and we're back

Betcha thought we might never reappear here on good old blogspot. We had a great Thanksgiving-week vacation in Maine and New Hampshire. Things got off to a great start at the airport when Abigail confirmed that she does indeed qualify as a carry-on. We all breathed a sigh of relief.More to come . . .

bye bye booey

We had to say our sad goodbyes to Booey today. He spent his final day at home resting on the porch, basking in the sunlight as he often liked to do. His urinary tract disease became more complicated to solve over the past week and as we were getting ready for a potentially corrective surgery we learned that he had sustained significant kidney damage . . . which would make both the surgery and post-surgery life more difficult and uncertain. It was a very very very hard decision to make. We are spending tonight remembering lots of good moments with Shiraz . . . some of his favorite activites including: watching hours of "bird movies" in the backyard from his window perch, nibbling on non-cat-food delights like cheese and butter and cream cheese frosting, being chased by an enthusiastic toddler around the house, believing himself to be a dog and playing fetch with crumpled paper balls, being fearless and greeting every newcomer to the house like his best friend, and the wonderful winter nests he would create in our comforters. He enriched our lives in so many ways and brought much warmth and love to our home. We miss you Booey.

rainy days

Papa's off in Florida for a conference and all that's happening here is rain rain rain. Abigail gives her umbrella a dry run inside...

Here's hoping the rain stops soon so we can go "outside outside outside" again.

Until then, umbrellas in the living room and jogging around the house will have to do....

playground

We had a great time playing with friends at the park this weekend....

Abigail and Anniek surveying the playground scene.

Hey, where's Anniek?

Anniek can put her jacket on by herself . . . here she is at the hood stage. Abigail was very impressed....
Yay!

What's next?

warm weather fun

Oh boy... Abby's learned how to ham it up for the camera. This is what happened when mommy asked her to smile for the camera.

Nice to have a warm fall weekend (in the 70s!) to play in A's backyard house . . .

"Abby's house. Mama stay outside."

This is Abby after a bug was removed from her hair. That was pretty exciting.

After dinner Abigail and papa were getting cleaned up and they made a waterfall in the sink with their hands. (Waterfall is one of A's new words.....she's coming up with new things to say every day it seems...)

So fun! Maybe when hands are clean it will be time to turn to A's face....

weekend

Happy weekend everyone....

Abigail is a goofy girl.

She's saying "Get well soon Shiraz!"

Shiraz (aka Mr Frisk, Booey, etc) had to make an emergency trip to the vet last night and needs to stay there all weekend recovering from FLUTD - feline lower urinary tract disease. Poor little man! Papa went to visit him today and the vet says he's on the mend. We miss him and can't wait for him to be feeling 100% again!

saving daylight

Some blog readers will remember how back in March we were so excited about daylight savings time . . . spring forward really worked well for us - everyone else moved to our early-bird schedule. Fall back on the other hand ... that's another story. At around 5:30 or 6 pm Abigail announces that it is "BATHTIME" and she means it - just try keeping her out of the tub. Then, around 5 or 5:30 am we hear little chirps from her room: "Mommeeeee. Papa. Abby. Wake up. Momeeeeee."

Despite the early wake-ups, Abigail is still cute. And she's found a new hiding spot - between the wall and the door to the porch.

Peek a boo!

Hard to believe that Abigail is approaching 20 months (!!) and we have not yet mentioned her 18 month check-up stats: she is 36 inches tall (aka 3 feet) (quite literally off the charts), and 26 pounds (75th percentile). She's our big girl!

running bee

One more Halloween scene. Watching this video clip gives Abby the giggles, so we figured it should be up on the blog for everyone's amusement.

bzzzzzzzz

What a big way to end the month....halloween! Abigail reallllly did not want to put on her costume - here she is cooling off from a five alarm temper tantrum with a juice box and some cranberries. From here on out things got much better for our busy little bumblebee.

We went to the neighborhood Halloween gathering / costume contest / parade . . . where we met up with Abigail's good friend Akaash!

Abby is so happy to see her "fwiend"

Akaash sure makes for a cute little mouse....he was so patient with Abigail wanting to check out his costume up close.

We also saw Sachin (lion) and Sahana (pumpkin) and their papa!

Busy bee!!!

When these mailboxes were discovered things really got exciting.

Action shot.

Tight squeeze...

Cute grins.

And when we got home, we got to see Scotty all dressed up in his UPS uniform! His little brother was a cute little package!

Happy Halloween!

PS - doesn't seem like long ago at all that Abigail was a cute little pumpkin for her 1st Halloween.....time flies!

mn part 2

We had a wonderful time in Minnesota celebrating Dee Dee and Pop Pop's (aka Jane & Don) 65th wedding anniversary! (And Dee Dee's birthday too!) Aunt Jennifer took some lovely pictures....

We had a special dinner out at Heidi's . . . delicious food and great company.

Uncle Dan & Aunt Anna . . . (along with Abigail's cousin-to-be, due to arrive in January!)

Grandma and Grandad

Abigail sat at the head of the table, of course.

Abby did such a great job that evening - keeping us all entertained, eating lots of good things, and just being her silly, super self. When we put her in her jammies in the bathroom at the end of the evening before heading home in the car, Abigail kept saying "back out, back out" - she just wanted to get back out to the party and keep going!

Great Aunt Jennifer and Mama give A a squeeze and a snuggle.

Abby helps Grandad harvest some carrots and parsnips from the garden.

Abigail loved hanging out with Grandma (or Damma as A called her) . . . Grandma got Abby a new baby doll that can come in the bathtub with her - perfect timing since Abby was on a sudden independence-induced bath strike. Baby doll has gotten Abby back in the tub and clean again!

mn part 1

So we had a great time in Minnesota last weekend . . . Abigail got all bundled up to enjoy the chilly weather.

It was snowing when we arrived! Papa and Grandad went outside on a mission . . .

. . . to pick some lettuce from the garden for our dinner!

That's some good looking lettuce. Tasted good too.

Bundled up in Mama's old colorful velour jumper, Abigail got down to business with Pooh bear.

She was so busy rocking him in the chair....

. . . but then suddenly it was time for Pooh to move over.

Abby's turn!

We went to the playground everyday. . . here Mama tries to lure Abby into the dome.

Here comes trouble!

More pictures coming soon . . . (we're still unpacking)!