Bug,  The Zoo

a catch up post

What was I going to blog about the other day? See, this is why you should never put off writing a post (or writing a letter or whatever you might be writing) until later. When later comes around, you’ve always completely forgotten what you wanted to say. This happens to me all the time. I always think my most brilliant thoughts when I’m in the shower right after I’ve had my morning cup of coffee. Probably because caffeine is like LSD for me. My brain thinks up a million amazing things while on it but then when it wears off, I’m like cold toast. Wha… Um…. What? What was that brilliant thing I was thinking the other day?

Who knows what I was going to say, but these are some of the one-hundred-and-one pictures Toby and I took the other day. Toby actually said, “This kid won’t let me put the camera down.” As in, the cuteness, the cuteness! Please stop being so cute so we can stop taking pictures! I know we’re her parents and we automatically think she’s cute no matter what she looks like… but man! I am more in love with my child than I ever thought I would be. She just keeps getting cuter every day!!! What am I going to do! Flickr owns me. They could jack up their price for photo hosting some ten years from now and I would just have to sell my house (assuming I have house in ten years) to be able to afford to buy all my pictures back from them. Good thing I’m backing them up in other places too. Can you imagine?

Enough gushing already. If I’m not complaining, then I’m going on an on about my kid. But seriously, remember Four-Month-Old-Baby-Bug? Pfffft! I thought that was cute? Four-Month-Old-Baby-Bug has nothing on One-Year-Old-Baby-Bug.

I was going to tell you how Baby Bug loves her ladybug ball. She loves it a lot. What I love to do is: hold her under her armpits and walk her around the living room floor, kicking the ball. If she can’t get a good kick in (which is most the time), I hold her foot for her and give the ball a solid smack. When her foot contacts the ball I say, “Boof!” really loud. Oh the peels of gleeful giggling that follow! It’s the BEST. I could probably save lives if I could just put that sound in a jar and walk it around dying sick people. We play this game all day sometimes.

It’s probably way too early to tell but Baby Bug seems to be way more athletically inclined than I am. At least she’s way more interested in balls, kids playing with balls and watching soccer on television than I ever was. Which is pretty easy since I can’t catch or hit a ball to save my life and I’ve never ever watched sports on tv voluntarily.

Toby’s family is somewhat athletic. He and his brothers are all smaller than average but extremely light, wiry and muscly. Toby can hike up mountains faster than I can even if I train for a year. I wonder what he could do if he never smoked. His brother almost went to the olympics for gymnastics. The pommel horse, I think.

I’m hoping that Baby Bug is inheriting Toby’s body type and athleticism with her small under-weightedness and it’s not because I don’t feed her enough. Man, I worry about that every day. Sometimes I wonder if she would be big and chubby if I had fed her formula instead of breast milk. These are the things that would keep me up at night if I wasn’t so dead tired all the time.

How did I get on this tangent? I wanted to tell you how Baby Bug carried her ladybug ball all the way to the beach the other day. Of course she dropped it once and it rolled into the highway and got run over by a mini van, TWICE. Front tire and back tire. Amazingly, the little ball didn’t pop but stayed there bouncing in the middle of traffic.

It was horrifying. Baby Bug and I just watched it with eyes popping out of our heads and mouths hanging wide open. Thankfully, it happened in an intersection and right when the light turned green. The car nearest us, saw everything and stayed stopped for us. They motioned me to run out into the street in front of them and rescue the poor ball. I was so thankful. I can only imagine the heart break that was going on inside Baby Bug’s little chest. After that, I carried the ball in my giant purse.

This has nothing to do with anything but while we were at the beach playing “boof” with the ball, we saw the strangest thing. There was a man (dressed in running shorts and running shoes) and a young boy (dressed in a wet suit top, shorts and bare feet) running up and down the beach. Every few steps they would stop and the man would pull a pair of scissors out of his pocket and start cutting the boy’s hair. Sometimes the boy would struggle. Other times he would just gaze out at the gray sky over the ocean. Other times he would grab handfuls of sea weed laying on the sand and start chomping on it. It was the strangest thing I have ever seen.

When I caught up to the man and boy, I was overcome with curiosity so I asked him if he gave haircuts on the beach often. He laughed and explained that his nephew was autistic and this was the only way he could cut his hair with out him freaking out. Then he went onto explain that it was risky business cutting kid’s hair in public because last year someone reported him to the police because they thought he was a kidnapper. Apparently, cutting a kid’s hair is one of the first things a kidnapper will do. I had no idea. It’s amazing the things you learn when you talk to perfect strangers. I left the scene holding extra tight to baby bug and feeling a little unsettled inside.

Since I don’t want to close leaving you feeling unsettled inside too, I’ll cheer you up with some funny pictures of Baby Bug sitting on Pounce. This is proof that the cats are doing just fine since she has joined our family.

It’s also proof that Pounce is best cat in whole wide world.

33 Comments

  • Victoria

    I love the pic of Baby Bug with the ladybug ball. You can see the love. So cute. I knew the boy on the beach had autism as soon as I read that paragraph. I have two boys with autism and haircuts were really difficult. You have to do what works. Thanks for sharing the photos.

  • Kuky

    Baby bug is awfully cute. And I’m sure you’re feeding her enough. She would let you know otherwise. And formula makes babies bigger? I had not heard that. My giant baby would be crazy gigostic then if I had fed her formula.

    And I feel the same way about my baby. I knew I would love her but I didn’t know I could lover her so very very much.

  • Sarah

    Felix has the ladybug ball too! He (we) loves it! I have heard that formula fed babies tend to be heavier but not necessarily in a good way. (Wait! Wait! Don’t attack me. Not all formula fed babies…just some.) Breastmilk is leaner and more adapted to the babies body whereas formula is more generic. Plus we have no way of knowing how much milk breastfed babies drink as opposed to formula fed babies who get set amounts. In any case, Felix is not underweight but he isn’t packing on the pounds either.

    I keep reminding myself that if he wasn’t getting enough to eat he wouldn’t be developing so well. He wouldn’t be walking or starting to talk. He wouldn’t be kicking the ball around. You know, our genius babies are doing just fine.

    Oh my gosh, Pounce is the best. I wish we had one of those. They both look like they are enjoying it!

  • Jennifer

    4 months was cute, but 1 year has an extra special cuteness all it’s own. I see BB still likes that funky book.

    What a wacky haircut story. Sounds like that boy has a pretty cool uncle to take on such a task.

    I love the interaction with Pounce. I have some pretty fond memories of my oldest with our late cat. It’s amazing how much pets can put up with. The picture of BB sitting on Pounce is so funny.

    My 1 year old has been on formula since about 2 months of age and has always been on the leaner side. I’m sure BB has gotten all the nutrients she’s needed from you. She looks very active and healthy to me.

  • Jenifer

    You have the most chill cat in the world at your house. I think that Sassy La Rue (my supermodel cat) would be hiding under my bed until my kid turned 18.

    I love the pics of Baby Bug. If I wasn’t so against it, I’d advise you to get that child into commercials. She is adorable and so photogenic.

  • Laura

    i am dying over that picture of Baby Bug sitting on Pounce. gosh, my silly ol 50 lb pitbull NEVER lets me sit on HER back!! (believe me, i try.)

  • josephine

    Ioi: Pounce still has his claws. He’s amazing. He never uses them. We call him, “Soft Paw”. Lily, on the other hand, uses her claws all the time and I have quite a few scratches to prove it. Thankfully, she keeps away from the baby.

  • jos mom

    i think pounce considers bb attention a massage and it feels good. he also considers taking care of bb his job so you have more time to do something else

  • Marissa

    Cool banner! Apples! Pounce must really want to be in the sunshine to take the kid massage treatment! He’s so big! Looks like my kitty, Lillian – 15lbs and almost 3′ long.

  • Lin

    Pounce…what a perfect kitty! And Baby B couldn’t be cuter. Her BIG personality shines right through every photo of her. Darling.

  • Angie

    It’s not just that you and Toby are her parents, she is freaking adorable!

    I can’t get over that cat of yours. My son is 3 and our cat just recently let him start loving on her. And she doesn’t let him do it for very long. Too cute!

  • Gramma

    Pounce and BB are the perfect pair. I hope you are saving all these posts to read again down the road a piece in ten years or so…just to remember how it was “back then.”

  • bethany

    Wow. Pounce IS a good kitty! We have one cat like that, who is very patient with our toddler and tolerates lots of love and attention from her without ever hissing or scratching. (We have another cat who is more skittish, but she never bites, just runs away if the attention gets to be too much. Aren’t cats awesome?)

    Also, I have to agree with you. You are not imagining it; Baby Bug really is getting cuter every day!

  • Susie

    Aw, that was sweet. We had to put our 14-year-old cat to sleep yesterday, so I admit that made me tear up a little. My kids used to do that to our cat too. Sniff…sniff…

    Baby Bug is ridiculously cute, I must say.

  • BeachMama

    Great catch up post! I love the photos, and yes she is just that cute :).

    I love that J appears to be a total athlete. Although I always inspired to be one, I only ever made it half way and same with Hubby. So, I always tell people that two half athletes make a whole one :). J can play every sport, give him a bat and ball he is a baseball player, hand him a football and yells, go long and tackles you. He plays hockey like there is no tomorrow and always asks if he is big enough to running with Daddy yet. Keep playing the games with BB and you will find yourself getting better at sports too!

    Interesting story about the Uncle on the beach, how wonderful that he takes care of his nephew, now that is love.

    Love the new banner!

  • Sam

    She really is extremely cute, I’ve been thinking for months now that she just keeps getting cuter. Of course nothing is as darling as a little baby but she is one adorable little girl. Love her with Pounce! What a good cat, he deserves extra treats!

  • sarah gilbert

    I’ve seen a lot of cute babies in my life and, certainly, I think mine are the cutest of all. But Baby Bug is REALLY cute, she even rivals Everett and Truman :) It’s definitely not just you!

  • rachel

    I have no babies other than the fur-kind and a much loved niece, and I think Baby Bug is seriously one of the cutest babies on the Intarnets! Go BB!

  • Emmy

    Delurking to say how adorable! Also my 2 yr old son has been at 3-5%ile all this time and I have worried too. Formula fed since I couldn’t produce enough milk and tests run to make sure no allergies or problems. He is just lean. The dr. always says you and hubby aren’t the tallest people and he is on track developmentally and happy and healthy. He is finally up to 25% now which makes me happy. He also said the curve he is on is more important than the %. If he stays on the curve and doesn’t drop down he is okay. Hope this comforts you alittle. BB seems healthy and very happy and totally cute! It is snowing here in TN today so I love looking at your beach shots and thinking of the ocean. Emmy

  • Cindy

    Oh my goodness, she adorable! She’s really growing tons :0) Keep taking tons and tons of pictures – she’ll totally appreciate them when she’s older.

  • Audrey

    So glad that the cats are doing well! Our first will be here soon and I’m wondering how the animals will adapt. One of the cats took over the carseat last night and the other has been sneaking under the crib tent and into the crib… As long as they are as patient with our little one as yours are with BB, then I think we’ll be fine!

  • elif

    She is so cute! My son Ada is 4 months now and I am looking forward to see his 1 year old! I think that I can not love anybody like him,he is my life! I agree to you about your cuteness:) I am just living that:)
    Also thanks for sharing, I always read your web site from Turkey…
    Loves and kisses from Ada my son and me Elif