The Big Week Update

I have been mostly absent the past few days.  Usually, little time to blog means that I'm actually doing something worth blogging about whereas lots of blogging typically means I'm bored.  This time around, though, I've been rather sick.  I guess I caught what Chris had in the end.

At the same time, Eliot decided to transition his naps.  He had been so consistent for so long, but now he seems to take just one nap a day for less than an hour when before he'd nap twice a day for an hour or two.  That's fine.  We're just trying to figure out how to juggle it all.  He has been going to bed at a more baby-reasonable time.  Something like 8:30 pm instead of 10:00 pm--although, tonight was 9:20 pm.  This makes co-sleeping kind of difficult, but I'm still working on introducing him to the toddler bed.

I got most of Eliot's spring and summer clothes together.  I had bought a few shirts on sale for his Christmas and birthday presents, so after picking up two outfits from Kohl's the other evening, I think I just need to get him a couple of pairs of shorts and a pair of shortalls (overalls that are shorts?  this is such a weird term).  That's kind of exciting, but always a little sad.  I love dressing Eliot, and I feel kind of bummed when we have gotten what we need for a season.  I like shopping too much.

In other, actually interesting news (maybe), Chris and I took Eliot to the park today since I was feeling a bit better.  He ran all around and enjoyed picking up sticks.  He would rather play in the dirt than on a swingset, which is fine by me, but I prefer him not to eat dirt.  Eliot had his first dirt-eating experience the other day while helping Chris with some yardwork.  Instead of stopping him, I laughed and took a picture.  Does that make me a bad mom?

This month, our Neko-cat turns three years old!  I have never celebrated an animal's birthday as much as I do with Neko each year.  Every year, my heart swells with happiness and thankfulness--another year with our kitty.  We adopted Neko from the humane society and she unfortunately came to us with feline leukemia virus.  Despite the confusing name, FeLV is an autoimmune disease, not cancer, and the percentage of survivors begins dropping off after two years.  Actually, kitties with feline AIDS have a better survival rate.  So, every time Neko gets the sniffles, I freak out.  Our kitty has been coughing for a while.  It sounds like a hairball, yet nothing ever comes of it.  Chris took her to the vet the other day, and the doctor said we could do an x-ray, but opted for antibiotics first.  So, let us hope that the antibiotics help and it isn't like a tumor or something.  Other than that, she has been her sweet yet frisky self.  The doctor was well pleased with her health-wise--great coat, everything sounded good inside, and she is on the plump side, which is good for FeLV kitties.  I have never known such a sweet, affectionate cat!  Eliot loves her and she lets him do anything to her.

Playing with Cats, At the Park, and Downtown

I feel lost in the year.  At some moments for a brief second, I could swear that it is October.  I blame most of this on the warm weather throwing me off, but I certainly do appreciate the warmth!  It has helped Chris and I keep to our running schedule by warding of any "it's too cooold" excuses from me.

Eliot has always loved animals, but he seems to be going after our cat (Neko) more and more.  I forgot to mention that he spent much of Thanksgiving chasing Jordan's three cats around the house while saying, "Kitty!  Cat!  Cat!"  Cats of course are not the most friendly creatures, but our Neko lets Eliot play with her however he wants, including intended cuddles that turn into body slams.  Neko totally flirts with Eliot too and plays with him.  It's too adorable.  I hate to be such a downer, but I worry about how much time Neko-cat has left.  We adopted her from the shelter and she came to us with feline leukemia.  She will be three years old in a couple of months.  The survival rate after three years drastically drops off.  She seems to be absolutely fine and healthy, though, so I am hoping that our kitty will be around with us for much longer.

 

On a happier note, we took Eliot to Riverside Park yesterday for swings, slides, and a stroll around the park.  Then we picked up Stephanie and headed downtown for First Fridays.  The local artists open their studios to the public.  There was one exhibit in particular that we were looking forward to that had old photographs of Rivermont.  I'm always interested in learning more about the history of Lynchburg.  After some wandering, we had dinner at Magnolia.

And some photos from the park...

This photo makes my heart so happy