Friday, May 23, 2008

Note

Esme had her 6 month immunizations on Wednesday. She weighed 15 lbs, 13 oz and was 26.5 inches long. She gets more immunizations when she turns one year old. She had a cold in her eye the other day after the flea market, which made her quite cranky for a few days. It wasn't serious and seems to be almost better now.

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Kittens At the Flea Market




Goodbye Hobbes Tiger and Sherpa the Explorer



Goodbye Oz Fuzzmaster and Buttercup


On Tuesday we went to the flea market early in the morning with all of the kittens and puppies. We were able to give them all away, to hopefully good homes. I feel kind of bad for Miss Pogo, as she is still calling for her kittens -- but their new owners seemed to be good people. Ozzy and Buttercup took to their new people right away, and the young woman who took Sherpa seemed to be up to the task of handling a bossy tortoiseshell kitten. Up until the very end Hobbes seemed in 'danger' of being kept. But then the lady at the table beside us called her husband and begged to bring him home. She was passing him back and forth as we left between her selling partner and herself. Hobbes seemed to be accepting the situation much better than earlier when a boy tried to pick him up. He yowled and seemed to have said 'No - not this guy please!' Hopefully we will hear from the lady again of Hobbes becoming a spoiled tomcat ready to rule her household with a velvet paw...j/k All of DeeDee's puppies went to homes as well, leaving us with just one baby in the house, and she's a keeper ;)


This 'kitten' is a keeper

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Kittens go to Market


Sherpa and Esme
had been developing a game of hide and swipe with the swing chair...
Sherpa would hide underneath it, then pop out and pat at the edge while Esme tried to reach for her.

I have a few days off this week, and there are some things we know we need to get done. One of them is taking the kittens to the flea market. They are old enough now and eating cat food well enough to go to new homes. Plus, we didn't want them to grow so attached to us.(or vice-versa, which was in danger of happening because well.. they're kittens)

Here are a few kitten pictures from the last few days:


Puck being tolerant of a tail pounce from Hobbes


Wish our kitties luck giving them away to good people this morning!
(P.S.: I have Mark judging the 'Night Was' contest as well! Announcement soon!)

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

At Our House

Esme is getting so big now! We gave her a sippy cup for the first time today and she did really well :) She has to go back for immunizations again next week.


Daddy and Esme
She likes to stand up and has been working hard at crawling.


Mommy and Esme
She also likes to look at the doggies and try to grab them

Buttercup Kitten

Buttercup was the kitten who had trouble with her legs when she was born. However, she got much better and now keeps up with everyone else. We were really surprised she is orange AND a girl - as almost every other orange kitten Mark has had was male.


Buttercup likes dogs


And snuggling in general.
Kitty snuggle heart shape!

Sunday, May 11, 2008

Late Caturday : Hobbes

Happy Mother's Day!
Remember to enter the 'Night Was' contest until May 15th (click above)


Hobbes looks a lot like his mommy Pogo


He has a very dark nose.


And is very 'brave' and playful. Mark named him after the tiger in Calvin and Hobbes.


In Other News: I've been working out in the main store for about three days and so far I really like it. I'm trying to learn where everything is and getting lots of specific questions to hunt down the answers for. Being away from home is still very different. Mark is doing a wonderful job with Esme and the Ebay store. He even went out and did some planting and weeding in the garden with Esme along in her seat yesterday ;)

The Caffeine Click Test - How Caffeinated Are You?
Created by OnePlusYou

Very funny! I got 218 clicks in 30 seconds. And yes, I was halfway through a cup of coffee at the time. I am a Caffeinated Mind (TM). That was going to be the name of the coffee shop a friend and I tried to start out of high school. Sadly, it never got further than the business plan stage because I caved to my mom's 'You can't move into your own apartment, it's too dangerous!'

Tuesday, May 06, 2008

Esme at six months

Esme was six months old on Sunday. Wow time really has gone by quickly! She is trying hard to sit up by herself now, and can 'tripod' sitting up for a while by grabbing one foot and leaning on her other arm. Here she is having some fun on the floor with her big blanket and a cloth book I made her.




If I read a story to her out of a paper book she wants to 'shake' the pages and hear them go 'crinkle.' I am making a few of these so we can pretend to read a story and she can touch and play with the book pages all she wants. I am scheduled for training at my new job every day this week!

Lynn: Thanks for your comment. Esme does kind of look me NOW, but as a baby I was a pale albino with white hair and light blue eyes. Esme kind of looks now like I did by the time I reached 1 year... which makes me wonder what color eyes and hair she'll have when she is a year old! She has some of my facial features in the mouth and cheeks especially - but those ears and eyelashes are definitely from Mark. We're still waiting to see which way the nose goes ;)

Sunday, May 04, 2008

Caturday (extended) : Ozzy

Ozzy is one of Pogo's sons, and the most 'ferocious' kitten ever. Squint and he would have been fast friends. He is also extremely fuzzy compared to Sherpa. Yes, he is named after Ozzy Osborne. You'd have to meet him to see exactly why. It's the mixture of sweet blissed out tummy-rub staggering and 'wait, where am I now? I don't care ATTACK!' that has earned him his moniker.


Saturday, May 03, 2008

Caturday: Sherpa

Cute kitten pictures on Caturday. This is 'Sherpa' the great explorer kitten. She is one of Pogo's daughters (the orange one (Buttercup) is a girl, surprised us! BTW her legs are also much better now)


*sigh*

I wish I knew what to do about my Mom. Every couple of weeks she calls me in a very different mood than usual. She says she's 'upset with me'. I ask 'Why? What did I do?' And she starts talking about things that happened months ago, things we already have talked about many many times. We keep having the exact same conversations - but she doesn't remember we ever talked about it before. She doesn't remember coming to the same conclusions, and the same explanations. Like she just forgot, or never wanted to hear it so she just pretended to listen the first time. And then a couple of days after that she'll call again and not remember being mad at me at all... it is really confusing and it is starting to wear on me even more the past few months. Mark has noticed that too - before I wouldn't dwell on it or talk much about it, but lately I'm seeking some sort of answer or solution to it, so it bothers me more.

Most of these things are areas I didn't do what she would naturally expect - like when Esme was born and I told her I wanted to just have Mark and I in the hospital room. We've argued this over maybe thirty times since then. 'Why didn't you want me there, I'm your mom!' It could be a script by now....word for word... and she always 'understands' but then 'forgets.' She says it is just because she is overtired when she calls those times... I worry it is more. The more often she does it, the more I worry.

Thursday, May 01, 2008

Esme meets a Slug


New flock of plush Slug toys coming into KnitOwl toy shop!


It was love at first sight
or was that love at first bite?


And then of course the obligatory 'Om Nom Nom' followed...
(toy was rescued quickly)


Esme is getting so big! It's hard to believe she is almost 6 months old. She has been trying squash and sweet potatoes and bananas along with her cereal. It was quite cute today, she actually indicated to me she wanted her bottle of juice on the table while I had been feeding her bananas. She refused the spoon for a moment, leaned forward and made lots of noise in the direction of the bottle sitting on my side table. I picked it up and asked 'You want this?' Esme opened her mouth wide and made excited kicks clearly communicating 'Yes I want THAT!' It's wonderful to see her doing new things :)

Little Quilts


I'm making bassinet sized quilts for my Etsy shop, just like the ones I made when Esme was born. They measure 17 or 18 inches across just like our Arms Reach Cosleeper bassinet. (The ads for it say it measures about 21 inches across but the interior dimension is a bit smaller)

The Cosleeper has been one of the best things we bought when preparing for a baby. It still fits Esme at nearly 6 months and over 15 lbs. But it is very hard to find anything sized for it, except the bassinet sheets and a few sets from the manufacturer.

I really wanted rabbit quilts for Esme, so I made her several sized for the bassinet. These ones in the shop aren't bunny quilts (yet) but they are sweet, very washable and durable. I think I must have washed the other ones a hundred times each and they are still looking great.

Esme also likes to use her quilts as toys now that she is a bit bigger. I put one in the car seat to cover her feet and she ends up waving it in the air and patting at the stripes and bold colors.



I'll be adding more periodically at the KnitOwl toy shop.