Hearos

I awoke this morning to the sound of the baby gagging. Given that I sleep with earplugs and a noise machine, well, you can imagine the volume.

Upon sitting up in bed, I saw the baby's tiny body convulsing in the manner that she does when she's about ready to upchuck. Not knowing what was going to come out I cupped my hand and held it underneath her mouth at the ready.

Cough. Cough. Gag. Gag. Voila -- a soggy, sodden what??? At first I thought it was a tiny piece of viennese sausage; however upon closer inspection I realized that the baby had swallowed (and subsequently upchucked) an earplug.

: /

I spy a chicken leg

Someone doesn't like me calling her out like that:

B.R. 11/17/08

The baby and I are looking forward to the day that Memphis can be let loose -- in the apartment that is. The reason for wanting to set him loose? Sleep. Memphis LOVES to roam around at night, scratching this and that, and jumping here and there. Enn says it's because the freaks come out at night. Tble. Anywhoo, because the baby is a nosey little thing, she *has* to check out what he's doing. And because she needs to launch herself in whatever direction from which then noise is emanating, I get a little kick on my tummy/head/arm/leg/etc. because she's usually sleeping right next to me. This in turn results in very little sleep for me, which is having terrible effect on my already sorry eyes. My eyes have been getting so googly by the end of the day that they I feel a little like poo. Not to mention, things like what happened this morning happens. And what happened? Well, I somehow mixed up their food and fed the baby Memphis's food and Memphis the baby's food. Oops. Luckily, nothing too horrible happened except for a bout of d for the baby. Hee. Sorry.

Anyway, I think Memphis is ready to be set free from his prison. They kinda, sorta "played" this morning, so I gave them a test of mingling unsupervised while I took a shower. Hearing no yelps while I was away and seeing no blood upon my return, I thought it'd be safe to leave them alone for the day. Everyone was in one piece, and no one looked psychologically scarred, so I think it was a success. Thank goodness, cuz I don't know how much longer I could've taken Memphis's *scratch*scratch* in the middle of the night.

Btw, what does he think he's achieving with all that scratching? I think someone ought to tell him that he's not doing a very good job covering up his business if he's reaching his paws *out* of his litter box to scratch OUTside the box.

The State of Things

B.R. 11/10/08

The baby was more than happy to let me sleep in this morning. Instead of hopping up and down on me with her tail wagging at the first sign of any movement, she was content enough to remain curled up next to me. I think she'd forgotten that we had a new addition to the household; because it wasn't until I pulled back the curtain to reveal Memphis sitting on the windowsill did she that there was a kitty in the room.

The introductory period is progressing as well as could be expected. The baby has been trying very hard to get Memphis to play with her. Sadly for the baby, she and Memphis do not speak the same language. Her excited play pose, frenetic tail-wagging, and come-play-with me yips all must seem very threatening (or at least aggressive) to Memphis. The baby's attempt at play have been met with lots of hissing and warning mews. Luckily the baby has not yet been hurt -- though she did have a yelp-y moment when she got a little too close for Memphis's comfort. Fortunately, no one was injured. Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day in inter-species relations.

That said, two things that I hope will not be repeated tomorrow:

(1) the baby trying to bum rush Memphis in a wrong-footed attempt at play and subsequently getting swiped in the face; and

(2) Memphis tracking poo all over the place after he danced the flamenco in his litter box.

It's almost bedtime, and I'm hoping that the baby will sleep better tonight than last. She had a very fitful sleep last night, which meant that I also had a less than stellar night. She kept pacing back and forth to check out where Memphis had been hiding. Not that she could see anything from the bed since he was hiding *underneath* the bed. Didn't stop her though. Hopefully she'll (and I'll) sleep a little sounder tonight.

Live baby report: Watching Memphis explore the living room from the safety of my lap.

B.R. 11/9/08 -- a new addition (possibly)

The baby tried, rather futilely, to wake me up this morning. Not that I was sleeping in late -- 8:30 a.m.; but since she'd been hopping up and down on me for a while, I'm sure she'd been up for hours. Not surprisingly, I was greeted by a nicely formed nugget of yump and a large puddle of sinkle upon my entry to the b-room. I'm so glad that the baby hits the mark these days. I would hate to have to start cleaning as soon as I wake up. Anyway, no doubt the baby had a light night since she'd been EXTREMELY curious about our new guest.

KJ and BP had brought one of their feline foundlings up to us yesterday in the hopes of finding him a forever home. I'd been thinking about getting the baby a four-legged companion, so I thought that we'd give the kitty a try. His name is Memphis and he's a large kitty whose coat is primarily black but has white flecks throughout. Although his weight is only double that of the baby's (he's 12 lbs), size-wise, he's probably 3x as large as the baby. I hope he doesn't mistake her for prey. *worries*

Anyway, I've been staying at home trying to keep an eye on them so that nothing bad happens. So far, not much has happened. The baby is curious and gets very excited upon seeing Memphis. Meanwhile, Memphis has been keeping his distance and hiding out under various pieces of furniture. The few times they've come face to face, Memphis has hissed at the baby. I'm not such a fan of the hissing, and hope that it will end soon if only for the fact that he has horribly wretched breath.

To help Memphis settle in, the baby and I took a couple of walks this morning to leave him to explore his new surroundings. First we dropped off KJ and BP at their car; and then we took a longer walk around the Heights. It was very windy, but the baby didn't seem to notice. I was quite proud of her as she carried on during without seeming to notice the body-buffeting winds (esp. along the Promenade). Maybe one day Memphis can join us on our walks, but first we'll need to get him and the baby to get a little friendlier with each other -- or at least to a state of détente.

Voting Day

The baby voted with me - and we did it early! Here's the two of us getting ready to pull the lever (after waiting an hour and 45 mins in line -- not so bad considering the machine next to us broke down):


Here's a pic of the actual lever -- a little blurry because due to over excitement: