Menaced!

So scared.

She looks so scared.

Well, who wouldn't... especially when Enn takes her shoes and socks off.

Poor baby and her superior olfactory skills.

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.

Three Views at Midday

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:

Second Walk of '09

I forgot to map our inaugural walk so we're starting coverage for the baby's ambulations with her second walk of '09. Whut.

Here's a pic of our route and a shot of the baby enjoying the outdoors -- click for a larger image:


All in all we covered about 2.25 miles, and revisited many of our favorite blocks. We also managed to make a pit stop on Montague to buy the baby a new harness as she seems to have grown this past winter so that her old harness has become somewhat snug against her expanding ribs. Along the way, the baby's presence elicited many gasps and cooing sounds from passersby, as well as interest of many small children. Re: other piaps? The baby managed to snub the attention of one mystery-doo, one king charles spaniel, and one dachshund who we actually ran into twice during our foray outside. So some things haven't changed.

Giraffes crack me up

Making It Her Own

The baby has an uncanny knack at recognizing things that are hers, such as the new toy that I just bought for her, or the treat that just came in the mail. Another thing she's really good at is making things her own.

I did a bit of laundry today. When I took it out of the dryer, guess who moved in and made it her own -- that's right, the baby:

Condolences to Markie Post

Condolences to Coach Sherrie Coale, a/k/a Markie Post, and the Lady Sooners for not making it to the finals of the NCAA Women's Basketball finals. She and her team expended a fantastic effort and I'm sorry to see them go. That said, this definitely leaves Coach Coale with more time for her other career.

Crimmus List: ScreamBody

Practical. Now if it was only a bit more petite.

Fun with Light Triggers

The backstory.

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.

Proof that Memphis is twice the baby's size! (not that's really any news)

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.

Kaiten-zushi!

I love keiten-zushi and I'm not the only one.

From a resto in Tomakomai, Hokkaido, Japan:

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.

Weave!

I don't understand the physics behind this but wow:

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.

Westminster '09

For events with a capital "E" it's always nice to know someone in the biz for an unique backstage look. Thanks to Ari, I was once again able to gain insider access to this year's Westminster. As everyone knows by now, the winner was a Sussex Spaniel named "Stump". Here's a pic of him getting ready to be judged -- little did he know that he was going to be swarmed (quite literally) by reporters within the hour:



However, what people don't know is that heavy money favorite going into Best in Show was the winner of the Toy Group. I'm glad that didn't come to pass. I saw Stump when he won his group, and although it was an unlikely choice, he definitely had that certain je ne sais quoi when one saw him strutting in the ring.

Anyway, although ticket sales and participation was down this year -- which btw, I was rather glad of cuz I did not miss the body-crushing masses from last year -- there wasn't a discernible difference in terms of the fervor of the crowds.

Here are some of my favs from the day: