Talkin' Cousins

More video fun... for our far-away nieces/cousins.... Bean trying out his photo-ID skills on the new Christmas pictures!



We'll see them soon... and maybe he'll know their names!

Happy Christmas Eve!

We are indeed still here! Solstice has passed and we're looking forward to lighter days. I've been dealing with cold/sinus/virus stuff for a full month now, going to bed early, etc...so it's been hard to get to the blog.

But we want to say Merry Christmas and share a glimpse of what we've been up to. Happy Holidays!



He started this yesterday, after a day of festive sledding at daycare. His first "song"! We're so proud.



This was something I meant to post a while ago... a solar-powered radio dance party in the driveway! A good use for a sunny day. Need more of those!



And Bean is a master with the shovel. We're in the midst of a pretty big blizzard right now, and he was out helping WF a couple times already.



We are grateful for all our blessings this year, and wish you all a wonderful new year!

A New Train of Thought

Time for some new content. We have finally entered the world of Thomas the Tank Engine trains at our house. Bean has been playing with them at daycare, the library and even with some magnetic trucks at ECFE. He's been lining up cars at home and getting frustrated that they didn't follow each other. So, I finally broke down and opened the 3 trains we got from his cousins this summer (I was saving them till he was older). He immediately knew what to do!




A new train-lover is confirmed. We have a pillowcase from Savers with Thomas on it, and it was distracting last night when we were trying to go to sleep. "Choo-choos!" I didn't teach him that, just repeating him on the video. Soon after I took this, we were gifted with some outgrown trains from a friend; so we are well stocked. But I do forsee some train-heavy gift lists in future years, possibly!

Farewell Lutsen Cat

We had to say goodbye to a good cat soul today... Lutsen-cat, a patient, friendly, "involved" cat, aged 12. She had been battling diabetes for a while now, but was still patrolling the yard for mice and voles until a couple days ago. She took a turn for the worse rather suddenly last night, and we had to make the final vet visit this morning. She's at peace now, but we will miss her so much.

She came to live at this rural home about 11 years ago, shortly after WF moved in. She'd been a starving stray, and once she got here, started eating voraciously. Turns out she came with 5 free, bonus cats inside! She gave birth here and was a good mother to Schroeder (her spitting image) and 4 others who went to live with friends.


Lutsen has really been WF's shadow for a long time. She's always been here, longer than I have, sleeping on WF's chest or following him around, "helping" with projects. She would even follow us far into the woods while hiking; a bit like a dog in that way! I imagine she was a bit surprised to find herself in a household with a Baby Bean years later, but she was so patient with him. He loved her... his first real word was "Caaaaa" (he still doesn't pronounce the T) and his face just lit up when she'd appear. She never once scratched him, only mrrrr'ing in protest occasionally as he flattened her with his attentions or pulled her around by her tail. Poor Lutey; we tried to teach him gentleness, but especially since she didn't do much in return, it was hard. She was brave.






Lutsen was also our social ambassador; she'd jump into any available lap, stranger or no. She'd help repairmen if we didn't keep her away. She waited at the door each evening and rocketed out into the yard most days, or greeted you carside (or jumping INTO the car to say Hi). She was a great vole hunter. Yeah, I know, outdoor cats... but she was specific to her vole/mole/mouse prey, not going for birds, and her work helped save WF's beloved fruit trees. Leftovers went to the chickens. She loved being outside, and was patient with us forgetting to let her back in some nights. I fretted about predators, but she was pretty street (or woods)smart. She was very much part of the spirit of this place.



So farewell, dear Lutsen. Thank you for your patience and love. WF will especially miss you; I thank you for being there for him through some hard times, and for showing me that he was likely to be a good daddy (and we were right!)...he was so smitten and gentle with you. You were Bean's first cat, and have showed us that the long line of cat-loving men in this family will continue. We'll take good care of Schroeder.




Peace and purrs to you...

Hallo-was

So, yeah. There's this thing in November, when some people try to write a novel in one month (NaNoWriMo) or make a blog post every day (NaNoBloMo). In the interest of being contrary, I am almost doing the opposite; writing NOTHING all month! Ahem.

Anyway. We are still here, occasionally wearing costumes, occasionally not. It's the dark time, sun-wise, so that makes life just a little more interesting when living off the grid.

For instance, we spend Halloween evening at the laundromat! Wheee! We had sheets and blankets to wash, and this is the only way. Luckily, Bean is young enough that Halloween doesn't mean much yet. So, we did get dressed up, attended the co-op party (Bean's highlight was either the music from Terrance and Kelly, or "sweeping" the empty aisles afterward. The boy does love a good broom!) and then headed out to wash. We don't get trick-or-treaters at our house, anyway, so we were not missing that part of the day. It was festive, in a laundry sort of way.





We did also visit with cousin A at the mall... an crazy thing, but fun to see a cute little ladybug. Bean wasn't quite sure what to think, but she liked him!



We've also survived a nasty round of stomach flu (worse for the adults than Bean) and... it was sunny yesterday, so I celebrated by having some toast... an extravagance not usually seen all winter.




Life is good.

Vocab-boy

So, as WF said the other day, "He's learning the language!". I followed Bean around today with a pen in hand, and by the end of the day we had over 50 words! This includes "Zoop!" when looking at a big stew pot (who taught him that?), "Bear" when looking at a plastic honey-bear, water and bath when, well, taking a bath. We have juice, cup, spoon, fork, yogurt, corn, meat, booh-beh (blueberries), PEES (please) and pumpkin. We have cat, hat, boot, shoe, sock ("zock") and shovel. Shovel is quite emphatic while we are outside, or when Dada has been spotted carrying a shovel outside when Bean has not been invited to help. He loves to help with outside chores. Inside chores, too...he recognizes the fly swatter (runs around yelling "fwies!" (flies) and the "boom" (broom) is quite a hit.

I'm not sure what's average at this age, but it's fun to have this record right before he turns 18 months old. There's definitely some gears turning up there these days, and it's so much fun to watch!