B.R. 11/14/09 -- WPB Green Market

After procrastinating for the past three weeks, Olive and I finally made it to the West Palm Beach Green Market. Here's our route. The market is at Second and Narcissus, i.e. the highlighted square.

We were pleasantly surprised. It was bigger -- about two blocks long -- and more varied than I'd been expecting. There were stands selling farm-fresh produce, as as well as local products from honey (!) and alligator meat (which while intriguing made me sad nonetheless). The B was pleasantly surprised that although there were a lot of people and dogs, the ones that we met were all very well-behaved and generally her size. There's nothing the B likes better than to boss around another small dog. That's just how she is.

While there, the B and I shared a berry smoothie; and although she expressed interest in my conch fritters, I was not inclined to share them. Since I'd skipped breakfast, I'd thought about getting something pastry-ish at the green market, but figured that while in Rome.... The fritters were quite tasty, especially when I added, at the insistence of the vendor, "mama's special secret sauce". I don't know whose mama made that sauce or what made it so special secret but it was special delicious.

On our way home, we stopped over at Meyer Amphitheater where the B tried to sniff out the remaining fritters while I people watched:

Generally, the other animals we see on our walks, besides other people out walking their piaps, are small geckos and stray cats, though we only see the latter when we cross the parking lot of this nearby church. There is this boil of hawks (I think though they could be vultures -- it's hard to tell since they're so far away) that I see circling this one particular building downtown, but that's for another day. Anyway, as I was saying, we generally see only a few types of animals, which is why it was so startling when this bird hopped out of a bush right next to us and flew a few feet away to parking lot:

It looks like a cattle egret, but I'm no expert.

That's one thing I haven't gotten used to down there. There are no pigeons, but rather egrets and hawks (maybe vultures).

B.R. 8/15/09 -- Nanerbread

It's been a while since the last baby report, but I'm happy to report that both the baby and MisterMister are doing just fine. In fact, the b has just returned from a two-night slumber party at Enn's. While there, the b had a wonderful time getting a full-on lint roll massage that lifted her away her excess hair and left her coat feeling soft and plush. She also enjoyed a relaxing walk that took her around the many sights in the downtown area. The only part of her slumber party that she did not seem to like was when Ames and Enn made nanerbread. For some reason the making of nanerbread was disturbing enough to her that she hid underneath Enn's bed. Maybe she thought that Enn was going to try to feed her all that chocolate like she did with the grapes. Anyway, I'm sure MisterMister would be proud to hear that the b picked up on this littl trick of his.

Speaking of MisterMister, I think he enjoyed not having to compete with the b for attention, or having the b lick his face. Oh well, maybe one day the b will win him over.

Live baby report: The baby is curled up on a pillow with semi-closed eyes. MisterMister is behind my head, resting on the back of the sofa. Max, a puppy who lives down the hallway, is getting his nightly lecture, "Max! Maaax! Maaaax!"

B.R. 5/21/09 -- Upset Stummy

Today was marked by the baby's continued upset stomach. I knew she/we was/were in for a tough day when I first heard the churn-y, squirty sounds emanating from her tummy. The day proceeded as such: She'd rest, then we'd play, and then she'd look kinda confused and shortly thereafter she would disappear. If I ever wondered where she'd gone, all would be explained by the squirty, squishy sounds coming from the bathroom. I'd have to be careful and listen for my cue to enter -- that is, the sound of her paws scratching on her wee pad -- or else she might run out of the bathroom with stuff stuck to her bum. Once I didn't follow her quickly enough and she ran out to the living room wherein she began to do her butt-scoot. And that was the second (of three) Flor tiles that I had to clean today. Some days, like today, I'm ever so thankful that I went with Flor as opposed to a regular rug. So.Thank.Ful.

Sadly for the baby she has had nothing to eat today but Nutri-cal. She hated it. Absolutely loathed it with every inch of her teeny frame. But what can she do. Nothing, that's what. And the reason is because I don't want her keeling over from hypoglycemia cuz she didn't eat all day.

Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day for her (and the Flor tiles).

Meanwhile, Memphis is his happy-go-lucky self; and he may have been even happier than usual because he didn't have to share any of his wet food. He did, however, have a bad kitty moment tonight when he tried to steal the baby's dinner.

B.R. 4/18/09 --Sunny Edition

The baby and Memphis were somewhat upset with me this morning since I didn't wake up until a few hours after I should've -- well, what do they expect when I didn't get to bed until after 4 a.m.? Anyway, their annoyances melted when I finally roused myself and started playing their respective games. That is, fetch with the baby and string on a stick with Memphis; though I think Memphis could've done without the game as he seemed mostly interested in getting some food (he quit playing as soon as he saw me grab his food bowl). After a quick breaky and a showee for me, the baby and I went for a walk to enjoy our early blast of Spring.

It was a beautiful day out, and the baby and I had a terrific time seeing everyone and their piaps out. It's hard to believe that it was like this just a few weeks ago:

That said, we had to cut our walk somewhat short because someone wasn't used to the heat and exertion and was panting even before we hit our first mile. Said someone is currently napping -- after she had a treat and some water first, of course.

B.R. 4/13/09 -- a fruity day

Thanks to the baby I awoke nice and early this morning. I dunno why but she's taken to waking up with the sun, and then insisting that I wake up shortly thereafter. Lucky she's cute (and I wanted to get up early) or else I'd have chucked something at her. As always she was very excited to see me up and about, and proceeded to jump back onto the bed to lick Memphis in the face so as to share the joy with him. After a rousing game of fetch (baby) and string on a stick (Memphis), we had breaky and then everyone except for me proceeded to nap in the sun. Of course, the baby, being the baby and a dog and therefore always up for some snacking, managed to rouse herself briefly so as to partake in some of my pear; masticated of course. This seemed to be the theme of the day -- eat some fruit with the baby -- because later in the afternoon, the baby insisted on sharing some of my orange, and then tonight, some strawberries. Memphis, however, showed zero interest in anything that's not chicken, fish, beef, or some derivation thereof.

The baby had a nice walk today. Though I think I'll need to ease her back into the whole "walking outside" thing as she's super skittish whenever we run into another dog; even more so than she was last year. As soon as we see another piap, her ears go back, her tail tucks, and she slinks behind me -- even if the other piap is across the street (!) I dunno, but we'll definitely have to work on that.

In the meantime, here's the baby looking rather presidential:


Not to be outdone, here's Memphis giving me his best serious face:

B.R. 3/17/09

They're sleeping. What a surprise. They sleep A LOT during the day.

Though to be fair, I do wonder if it's actual tiredness or plain boredom. I'm hoping it's the former cuz I'd feel pretty awful if it's the latter. That said, this past week I've started wondering if it's really the latter, if even just a little bit because the baby is surprising alert whenever I start moving away from the computer and will hop to her bone-bone in an instant. :'( *sob*

Then there's Memphis, who I'm pretty sure is passed the s out from sleepiness, what with his carousing throughout the night.

B.R. 3/3/09 -- MisterMister goes too far

Well I am very tired today, and why is that? It's because MisterMister decided to sing a little operetta last night after everyone had gone to bed (and were soundly asleep). A little mewing is not unexpected given that cats are nocturnal animals, and he had been rather vocal during the past several nights. That said, last night was something else altogether. He sang and sang and sang and simply would not shut it. He'd start his song in the living room and continue as he wandered in and out of the bedroom -- as he circled the bed. The little stinker. I got him to shut it for a little while by hoisting him onto the bed; but that came to an end when he tried to sit ON my head.

I was semi-conscious when I felt little leggies walking up the side of the bed behind me. Before I knew it a furry bum came to rest on my head/face. Arrgh!

Thank goodness he no longer has stinky, sticky poo bum.

B.R. 3/1/09

Well, I would've posted new pics of the baby and Mister lying about inappropriate poses but sadly those pics have been sucked into the ether. My computer, with which I've a rather difficult relationship these past several weeks/months, has been restored to its factory settings in an effort to bypass whatever it is that's been plaguing it. Sadly, this meant that the latest baby and Memphis pics have been wiped. Too bad cuz those were some pics.

Anyhoo, on with the baby report...

Since I fell slept in the living room last night both the baby and Memphis thought that we were having a slumber party and quickly crowded around me on the couch. This is how it went down: I'd tucked my arm underneath my head so the baby took this opportunity to deposit herself in the newly created nook right underneath my armpit. Meanwhile, MisterMister parked himself next to my head on the armrest and watched over me as I slept like a creepy stalker. I must've bored him though because he later removed himself to the opposite side of the couch and slept by my feet. And this is how we spent the night.

Upon waking -- which we all did together (thank goodness) -- the baby ran to her bone and Memphis sauntered to and fro while meowing for attention. After playing for a bit, I prepared their respective breaky. Since we've been feasting on wet food for the past week, I thought it would be a good time to go back to some wholesome chickum. The baby did not mind. In fact she relished the extra bits that come with chickum, i.e. knuckles, tendons, and other chewy bits. Memphis however was less than enthralled with his breakfast even though he just gets yummy meaty bits. He must've visited his breaky bowl 4 or 5 times over an hour before he finally accepted his fate and munched down. For a street kitty, he sure is picky.

Live baby update: Semi-napping, but spying at me out of the corner of her eyes.

Live Memphis update: On the bedroom window sill where I'd deposited him when I started to pull around his nemesis a/k/a the vacuum.

2/27/09 -- early (read: insomnia) edition

Live baby update: asleep.

Live Memphis update: asleep.

Meanwhile I'm frightfully awake and semi-dreading my wake up call by the dynamic duo. Of late, the two of them have learned to pool their respective powers to act as my personal alarm clock.

Every morning it's the same routine. As soon as the sun fully hits the living room, Memphis takes that as his cue to start mewing up a storm. The past several days this has been occurring around 8:40ish, a few wks ago it was closer to 9, and a little early before that, and so forth. The mewing is then followed by MisterMister (a/k/a Memphis) vigorously scratching and bumping against the bedroom door. The scratching itself is not so bad, but the bumping is rather, mmm, annoying to say the least. Fortunately, I usually keep the door open a crack in case the baby needs to sneak out in the middle of the night for any sinkle breaks, so on those mornings (when the door has not been shut) I'm spared thumping sounds from Memphis's insistent pawing. However, the downside to keeping the door cracked is that MisterMister is strong enough to push the door open in order to let himself into the bedroom. This wouldn't be bad if he's quiet, but of course he's not. Once he's in, he starts encircling the bed while singing his version of a wake-up call. Meanwhile, the baby, if she's in the room, will take this as the cue to rouse herself and begin jumping on my chest and abdomen while manically licking any surface area she may find -- hands, face, ears, etc. If she's out of the room, the baby will wait for Memphis to open the door for her and then proceed to do her jumping/licking routine. If I pretend to stay asleep, she'll rest herself on my chest while watching my face for any signs of movement. While the baby examines my face for any tell-tale signs, Memphis will either plant himself close enough to the bed so as to see any tell-tale movements but far enough so that he can still see my face, or he'll jump up to the bed and sit himself right next to my face. I really don't know how they got so stalk-y.

Anyway, all I can say is that they're lucky that I should be getting up regardless -- for now. I might have a different attitude in a few months given that sunrise will arrive earlier and earlier.

B.R. 2/22/09

As predicted in the last baby report a barfy surprise awaited me for such is the life when living with animuls.

Although I have previously pointed out the baby's tendency to barf, it was Memphie who first breached the no-barf zone. Dunno what it was that triggered it. He looked normal enough. Sauntering out of the bedroom after breaky, Memphie calmly walked over to where the baby and I were playing on the carpet. Upon reaching us, he looked at me and then proceeded to throw up bits of his breaky. As luck would have it, he upchucked on his a portion of his string -- really nass to clean off vomit on a string, btw. I've said it before and I'll say it again, thank goodness for flor. Anyway, after beating the baby to the upchuck, I spirited the affected area to the bathroom for a quick wash.

Enn was not so lucky the following day when the baby proceeded to have her own little barf party. Evidently something wasn't quite right with the baby and she decided to barf all over the couch. I suppose it was rather it was a rather good stroke of luck that she managed to barf on her blanket. That, plus the covering I usually keep on the couch for such occasions, mitigated the damage from this sudden deluge. Still, a portion managed to seep through all that cotton and polyester so as to necessitate a trip to the laundry. It was a very good thing therefore that the laundry is but a few steps from the couch. Once again I prayed to the laundry gods and thanked them for gracing me with a washer and dryer in my apartment. I can't imagine living with the baby and Memphis w/o them. Hallelujah.

B.R. 2/19/09 -- returning to schedule

Been a while, no?

The baby, Memphis, and I apologize for the horribly irregular postings of the last several weeks; and promise that beginning with this post we will be returning to a more regular schedule of the Baby Reports.

Since we last checked in with the baby and Memphis, the two of them have become fast friends, or at least friendlier frenemies. They're still not getting each other's body language, for ex. they'll be chasing each other when Memphis will roll over on his back and playfully paw at the air in front of the baby while the latter sits back and wonders why the former stopped playing their fun chasing game; but I think they're sorting it out. Every day consists of several games of "Chase" wherein they take turns chasing each other from room to room until one of them, usually Memphis, decides that he's had enough exercise for the time being. Occasionally, this will evolve into a less popular, though in no way less amusing game that I like to call "Imma smack your face" in which the baby repeatedly charges Memphis and then tries to jump away while he tries to smack her face.

Also, since we last checked in the baby had a brief flirtation with beef since free range chickum seemed impossible to locate at the local TJ's. No surprise she loved it -- as did Memphis. I can't tell who's greedier for meat, though unfortunately for Memphis he's no match for the baby in terms of stealth where food's involved -- she's faster, has a better nose for treats, and a way bigger mouth. Anyway, we're back to chickum now, which strangely is less fatty than beef. Once this batch of chickum runs its course I may try a different cut of beef or maybe fish so as to switch up the protein. I wonder if they can even tell the difference, or whether it's all just MEAT to them.

Speaking of protein, I've switched Memphis over to swheatscoop litter. What a difference. While it's not completely fume-less, it's definitely less dusty than the previous litter. Not to mention I feel much better inhaling wheat bits as opposed to clay. Also, wet clumps of swheat smells like dough which is comforting in a hearthy sort of way. The only downside to this new litter is that the baby seems to enjoy snacking on it and then throwing up bits of wheat hull. She hasn't done it this past week, but I'm just waiting.

Live baby update: Asleep in the laundry bin.

Live Memphis update: Passed the s out on the couch.

B.R. 1/4/09 -- Resolutions

The baby -- pilates to strengthen her t-rex leggies (*cross*crisscross*cross*crisscross*):

M -- perfecting shadow puppetry skillz (*snail*):

B.R. 12/28/08 -- gutter and escape

This morning the baby and M had a brief moment of quiet (that would be breaky time) before the house erupted into a flurry of activity and intrigue.

First, while the baby and I were resting downstairs Bridget had sneaked upstairs and cleaned out both the baby's and Memphis's breaky!

Then later while Mr. B and I were cleaning out the gutters -- which were horribly nass btw -- Mr. B looked down onto the neighbor's yard and asked rather incredulously, "Isn't that Bunny?" Sho 'nuf it was. The rascal had tunneled under the fence and sneaked off to the neighbor's. I then scrambled through the window and followed KJ who was already running out the door to retrieve that dim-witted piap.

After that excitement, the baby and Bridget (who is turning out to be her nemesis) had a close call as they passed each other on the upstairs landing.

And where's Memphis during all this? Mewing his discontent. And why is that? Unfortunately for him the bed under which he had sought refuge was activity central for all the piaps in the house.

B.R. 12/26/08

The baby, M and I are enjoying our roadtrip south. Well, maybe "enjoying" is too strong a word. After some initial disorientation, esp. the baby (her first time in a home with stairs), everyone found their safe spot and got on pretty ok. Maybe it's because they found comfort in the other's presence, for whatever reason the baby and M have been rather cozy. They even sat close enough to touch!

Unfortunately, I think M may be coming down with a cold as he's been sneezing. And tonight, he's neglected to eat his dinner. :(

B.R. 12/21/08 -- Catching Up

So, it's been a week since the last post and I admit, December has been somewhat spotty in terms of baby reports. "Mea culpa," says the baby. Ok, that was me. To my knowledge, she has not learned anything beyond canine speech, body language, and a smattering of English. If anything, she'd have said "私の自身の欠陥", however, I don't think Enn's muhmuh's efforts at teaching her Japanese ever took root.

Anyway, there's been a lot of excitement around these parts that quite frankly contributed rather directly in the precipitous decline of baby reports and other postings. And what excitement are we talking about? Well, nothing good that's what.

Firstly, there was the case of the horrific tapeworm. It seems that our feline addition came with a friend -- Mr. Tapeworm. I didn't realize this until one fateful evening as I spied little white nasties wiggling about in his yump when I went to scoop out said yump from the litterbox. Although I've seen some godawful things in my life, the sight of those little wiggly nasties is one of the grossest, retch-inducing things I'd ever seen. Needless to say, that image has been permanently seared into my mind's eye. I'd have shared a pic with you gentle readers but I'll spare you the sight. Suffice it to say, if you really want to lose your appetite, just google "tapeworm" and you'll not eat for quite some time.

I didn't immediately know that it was a tapeworm infestation because, well, except for pictures in biology books, comic asides, and one story from a classmate of mine back in high school about seeing and feeling some things in the course of her bms while she lived in the Indian sub-continent that no one believed at the time but rather thought it a desperate attempt to draw attention to herself, I've never had a first-hand experience with any parasitic worms. However, the identity of the wiggly nasties was quite evident upon googling. Unfortunately, the positive identification of said parasite only made me feel more ill because all those little yellow sesame-like thingys that I've been seeing wherever Memphis had been, i.e. all over the apartment -- items that I thought were dandruff -- were in fact dried up segments of tapeworm. *RETCH*

Needless to say, a trip to the vet for medication was on the top of my to-do list. Followed by a weekend filled with A LOT of vacuuming, washing, and cleaning.

Luckily one dose was all it took and I've not found sesame seed droppings and/or seen white nasty wigglies falling from his bum since. I hope that is the end of that. That said, I've been quite vigilant in checking the baby's yumps because she did gobble up a chunk of his yump back in the day. Bleh.

Secondly, as most parents know, it wouldn't do if only one child got sick, right? Spread the joy as it were. So, it happened that the baby took ill. With what I'm still not sure. She was ok one moment, and listless the next. She didn't want to eat or play, not even with I tried to tempt her with her favorites in both. Added to this, her stummy made the most horrible sounds and she shook as if she were out in the cold. So, I worked from home that day while she stayed quivering in my lap. This went on for the entire day, and continued to the next. Because I didn't want a passed out pup on my hand, I was going to feed her some Nutri-cal should she not eat anything for a second day, but luckily (for her!) she ate some chikum and some jerky (her usual treat). Although she was still acting weirdly and wasn't quite herself, she did seem a bit more lively -- not a difficult feat considering she didn't do much other than lying in a lump while shake uncontrollably the previous day. o_O

That night I was awoken by the baby's middle-of-the-night maneuverings, and followed her out of bed and into the b-room. I couldn't see much without my glasses and without any lights on, but I did make out a slight shadow of something on her sinkle pad so I reached down to see if the baby needed some cleaning and felt something not quite right. When I flipped on the light, I saw that the baby had in fact had a bout of explOOsive D and needed her bum scrubbed.

Although I was horribly tired the next morning due to my middle-of-the-night activities, the baby seemed right as rain. Whatever had been bothering her had been excised in that nocturnal bout of liquid discharge.

And thus ends our catch-up of life's goings on in our little household.

B.R. 12/8/08

As per usual, the baby stayed with me in bed this morning as opposed to romping about the living room waiting for me to get up. Now that the days have gotten colder, she seems to prefer staying in bed with me instead of rising ahead of my sleepy schedule to lie in the morning sun. Not a difficult choice really, at least from my point of view. Warm, cozy bed vs. cold, astringent winter sun. That said, once the baby's up, she's up. Unlike me, there's no lallygagging with her. Once she's out of bed, she's ready for play. Me? I need a little more time to adjust.

Meanwhile, the cold weather doesn't seem to bother Memphis one bit. He still gets up before everyone else to do whatever it is that he does. And, once he's had his breaky, he can be found in his usual post -- that is, hanging out and watching the traffic from his perch in the bedroom. Evidently he doesn't care that it's frigid by the windows. The baby thinks it's because he's got a lot of natural insulation (*wink*wink*).

Anyway, there must've been something in the water today because the baby and Memphis were strangely interactive with one another. Although they've gotten to the point where they don't really get worked up over the presence of the other (except with respect to feeding time, but we're working on that), they aren't really what one would consider "friendly". However, today, they were all over each other. Well, more so than usual. The baby would chase her bone, and Memphis would stalk and pounce on her as she ran by. Then, as Memphis relaxed on the couch, the baby would try to engage him in some play by hopping all over him (much to his credit, he did not cause any bodily harm to the baby). It was kinda sad watching this socially awkward play, but at least they're trying.

B.R. 12/1/08

The morning was a little frantic because I'd forgotten two separate appointments. That's what happens when one makes appointments prior to a long weekend for a date that falls immediately after said long weekend. Oh wells. Thank goodness I decided to get up a little earlier than I was otherwise inclined because I felt guilty about not playing as much with the animuls as I'd been gone for much of aforementioned weekend. Not that the baby was any help -- in waking up, that is -- as she's taken assuming the hockey puck position somewhere in the vicinity of my leg/lower abdomen whenever she sees me in bed. And what is this "hockey puck" position? It's the little tight ball that the baby is able to curl herself into. It's amazing how little space she takes up when she's in this position. So. Very. Cute. Anyway, before I came to the realization about the soon-to-be-missed appointments, the baby and I *had* been playing a rather vigorous game of fetch while Memphis slinked his way around me. However, all this domestic revelry came to a rather abrupt end as I darted around the rooms like a maniac while gathering their respective bowls.

Breaky came and went without a hitch. That said, the baby has taken to being quite the food bully by trying to intimidate Memphis so that she'd be able to eat his food. Not that it works, this intimidation; because as previously mentioned the baby is half his size. Still, it's a little annoying and a horrible habit. Hopefully, she'll start realizing that there's enough food to go around and there's really nothing to get all crazed over. Otherwise, I may have to encourage him to give her a little swat on the nose for her trouble.

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.

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.