate the first day of spring, we spent a fun afternoon outdoors on Saturday...

We took a stroll by the water:

Paused to throw some stones:

And finished up with a great ride on the swings:

It was also Willem's 3 month birthday on Saturday. There is something special and heartwarming about celebrating this milestone with the onset of spring. Happy 3 months, little guy!

Over the Rainbow for Will

You know how they say that babies love sounds that were familiar to them in-utero? That might explain why Will loves to hear Bella sing - our little girl narrates her life through song. Back when we were practicing for her talent show in November, Will must have heard this song several times a day. No wonder his face lit up when she started singing it for him...

Our Little Bookworm

Bella has recently discovered that she can read. Or rather, she has discovered the joy of reading (she has been able to read for quite some time now, but if you asked her she'd tell you she couldn't). Since this revelation occurred, it seems as if she is seeing the world for the first time. A mundane trip to the grocery store this week was an experience filled with wonder. Her eyes fixated on the merchandise as we cruised up and down the aisles, her mouth moving silently as she read convincing superlatives and descriptions meant to catch a shopper's eye - "Best Value!" "New and Improved!" "Full of Flavor!". More than once, with her head turned towards the shelves as trailed behind me, she ran smack into my rear end as I paused to pick up an item.

Her nose is always in a book these days and she is reluctant to take a break to perform everyday tasks, such as eating... (We even needed to have a couple of conversations about the safety of reading while walking down the stairs.)
Her favorite spot is in front of the fireplace, though. That stack of books you see next to her? That is what she had already read that afternoon...

We've all been enjoying hearing her read, particularly Willem. He certainly has a wonderful role model...
I guess none of this should come as a surprise given that her first word was "book". Nevertheless, we can't help feeling immensely proud and excited at her newfound passion.

Paybacks

We have a few four-legged critters in our family. The cats Sushi and Beau, whom we adopted from the Humane Society, and Mosier, our Collie/German Shepherd whom we adopted through Collie Rescue. All of our animals are very sweet and affectionate... with us anyways. The canine-feline dynamic is a bit of another story...

We have had Mosier for almost a year now. Beau could care less that there is a very big dog living in our house. Matter of fact, they often eat out of the same bowl and sleep in the same bed (or rather, Beau takes over Mo's bowl and bed). Poor Mo wants nothing more than to co-exist peacefully with the cats, but from Day 1 Sushi has had it out for him (must have had a bad experience with dogs during her street life). I think it began with a genuine fear of dogs, but when she realized that Mo was afraid of her, it became more of a game. Sushi will lurk around every corner for the sole purpose of scaring the living daylights out of Mo when he walks by.

Well, I think it is safe to say that Mo got back at her.

He treed her. Chased her into our neighbors yard... where there was another dog waiting - a friendly dog, although Sushi wouldn't know that since to her all dogs are evil.

And there she remained for most of the afternoon. We couldn't get a hold of our neighbors for awhile and the locked fence gate prevented us from going in there. But once inside the fence, we deliberated for over an hour about how to extract a cat from a tree.

Maybe a ladder? No, that just made her go higher (that blob near the top is Sushi, now 2 stories up). Could we encourage her to jump and catch her with that pink blanket? Nope, she wouldn't budge. Mr. Marty tried his deer stand thingy that he can somehow use to shimmy up the tree, but we abandoned that effort when it was determined that Sushi would likely scratch him to a pulp when he got a hold of her. We contemplated calling the fire department for advice, since that is what they do on TV. Of course, we didn't want to keep them from going to a real emergency. Maybe she just didn't want to come down? Her piteous howling convinced us otherwise. Finally, after much discussion of how cats could withstand such a fall, is was decided that a stream of water directed at just the right angle could perhaps encourage her downward.

Never a dull moment!

Right Where He Belongs

We took a break from cooking dinner to capture this peaceful moment of Will in his sling...
Nothing quite compares to knowing that your little one feels completely safe and utterly content, right where he is meant to be.

Under the Gymini

Adam and Bella decided to figure out what this floor gym thing was all about...


I'm not sure they found it quite as entertaining as Will does, but it did make for some good snuggle time!

Snow Day

We had quite a bit of snow here...

It started coming down late Sunday afternoon (huge snowflakes the size of my palm!) and continued into Monday afternoon. And with well over 8 inches on the ground, Bella and I were worried about the birds getting enough to eat. So this morning we set about making breakfast for our feathered friends...

This is a cardboard feeder coated with peanut butter and decorated with bird seed.
Once the big birds moved in, we decided they all needed more choices...

Oranges with peanut butter and bird seed.

It was a fun morning. We (including the cats) had a great time watching the birds dine. Bella, using her now quite-proficient reading skills, even took it upon herself to identify the bird species using her little bird book!