helllllllllooooooo summer!

Summer has arrived and I love it!!!!! The sun is shining. I am out on my bike again with an added little companion being towed behind in my bike trailer. It's wonderful. And on a sidenote...I feel like my bike was meant for a kid. The little baskets have great storage, it only goes three gears...I predict there will be quite a few bike rides in our future...not just the 4 we have had in the last 4 days.

What has happened in the last month....

With the little: she is practicing her gymnastics skills lately. Swinging on any bar she can find (even if it means it's right above the slide (mom panic). Practicing somersaults. And continuing her love of swings and slides, going head first down the latter. Not to mention the independence that she takes doing them. These adventurous skills were taught lovingly by her dad. She is turning more into a monkey as the days go by (and growing up).

Growing up so much that we are finally starting to see more sleep nights than wake up nights. WOW. I never thought I would see that day come and had no idea it would take a year and a half! Phew!

Her favourite song right now is Handclap by Fitz and the Tantrums. So much so that if you play it, it will need to be played over and over and over again or we will get our out "tantrum" ha. She loves it as it is fast to dance with and slow....but obviously she needs a companion, so as soon as it goes on she must grab a stuffy or doll.

As far as words, we are getting lots of no, and yeah's. Mom is definitely being said with meaning like Daddy and doggie. And we are getting the nods and shakes of the head. She really loves to say car and truck and being in both (the front seat playing that is). Whenever she sees a red truck she always points to it and says "Daddy" which cracks me up. Plus little words everyday that I can't keep track of. ABC's is still a fun song to sing and Frere Jaques, Shaker song, 5 little ducks and the Itsy Bitsy Spider. Plus counting to 10 (can you tell her dad is a teacher...good dad).

We have had dates with friends that she particularly loves. Even though she has to assert herself that she is old too and doesn't need to be carried around all over the place. One particular fun day was going to the spray park/park with friends. All the adults got to sit around, eat pizza and talk and the young ones got to jump around on the playground and splash around in the spray park. It was a great night. Lots of geese and poop though...but still fun all the same.

Our gardens are in full swing. The veggies (Mark's passion) in the back and the flowers (mine) in the front. And some future landscaping next year as we tragically lost a tree last week in a wind storm. Crazily so, that we both watched it as it went from slightly bent to all the way over. The ideas now are flowing with some edible shrubs and pumpkins along with flowers and rocks. Next years project obviously as this years is all about the....

Bees. They have arrived. They have a home and it appears that they are producing. All good news and I am sure more to say except I am no beekeeper and really know nothing about it. Except to say that they are extraordinarily fun to watch. When people say "busy as bees" I actually know what that means now as they are busy. The combs look like artwork. And Mark seems to be enjoying it quite a bit which is fun to watch. Oh and only one stung person so far...me as I stepped on one when they first came in. Not bad. In all seriousness they really do keep to themselves and you can go right up to them without fear as they don't seem bothered. Now mess with their home....that's different.

Now it is just time to sit back and enjoy the BBQ's, the ice cream (toddler's with ice cream are hilarious), sport ball (golf last time) and the weather.

My car broke down the other day (oh game of life) and because of summer I am not even bothered by it. Mainly because of my dear bike (going back to the beginning of this post). I love that bike! However picking the car up tomorrow, fingers crossed!

In the news: The oilers are out of the playoffs. Sad night for me as I really started to get into it. Surveys are out to redevelop the playground in our neighbourhood (yay)!

I just finished Girls the last season. Girlboss. Beauty and the Beast 2017. Gifted. All wonderful shows and movies. And I watched Moana again because I love that movie so much! Also saw Love the Coopers...meh.

That's about it!
Happy Summer
xoxo

April (Snow) Showers Welcomes....SUN PLEASE

Well the news of April:

The Oilers made the playoffs and are presently in round 2 beating San Jose and currently playing the Mighty Ducks. Needless to say every second day is hockey hockey hockey (for Mark). I am usually to tense to watch it so I check the score every 15 minutes or so online...

I have finished watching 13 Reasons Why on Netflix...a little mixed on it. Presently watching Series of Unfortunate Events. Plus finished watching Season 5 of Girls from the library and Moana and Allied.

I just did some spring cleaning. Or maybe just regular cleaning but since I hadn't done it in about a month and a half I will call it spring cleaning. I even took apart our dishwasher and cleaned out the filter and the blade. YUCK. Thank goodness for youtube though as it shows you how to do almost anything!:)

Income tax has been completed and filed. Phew. I hate tax season. Usually makes me annoyed with life as the game of life hits me with something. And it kind of did...but then didn't.

Other things that have been going on:

Two pieces of raison toast has greeted me in my rain boots thanks to a little one travelling all over the house eating.

With that travelling, dancing, climbing, singing, adventure seeking little lady we decided to sign her up in SPORTBALL. and why not. this girl loves kicking, throwing, rolling balls. Why wouldn't she love this. Well she was a little overexcited when we took her to her first class last week and spent most of the time running around (and at times attempting to steal other kids balls). Monkey. She did love the popcorn clean up game where you gather all the balls and put them in a basket. She rocked that one. :)

We also had a family filled evening of Raffi and Dairy Queen. Yes that is right. My childhood favourite. Although he didn't sing from my favourite album (the Christmas album). He did not disappoint with Baby Beluga, Brush your teeth, and Bananaphone. Plus the little lady did pretty good, thanks in part to a few snacks, entertainment and the girl behind her that would smile and talk to her.

Another thing I have noticed is she is starting to take a liking to dresses and barrets. Although I don't know if she has the same feelings towards leotards. It's kind of fun as she likes to pick out her clothes every morning.

Lots of park outings. Basically everyday before or after supper Mark takes her in her push car to the playground for a swing on the swings and if she is feeling adventurous sliding down the spiral slide. Whether it is rain or shine she is outside. Loves going out in the backyard in sock feet chasing the dog and "telling" him what is right or wrong.

New words like cracker, and cookie are emerging. HA. And whenever she wants to say something emphatically it is usually No. I don't think she knows what it means exactly as everything seems to be no...even if i asked if she wanted chocolate....she will learn soon enough what that word means! :)

I don't know if I have anymore news. The bees will be coming shortly. Seedlings of squash, tomatoes and garlic have been planted. The greenhouse has a door to keep in more heat. Voles are being captured everyday. Yes Mark is having lots of outdoor fun.

Let's hope we get some May flowers pretty soon!
xoxox

Springly Things

So it is still kind of winter...and by still i mean an occasional snow fall seems to be emerging every now and again. But spring is a coming. Why? The snow is melting super fast. The sun is out for super long periods of time. The trees are budding. It rains more than snows. AND it's April! :)

So what have we been up to in the last month...

Blokus! So a few weeks ago I went to the tabletop cafe with my besties. We played some pretty cool games like hamsterrolle, cards against humanity, dutch blitz (a fabulous classic that i still love) and blokus. Funnily enough I owned this game. Mark and I got it from his sister's family two years ago! YIKES. Life with a newborn seemed super busy and exhausting that we never did play the game...but since that fateful night at the tabletop....Mark and I haven't been able to put that game away. Although I may need to take a break as I keep losing. CURSES!

The game of life reared it's head once again as I managed to get a ticket and had to enroll into a car seat safety clinic. It's all good in the sense that I should know all this information. But that ticket is nasty. And with all the stuff that happened over the last three months and just a week after my car getting fixed all I could do is let out a big sigh....cause really that is all you can do.

The little gal is sure growing up. Lots of words being said: shoes, hot, socks, coat, cold, apple, nana, water, up and the list continues to grow and grow. She loves her dolls as she takes them to bed, the bath and they seem to be little companions as she plays with her toys. Singing songs like ba ba black sheep, zoom zoom, and the itsy bitsy spider. Really she sings the rhythm more than the words but she does seem to manage the actions too! She loves brushing her teeth, she knows her body parts and is a great little helper unpacking groceries, peeling onions, sweeping, and cleaning up after herself.

Her new adventures are dog walks as she insists on walking yet can't quite do all the distance that we cover so in and out of the stroller, our shoulders or the new (and used) little car we got her. Outdoors is definitely her new love at the moment. Jumping in puddles, throwing rocks, playing in sand/dirt, going to the park and playing with all her different sport balls.

We continue to go to the same places. We have checked out cafe o play again with a mom friend and her little boy. She is definitely getting more out of that place than she did before. We visited a petting zoo and some little play houses at the Mom and Tot's Fair. Been to our fair share of mini gyms and even managed to do a family swim trip to St Albert.

Dinner out x2 for us and pizza in x1. Special kind of awesome this month as I was exceptionally tired of cooking a couple of days and we eat fast and she can now eat restaurant food. I think she liked Boston Pizza over New Asian Village...but like I said....we eat fast.

Mark is busy with his bee making...really the hive making and he discovered his love for the redo centre. I have joined a Quality council at work that I am enjoying. BUSY BUSY BUSY.

In entertainment I have seen some movies: Logan (really good), Manchester by the Sea (too sad for me), The Light Between the Oceans (sad but really good), Trolls (LOVED IT), Girl on the Train (enjoyed) and Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates (a little blah). I finished the third season of Grace and Frankie (hilarious), have enjoyed Riverdale and just started watching reruns of Road to Avonlea again.

In books I finished a series finally that I started quite awhile ago. The Pittacus Lorre series. Very much a tween book series but light all the same. I am thinking of starting up on L.M.Montgomery again....

Loving the sunshine. Can't wait for all the fun the outdoors has in store for us this month.
xoxo

February you were short and sweet

Oh love month how fast you sweep through our lives. A little month in review again.

• the first two weeks I was still in NB with my parents and the little lady. Lots of walks. Lots of family. Lots of eating. A bit of shopping. Lots of movies: La La Land, Hidden Figures, Passengers, Arrival, Lion, Edge of Seventeen, Sing, and I am sure a few more that have been forgotten. AND I finished a few more pages in my colouring book...something I hadn't done since the last visit! A wonderful visit for both of us
• had a few little troubles when we got back as the adjustment to jet lag was a bit hard on both of us. I feared that I may have had the early toddlerhood drama come upon me and I wasn't ready for the tantrums just yet. Let's just say Valentines Day was a little nerve wracking. The best present given to me was a child taken by her father to the library so I could sit in peace with a glass of wine. Plus the flowers were nice too (wink wink)
• after a week, she settled into a routine and the parents did too. A few dog walks that have become a little slower due to the growing independence of little miss. She only takes to the sled or the stroller for a short period of time and insists on walking the rest. Slightly time consuming but cute when the puddles entice her to play. The other day she walked probably close to a 1.5 km to 2 km as her mom dragged the sleigh behind. As we got to the car she took a look (knowing she hates the car seat more than anything right now) and climbed promptly in the sled and looked at me in a pleadingly to take her on another walk. 
• Just as I write the above I think of other fun little ditties that she does. Like this am she watched as I made her her cereal and shook her head repeatedly when I was about to poor the milk. So she had her cheerios milkless and would repeatedly dip her banana in the dry cereal to get the cereal to stick. Innovative and hilarious (at least to her parents).
• I have been working quite a bit of weekends this month (mainly to make up for the ones I took off when I was on vacay). But we did manage to sneak away as a family on family day no less. A walk in the morning and winter fest (or slush fest in the afternoon). We missed a bit of the events in the afternoon due to nap schedule but we did have some most excellent food truck food (mini doughnuts and poutine). 
• Dad and daughter have been having a blast cruising the city with trips to the swim pool, sea life cavern, library and even shovelling a bit of snow. Plus lots of dancing around the house. Wheels on the bus is hugely popular. And a few rap songs mixed in.
• And I have seen some of my favourite people (Casey and Jeaninne) which is always fun. Casey even babysat for me one afternoon so I could attend a work function. I heart my friends with all I have. 

in the news

• The academy awards just came and left. Huge controversy as the best picture was named La la Land but it was a mix up in the envelopes and it was Moonlight instead. Never saw the actual show as I was working but it sounded embarrassing. 
• Garth Brooks came and went. Played 9-10 shows. I'm not a particular fan of his but was pretty impressed with all that I heard he did in Edmonton. Plus a friend of mine saw Trisha Yearwood in Zara. That was cool for her!

i have been enjoying

• supernatural. 
• working out again. 
• wine and baileys (not together..ha)
• reading the last pittacus lorre book
• getting a bit more engaged in work as i have joined a committee 

that's about it of the month of February. Bring on March. Although I may be a little absent from social media as I decided that is what I am going to try to give up for lent. Facebook, instagram and snapchat! wish me luck!

love

a date with gam and a date with dad

what does a gam do with a little girl?

• she reads her plenty of stories
• she feeds her goldfish crackers and fruit for snack and kd for lunch
• she takes her to see two big puffy white dogs who seem to love the little girl and follow her around the house
• she walks with her outside in the stroller
• she listens to music...raffi and muppets

what does a daughter do with her dad?

• they go skiing
• they have hot drinks with his brother, her uncle
• they have lunch overlooking the ski hill basking in the sunlight
• they soak in the cool air as they briskly make themselves down the mountains
• they enjoy the new brunswick getaway

sounds like both parties had a great time

love

You're 1, You little ball of fun!

Oh goodness gracious we have hit the 1 mark. So many things to say on so many levels but in this post I want to focus on you.

You are just a special treat to both me and your father. We (probably like most parents) think you are just the greatest in the world and guess what? You really are. You amaze us with your sense of discovery of the world. Your unconditional love for those that love you. Your contagious laughter. Your love of silliness, games and so much more.

This will probably be my last post of your little accomplishments for awhile. I have a private place I can interact with you. I really wanted to document your first year of life. Mainly cause I had so many questions towards others and I just figured if you had these same questions maybe you can take a little gander at this blog.

So what are you up to? Well you love your books. Really love them. In particular, Dr. Seuss (anything Dr. Seuss) and "Flip Flap Fly". I have just recently managed to smuggle a few new ones in as I am getting a little weary of the same books. Probably how you were a little weary of "Good night moon". But really you are starting to just love books. You will grab them flipping the pages, babbling to yourself as you look through the pictures/words. It is too cute!

You have officially started walking a few weeks ago. As your father said, you started off like a baby giraffe but you are getting quite sure of yourself as the days go by. And with that comes more action like ball pit jumping. shaking your "shakers", dancing to Raffi and Disney music and playing "ever so gently, in your 1 year old way" (sense sarcasm) with all your little friends on playdates.

And speaking of friends you have a number 1 friend in your household named Bentley. Most days he is trying his best to avoid your lovely pets. But other days he will play a little fetch with you, even to my disbelief let you take the ball out of his mouth. Such a good dog and such a good daughter. Really the best time of the day is meal time for both of you. Something that is going to get our puppy a little chubbier in the coming years.

Little one. Happy birthday! Seek happiness, Love and be loved and live a wonderful life. It really is just the beginning. The journey is yours and we can't wait to tag along for a little bit of it.

Love
XOXOX

11 months and counting

Oh my little but not so little one anymore. You are losing your baby face and starting to look more toddler-like everyday. You are full of life, love and goofiness. You mimic our laughs when we laugh, our coughs when we cough. You babble when we talk, even reading me a story or two in your own little language. I think I hear a few more sss, mmm, baa sounds in your little lips.

And let's just say you are everywhere and anywhere. Lots of new games, like me putting all your toys in either a tupperwear container, pot, basket....really anything and you tearing through it and dumping it everywhere. Ha Ha. We need to work on you putting things away next. ;) You also enjoy, "catch me mommy". That involves me chasing you around or holding you down as I try to change your diaper or clothes. RASCAL!

You love to climb up our stairs squealing with delight. Especially if it involves shoving a piece of dog food into your mouth or spilling all the water on the carpet. You pull all the DVD's off the shelf, go in our cupboards, and pull apart my dresser drawers or laundry basket. Plus you take apart the toilet paper and occasionally explore the toilet. Really you are just full of mischief and busy as can be.

You are itching to walk like no other. So much so that if we have done a few laps around the house with you holding my hands and I decide to take a break you may just "breakdown" yourself as you didn't want it to stop. You have a love/hate relationship with your walker as you love that it takes you places but hate it when you bump into things as you can't seem to steer it away from walls yet. I have caught you scaling the walls walking and your dad says that you took a few steps towards him the other day.

Yup, walking is on your mind. Dog walks have kind of made you a little infuriated as you don't want to be stuck in a carrier or stroller at the moment. I have even made a point of taking your walker to the dog park and let you test it out on the paved paths. AND people find you absolutely adorable, "What beautiful blue eyes and hair you have." You are catching everyone's eye.

Summer is almost coming to an end. We managed to do quite a bit. Picnic lunches with our mom's group, lots of swimming at both beach, outdoor pool, splash park and legislature, visits to see second cousins and great great aunts, corn maze shenanigans, green onions cakes at the fringe, and visits to the park. Plus we can't forget catching the olympics from time to time! Lots of fun.  And you definitely had it! You are pretty fantastic to go out and about as you are definitely a social baby. Anytime you see an older child you go right up to them with a big smile on your face and shout, "Da, Ba!"

As I say, look out world, she is a coming! :)
love

BBQ delights

"We should have everyone over if Sandra is coming."

He says this a week into being sick. A day after a six hour wait for a test. I stare at him in disbelief.
"Let's do it simple," I replied.
"Sounds good," he responded.

The guest list went out. People volunteered to bring food, salads, chips, smores and buns.

7 hours prior to the dinner party, he starts to make his meal.
Raw veggies of green beans, carrots and peas.
Cooked beets, home fries (four trays).
Homemade hamburgers, hot dogs, and steaks (shallot sauce included).

And guess what? We had leftovers (with plenty to give to people) and plenty of food to have this weekend. We had plenty of sun. We had plenty of laughs with water balloons and water guns. We had plenty of good conversations (my favourite is the GoT references). We had a really good time.

So end result. We should have had everyone over and we did. Good job, love

xoxox

Let's go to the east!

We were off again. Myself and babe. New Brunswick bound. This time for a whopping three weeks! And you know what?! It was pretty fantastic! As per usual I was nervous flying. Why oh why would I choose a midnight flight with a baby??!! But guess what. It was only one (slightly) rough day with no jet lag for both of us as we recovered nicely with our lack of sleep one day to our tremendous amount of sleep the next in the right time zone! Yay! Note to self: would totally do that again (although not with Mark, he hates those flights).

Once there mom and dad had all my favourite foodie things: sugar doughnuts and raspberry jam, mussels, lobster rolls (and lobster), tuna burgers, poached apples and pork chops, gumdrop cookies, and butterscotch pie. YUM. And yup, time to start working out for moi!
For the first little bit the babe did a bit of strangeness with everyone. But slowly and surly she warmed up to Grampie and Grammie (or Gam, or Ga as that seemed to be said by babe and Grammie exclaimed, "She knows my name!"). Every morning she would have some grandparent time as I would sneak off to bed. Lots of play and then her outdoor walk with Grampie as he tossed her on his shoulders and paraded down to the woods. Apparently they did lots of chatting throughout.

Then we would all rest for a morning nap and be off to whatever the day brought. That would be visiting relatives, going for ice cream down the street, and visiting relatives. Uncle Ron, Aunt Barb, Aunt Mary, Nan, Cheryl and Keith, Margaret and her partner, Kathryn, Josh and their little man, Ian and Karen and their kids, Rino and Beth, Heidi and Ryan with their little man, Jason and Angela and their three, and let's just say the whole village of Stanley.

No joke about the last statement. On Canada Day everyone that I saw with Grammie would go, "This must be your granddaughter." Yes it looks like I am related to a little mini celebrity. Speaking of Canada Day, Grammie had their own float for the "Quilters" that Grampie drove down. Very exciting. And the parade, although small had heart!! Wheelers, farm animals, fire trucks, with candy, chips and freezies to hand out to all the littles.  And there was the "Village of Stanley" float where they did an honorary mention to both MY Grammie and Grampie for their work on the council. Way for me to think about the generations and the history of this place (i.e. my summers with my grandparents and my little love for that place). Plus I had the added bonus of seeing the fireworks with my husband on FaceTime as my dad was on fire duty and my mom was babysitting.

Another trip involved seeing the camp that my Grampie helped build. I don't think I had been there since I was a little girl. We had sandwiches, did the tour around the place, walk the beach, admire the lake. AND admire the butterflies, sample the wild strawberries and catch a look at the tadpoles. Downside those blackflies were out. Upside, babe seemed to have to reaction to them even as she got bit, poor thing.

here was some downtime away from the little one at times. Mom and I went to bootcamp a couple of times, yoga and of course got to see a bunch of movies on their android box. PLUS my indulgence Orange is the New Black and Game of Thrones, the later that I still haven't stopped thinking about. Gosh I love that show!

AND I had some Dad time too, kayaking the Nashwaak, twice! The first was slightly shallower than the second as I may have had to get out and push my kayak out of the rocks. Nashwaak 1, Tracey 0. But then the second time around I rocked it. Nashwaak 1, Tracey 1. Plus at that time my husband had come so that is always nice.

Plus I got the ultimate tour of the firehall. That's right, fireman's daughter right here. I got to try on the uniform (heavy), go in the truck and look at the whole hall and check out the vehicles. Very cool. Don't think I could do it though, even though Backdraft is still a favourite. That is tough stuff as that uniform is heavy and I wasn't even hauling a hose or anything. YIKES!

AND so I don't go on and on here are a few other things done. I got to go running in the evenings. Running legs are a little rusty but they got activated! We visited Killarney Lake where sand was eaten and baby tossing in the water was had. Hysterical giggles had by all as many spectators couldn't stop laughing as well. BBQ's with family. Dipping in the kiddie pool. Dipping in the river. Visiting a covered bridge, suspension bridge, oh my!

And then Mark came for the last week. Tours of the Woodsman museum, Fall Brook Falls, Region Museum in Fredericton where we saw my Great Grandfather's crutches. Walks on the bridge in Fredericton. Real fish and chips by the lake. Tours of Stanley where we had some ice cream and saw a black bear! Church dinner with real strawberry shortcake and three jelly salads with marshmallows!! Then walk through the Baptist and United church cemetery.

And my personal favourite thing to do was sit on the veranda in the screen room at night swinging on the swing. I loved hearing the bullfrogs croak and looking at all the lightening bugs in the night sky. Another fond memory of my childhood as I remember when my cousins would collect them in jars with grass on the bottom (they never stayed lit...i wonder why? wink wink). I would in turn sit with my grampie, aka my buddy, as he would make moose calls out in the distant. AND he was pretty good too.

Then we were on the plane again. And might I say, flying with two is way easier than flying with one! I even caught a movie this time around. And we survived with fewer meltdowns than usual, even with a three hour delay.

I found this visit brought on quite a bit of nostalgia for me as I was bringing my little girl to a place that I would visit from the very city that I am currently in. I will treasure this trip just for that.

love

White Wonder aka Kitty

When tomorrow starts without me

Don't think we're far apart

For every time you think of me

I'm right here inside your heart

Margi Harrell

I first met Kitty in January 2007. I saw him in a flash as I was picking up the bachelor. White cat with bright blue eyes. He was shy and quickly retreated to his room (what later became my office). I had never been a cat person. Truthfully I just never got them. Cats in general seemed to show a certain aloffness that I didn't fancy. Little did I know that in that instant me and Kitty would be taking a long journey together.

It was a wonderful relationship that the bachelor had with his pet. I listened to the stories that both Kitty and the bachelor shared. Hockey with bottle caps, where Kitty could retrieve them in his mouth. Kitty reminding the bachelor when it was mealtime for both. Kitty kept a tight ship of fun and work that they both seemed to enjoy.

Then I came along with my loud, squeaky, dancing self. Kitty and I didn't really see eye to eye in the beginning. But I came up with a plan...I love animals. I love holidays. In fact the two should go hand and hand. HA HA. One of the first fights I had with the (now) boyfriend involved dressing up Kitty in holiday garb. I am pretty sure there was a holiday collar involved and there was definitely bells. The boyfriend (and Kitty) would not be degraded in such a way. Imagine dressing up a cat. Who is this woman coming into our home? ha ha.

A snowball fight occurred on another day. I greeted the boyfriend with snow in the face one winter afternoon. Snowballs quickly made and thrown in the house. Screeches coming from my direction as snow managed to go down my shirt, water dripping from my face. Retaliation was on my mind but Kitty would not have his best buddy be attacked in such a way. That was the fateful day that Kitty bit me. Blood even rolled down my leg. I jested, "how dare he bite me" but couldn't help smile that he was so protective of the people he loved. Not aloof at all.

I was now the girlfriend in the boyfriend's life and I chose to live with both Kitty and man. That was when we both started to adapt to our new life together. Kitty indeed had to compromise. I took his spot in bed and possibly some cuddles. A diet was strictly enforced (as per vets orders). At times I would see him shoot off to his scratching post taking out some frustrations.

Then the games would ensue. We would all take turns hiding behind the couch and creeping around, "psyching" each other out. Bat the ball back and forth. Zig zag across the carpet with feathers. Play with bags on the ground. Slide ice on the floor. Sometimes a scratch would result but it was all in good fun. He was a garden cat (you had to be with the boyfriend) and he loved it. Kitty would smell the flowers leaving a trace of pollen on his face, or munch on the bit of cat grass that was planted for him.

Kitty became accustomed to my early morning wakings. So much so that if I decided to sleep in on a Saturday or Sunday he would come into the room at 6am and remind me that he is in need of food (as it was me that had enforced the diet...or what he thought as it came when I came). He would meow in my ears at first. Rubbing his face on mine. Purring persistently. I would roll on to my stomach so he couldn't bug me and he would hop onto my back and meow straight into my ear. I would try to buck him off but he would brace himself onto my back so that there was no losing him. Little doubt that of course he got fed.

There were times though that Kitty felt the need to take a little vacation. He would take a little jaunt out in the alleyway of our apartment or to the park out in the back. I swear he would watch as we all scrambled to find him, calling his name. And it wasn't just me and the boyfriend. The brothers, the mom and dad, friends have all been seen out in the alleyway calling Kitty's name. Not one summer would go by when we lived in that apartment where we would not be looking for Kitty. Always finding him in both exasperation and relief. Because in the end we all loved Kitty. And Kitty loved us.

His cuddles were the best. Most of them were reserved for his buddy, and his friend, my boyfriend which later became my husband. Kitty would hop on his lap while he was on the computer and just snuggle getting pets and warmth. He loved being petted right at his shoulder blades or right under his neck at the collarbone. Sweet deep purrs of gratitude would be returned when you gave him just the right amount of love.

It was a special bond they both had and I the opportunity to see and participate. They lived a lot of life together. 16 years in fact! They had seen people come in and out of their lives. Some stayed, others didn't. Some moved in and stayed for the long haul (me). And those some brought in more family (me again and welcome Bentley). And more family again (little babe).

Kitty saw a lot of changes and managed to adapt to each one with the Kitty ease that made us love him all the more. He moved to many places finally settling in on our last home. With that he enjoyed many views out the window, many rooms to hide, many plays along the banisters swatting our hands, many things to scratch (ahem the rugs...and the scratching posts) and many places to go out in the yard and remain safe.

He was an incredible cat. He was our Kitty although like his name he was quite a wonder. We loved him and we will sorely miss him.

Thanks for all that you gave us little guy. Rest easy now.
XOXOX