I MUST BE A PRINCESS!!!

I must be a princessM. y dentist wants to give me two crowns! Isn't that sweet. Gold and porcelain. WOW!

Seriously, I went to the dentist last week and ka-ching more crowns. The sad thing or the good thing, I suppose, is that these will be the third crown on each of these teeth. Crazy, huh? At least I have a lot of confidence in Dr. Weakley and I think he'll do a fab job and I can put these teeth to rest - so to speak. That's saying a lot coming from me who must have put several children through college based on dental work completed. The thing that really gets in my craw (That sounds so dirty in a 1-900 sort of way.) is that both of these original crowns were ones that I had to pay for out of pocket when I didn't have insurance. They cost an arm and a leg and they sucked. Go figure.

Check out my new princess boots and festive prop.



That's about it for me. Oh, and I got peed on in a store (courtesy of Maximus), went to the dentist and realized that I had tiny snot fingerprints all over my jacket, got peed on twice at home Saturday, had green beans and peas flung in my hair this weekend and ear wax/pus drained out of Max's ear and into my hair while he was sleeping this morning. Parenting should come with a bodily fluids warning label. Still, he's pretty cute, and he's worth every ounce of ooze.

Call of the Wild

Havers seems to be entering a new phase. It all started when...

We took her to the vet because she seemed to be losing interest in food and losing weight. Turns out she had lost 4 and a 1/2 pounds since June. May not seem like much but she's never been a chubber and has always been just the right sizs so we were concerned. She got the standard pat down, a big blood panel and a poo vial. Many moneys and no answers.

Off we went to the pet food store in search of new food ans some healthy treats. We tried new grain free kibble made with salmon and trout and some raw food medallions. The raw food is frozen and looks a little like ginormous hamster pellets. It was an instant hit. The kibble seemed like a hit at first but it turns out it was just the egg mixed in. Within two days she had figured out how to suck the egg off and spit out the kibble. Next I tried mixing in some soft catfood a dog delicacy akin to molten chocolate cake or finest cheese and crusty baguette you ever did try. Again, a big hit for a couple feedings and then *patouie* out come the kibble. I'm giving up on kibble.

The raw food was a much bigger hit! She loves it and generally tends to wolf it down. Of course, there were a couple of days where she picked at it and left a bunch in the bowl. Just as I was about to tear my hair out - I decided to try feeding her on the porch and she started gobbling it down. Go figure. She's gained 2 pounds and her energy level has gone through the roof since she started this diet. For those of you who have met her, you know this wasn't necessary nor desired but it is what we got.

It seems that her new found energy has led to some new successes with hunting. On Election Day she hung out at her friend Gulliver's house and caught a squirrel. Later that weekend she stuck her head in a tuft of grass and came out with a mouse. Another mouse the next week. Last week she almost caught a duck as we walked in the park so I decided to move to safer ground away from the pond. Not 5 minutes later she jumped in a bush, flushed a bunch of birds and then jumped in the air and caught one in her mouth. Creepy but impressive. I screamed, jerked her lead and she opened her mouth. The bird flew away but I'm not sure how far it got. We heard a pretty loud crunch.

The morning before that little experience, I had to go lasso her in the yard with a towel because she had treed two sqiurrels in the back yard. One squirrel in each of our trees. There was NO WAY she was coming inside until she caught one of those squirrels. Thankfully, I got her after just a couple of attempts. Dan thinks she may just want us to hang a deer carcass in the tree and let her pick at that until she's done. Our neighbors would love us. It will never happen but she loves us any way and has a pretty darn good life.

Here she is all tuckered out after a long day of playing with Gulliver and all the wonderful squirrels in his backyard.

Caught on Film

Don't you love the digital camera? You can take a million terrible pictures and get rid of them later. You can take a tiny video with audio no less AND all for $350 or so. I love it! We were on a mission to catch Max walking on film last night and I'm happy to report: success. It's only a few steps but that's all we need. See below.



And another one...



It's funny because he shot out of the gate with a stroll of 6 feet or so and Dan was so stunned that he forgot to push record. I'll admit that it was pretty surprising. You never know what you are getting with the Maximus! Max also had a little dance party. Thanks to Jason, Anna Claire and Elli-Grace for the loan of the Leap Frog table. Poor Elli-Grace felt completely robbed as we took it out the door on Sunday. I'm hoping she's forgotten all about it now.

First Steps

Exciting times at our house. Max has taken his first true steps!!! It's pretty funny to watch and he's thrilled. I tried and tried to get some photos of the grand event yesterday but no joy. Perhaps tonight.



Here he is hugging Dan right after he'd taken a couple "baby steps" yesterday. Go Max!


Unlike many kidlets who don't seem to know that they are no longer holding onto anything - he's completely aware that he's wild and free. He puts his hand in the air and starts walking. He took a couple of sets of 4 or 5 steps Sunday (11/16) and he's done it again today (11/17).

We knew it was just a matter of time. He stood on his own for the first time the Saturday before his birthday (10/26) and has done so semi-regularly since then. I didn't really think he'd take any steps for another couple of weeks because he just didn't seem that interested and he really hasn't practiced standing all that much. Shows how much I know.

It was exciting for us to see yesterday and heartwarming for me to see today. I had gone into the childcare to give Max his eardrops - lucky Max - and I put myself a bit away from the table, held my arms out and called to him. He walked right toward me with his arms outstretched. Total sweetness.



Bathtime after the big day of walking.



Call me Mischief! Max just loves picking at the fireplace tiles. We have to watch him like a hawk. Just when you've said no for the 100th time he gives you a big sweet grin.



Super-tired boy on Thursday!

Hodge Podge

It's been a while so I'm putting up a hodge podge of photos and captions to go with them. Dan is home again. SA-weeeeet!!! He came home Friday afternoon which was an unexpected and quite welcome surprise. I hadn't gotten a ton of sleep due to certain dramatic events taking place in the ZanderBarry household mid-week but I digress. Onto pictures which shall be listed in a order that must have a reason but that reason has not made itself known to the author yet.



Here is Max with one of his birthday gifts. His very own pottery bowl. Very cool gift and one that he really liked. Max just loved eating out of his bowl. Somehow he could tell that this was "his" as opposed to the tiny fiesta ware bowls which are "ours". The artist, who is our friend Shane, said this present is meant to be used and broken. Guess what? It was used and broken. In fact, it broke with a bang.



Max with his walking car. He loves this little walker which also converts to a car. It's so funny to watch him manuver it though it's even more fun to watch him not manuever it. Sometimes he'll get to walking so fast you swear the thing has an engine and he stepped on the gas when he meant to hit the brakes. When he gets to going like that he veers in whatever direction the force of nature takes him and when he hits an obstacle it will either come with him if it's light enough or he'll just bash into it over and over until you turn him around - quite like he's doing with this rubbermaid tub.



Just a cute little fella minding his own bidness and stealin' Daddy's glasses in the sunshine. This is right after his birthday.



Max loves to hide and peek. Dan caught this wonderful shot the other week. For those of you who know our furniture, he's hanging out between the couch and the tower of vintage suitcases. He hasn't knocked them over yet but I'm thinking that tower will topple one day soon. Hoover better hope she's not in the way!



Max found a little spot to hang out that is just the right size. He must have climbed in and out of there 20 times one day and he's never gone in since.



Dan and Hoover. Couldn't be a happier pup.



American's Most Wanted Feline as of last Tuesday night/Wednesday. Tuesday night our feline friend just wandered off and disappeared. Now I've had this cat almost 12 years and do a kitty census every night. Come 11:30 and I do a head count but no Lyle. Havers is no help which usually she would be. I look through the house - NO LYLE. I do a quick run through the basement. No LYLE. I go upstairs and tear apart the closets, underneath the beds, pat inside the mattresses, look in the kitchen cupboards, the bathroom cabinets and still NO LYLE.

I find my phone and call my brother because I realize that I have to go look in the basement. You may wonder why I feel the need to call my brother for this and it's simple, I need to make sure someone knows I'm going in the basement. For those of you who don't know me particularly well, I'm terrified of the basement. I do not go in the basement once it is dark. I really don't even like to go in the basement when it's daylight and I'm by myself. When I lived elsewhere I called people to come over and accompany me to the basement so that I could get my laundry after the sun went down. The light is always on in our basement. I cannot believe I live in a house with a basement and now I have to go downstairs to look for the cat. I decided to walk the outside perimeter before looking in the basement. No luck and it's cold outside so clearly, I must look in the basement.

Before I headed downstairs I cracked open not one but TWO cans of food. Whistle, whistle, whistle for the cat - jingle kitty cookies in the bowl and NO LYLE. This cat always comes running when you crack the can even if he has just eaten and is cleaning his little mittens. Not that night. I looked in the basement for at least 20 minutes and NO LYLE. At this point I thought he was outside freezing to death. I was awake looking for him almost all night and hoped with all my heart that he would get up at 4 and howl for food until fed as he does EVERY MORNING. NO LYLE. I emailed a friend who helped me look in the basement for an hour before work. NO CAT. I went to work, made some LOST CAT fliers with the above photo, left at lunch to post the fliers but decided to check inside first and who do you suppose came sauntering up the stairs? That little minx, Lyle. And he came looking for food, too.

My theory is that he was sucked into a vortex and then spit back out once they found out what they were in for. What would we do without our critters?

Happy Halloweeeeen!

I know it's a bit past Halloween but I thought you'd all like to see the costume. If you are wondering why this post is so late you can reference the picture below which Dan took right before he left on his latest work trip. We both think this photo sums up our life pretty well with Max flying in one direction and Havers in the other.



We had a really fun Halloween and Max went Trick-or-Treating twice. Some communities had the officially sanctioned begging for candy activities on October 30 and others observed on the day marked on the calendar - 10/31. This alternative day must be an East Coast thing because no one I know on the West Coast has heard of it. While I was initially down on the idea, the 10-year-old in me has made herself heard and argues for how cool it is. If you apply a strenuous Halloween work ethic to both days of trick or treating then you'd have LOADS of candy.

On the 30th we went to Smithsburg and did the rounds with Kristi, Chloe and Samantha. Samantha carried Max's bucket and did a good job collecting bits of sweets. As a thank you, Max left his candy to be divided between the girls. He managed to stay awake for the whole experience and seemed to enjoy it - especially the house across the street from the girls which is decorated as a haunted house. We thought he'd be scard of the life-size talking witch but he thought she was hilarious!

On 10/31 we exercised a little strategery and went around our own neighborhood hitting the houses of people we know. Max was dressed as a turtle and the level of cuteness was almost too much to bear. The little flippers were so cute as was the fact that Max's face disappeared when he turned his head and all you could see was this giant turtle eye!



Max didn't even make it off our street before conking out in his wagon.



Giant turtle eye and flippers. It's just too much...


After the candy rounds we had dinner with our neighbors Ann and Andy, who you can see below. Max slept in his wagon and didn't even stir for the 4 or 5 candy beggars who came to the door. Unfortunately, our street is not exactly a hotbed of halloween activity. Maybe 5 houses give out candy and the kids just don't seem to think it's worth it to come. They should rethink their position and stop by around 8:35 when they would make a killing. We start piling it in once it gets beyond 8:30.



Here's a few shots of Max with the Ernie pumpkin that Dan and I did for a contest at work. In case you are wondering, we won the contest and yes, we also did a Bert. Unfortunately, it was kind of warm where the pumpkins were roosting and Bert melted before I could take him home. He found a new home in the dumpster out back. The Bert melting was a little tragic but the sadness left us as we watched Max delight in stealing Ernie's nose. We couldn't even get one shot of him with the pumpkin. He went right for the nose. Funny thing is that he would take it and then tried to put it back on, which is what he's trying to do in the picture below. Looking forward to next year when he can actually toddle from house to house. I wonder what he'll want to be.

VOTE!

Max says, "Get out and vote!"



It's the one day of the year when we all have a duty to get out in the rain, wind, snow or sunshine to cast our vote. Take responsibility for our government and by extension our everyday lives. It's easy to forget but this is both a RIGHT and a PRIVILEGE that so many people have given their lives to defend.

Let's all do our part. See you at the polls!