Happy Holidays!

And Merry Hanukwanzmas.

The Swiss Miss's Leprechaun Cousin

Mmmm. Mom and Dad suggested hot cocoa after our run this morning. It was deeee-li-cious.

And my cocoa-stache is pretty awesome.

Meet Gleason

Gleason is our new foster Weimaraner. He had a family and lost them. Moved into a kill shelter, got picked up by a rescue group, and moved into boarding for a couple months. Now he's staying with us. We picked him up on Sunday.

And he has slowly been coming out his shell. Which is more than we can say about Tenzing, who may have lost 5 pounds in 4 days and is considering permanently living outside. Zsa Zsa Princess and Gleason seem to have an understanding, but they aren't exactly best buds. Tenzing took some retaliatory measures, which resulted in Gleason marking. And a lot of headache for Mom and Dad.

Overall, Gleason is a pretty good dog, but he represents a huge change in our house, and we all seem to have some mixed feelings about the situation. I'm a little overwhelmed by him -- I mean he weighs about 70 pounds and is all up in my grill or Mom's grill no matter what. I'm not the biggest fan when I first wake up or am getting tired and cranky. I'm not really used to having to compete for Mom's attention, and Gleason isn't really programmed to share his master.

Weims tend to be a little, how shall we say, neurotic. Gleason is pretty easy going on that spectrum, but he's still a handful. Funny how knowing something doesn't really prepare you for the reality of a situation... Hmm, anyhow, he is unknowingly participating in our Great Dog Experiment. [Mom failed to get his consent, so much for all those IRB trainings in Philly.] Mom thought it might be nice to get a dog and fostering is a good way to try out the situation. Dad agreed.

Dad is maybe not so sure about this decision now.

Frankly, Mom isn't so sure either.

See how tired and sweet he looks right now? Any ideas why?

Well, let me tell you. Mom has discovered that she has to crate Gleason during meals and snack time or he gets a little overbearing and tries to eat my food. Smart Mom crated Gleason. We were leaving for errands immediately afterwards. I thought it would be fun to let Gleason back out. Mom didn't agree. But she didn't realize that I had pretty much undone the crate. Dumb Mom. 45 minutes later when we came home to Gleason's super excited face at the door, Mom realized we might have a problem. She had no idea it would be with the door.

Oh boy. Did we ever. I'll spare you the details. Suffice to say, Gleason is in a lot of trouble. And so is Mom.

Right now, it's kind of hard to remember that we're doing a really good thing for Gleason. And it's temporary. And he's really cute. Plus, having your own pony around is a lot of fun. And Mom likes walking him. He usually listens and is very sweet and doesn't even want to eat the cats. I don't know... Hopefully we can make this work until Gleason can find a permanent home.

And then maybe the cats can move back into their house. At which point Mom and Dad will resume threatening Tenzing about kicking him out for waking them up at 5.30 on the weekends...

Good times.

Laundry Fairies

Ranked right up there with the Loch Ness Monster.
What's that you say?
You didn't know they existed? How do you think all the laundry gets done? As if Mom did it... She's got a half-marathon to train for. And me. Plus, all those bon bons to work on.

Here's the proof.

Gobble Gobble

Thanksgiving was awesome this year. Well, I mean, I hear that it's awesome every year, but I might actually have sentient memories of this one... Nana, Pops, Uncle JP, Aunt Julia, and Emma June (Or as I prefer to call her, Jooon) all came to visit.

Story time with Nana. Pre-wiggly worm.

With Pops -- during a wiggly worm state.

Jooon was here for a whole week, which was a lot of fun for me (and presumably for her, too). We kicked things off with a zoo trip with a bunch of my friends and she and I got to know each other much better over the course of the week. We played a lot of kitchen -- she even taught me how to make cake!

Nana et al went to the Northshore to celebrate Turkey Day with a lot of my cousins and Aunt Donna, but we had a really good time here after naptime: Sullivan and Sam brought their parents and Dad's friend from work came over. Mom cooked too much food, as per usual, and much silliness ensued.



oh, keep away paparazzi


Emma June showing me how to use her xmas present.


smooches


Uncle JP going for my brains. For dessert.


Evil plan thwarted again...


Story time with Mom and Jooon

Bam!

Oh, Emeril. We all know that you're a has been. And now, NOW, I have the kitchen to prove it.

Gramma and Grampa got me the coolest kitchen for my bday. And Dad spent like 3 days putting it together -- under my careful supervision. And occasional intervention. It's a good thing he had off Last-Day-of-the-Fiscal-Year.



Gramma and Grampa and Aunt Em also helped stock my fridge with a wonderful assortment food. I really love cooking and wielding my butcher's knife. Mom keeps telling me not to beat the food with the knife. Meh. What does she know?



It's very important to clean up when you're done...

I make some pretty kicking chopped salads. And it's really awesome to make cake, too. My cousin taught me how. I kept waiting for the cake to show up. [Cake is good. Have I mentioned that?] For some reason, I never did get any of that cake she was making in my kitchen. Hmm. Tricky girl.
I also really like to do dishes.

• Step 1. put all dishes in the sink.
• Step 2. use hands to gently (or maybe not so gently) toss dishes in the sink
• Step 3. pick up the cups and plates that were thrown the the floor
• Step 4. Repeat (Or ask to read. Maybe have a tantrum, just for kicks.)
  

Just like Mom does them...

Marcus Day & Sunday playdate

Birthdays. Really, they are a lot of fun. Mom and Dad helped me celebrate Marcus Day (November 5th, if my adoring fans don't know) by opening presents, reading, and generally doing everything I wanted them to do. Every day should be Marcus Day. Mom also made delicious red velvet cake, one of her specialties. Mmm. Cake is good. Though it took some cajoling before I was willing to try it. With considerable gusto...

Woman, what are trying to feed me? Why are you poisoning me again?

I even got to blow out a candle*. I've been working on it...



Cake is good

So much to say. While eating cake.

My favorite present is definitely this one from Aunt Em:

Yes, there was a lovely gift inside the box, but the box is pretty fancy. And Tenzing and I both fit inside (no small thing, given the disc you might herniate picking up Tenzing).

Then the next day I had a little un-birthday playdate with some friends. We ate cake. (More cake!) And played on the jungle gym. It was a pretty good day.



Let's push over the tree...

Mason, you stud, you.

OMG, goldfish for lunch? It is my bday!!!

Maggie: I'm-so-excited-for-cake-song-la-la-la...

I have to wait? Life is so tragic. Such hardship at such a young age.

Fantastic Froggy Face

And then the next weekend I went to 1 birthday party. Two weeks later, I went to 2 birthday parties. On the same day. Maybe too much cake. And Mom and Dad were really tired after all my partying. It's bday season! With no end in sight! Hooray for cake!

Here's all the photos from Marcus Day weekend:


* Yes, that's a tea light that you see me blowing out.

Peter Pan, the Tin Man, Abby, and a dinosaur, to name a few

Why fly when you can drive? Thanks for the keys, Dad.

Halloween was pretty awesome. We got home from Fo-Fo the night before. Dad stayed home to help celebrate. I am pretty sure he was actually celebrating something called Last-Day-of-the-Fiscal-Year. We're not sure, but it was really nice having Dad around on a Monday. Besides, I'm stoked for him that his holiday also involved candy... And costumes.
Costumes were fun. Well maybe not the first time Mom had me try it on, but on Halloween it rocked my socks off. I was Peter Pan, Mom was Tinkerbell, and Dad was casual Monday Captain Hook.

Peter Pan, Tink, and Casual Monday Captain Hook

We went to my READ class in the morning, trick-or-treating with my crew in the early evening, and then I tried to break my face to join the trick-or-treaters in our neighborhood past my bedtime. I was unsuccessful. Both in joining the older kids trick-or-treating in our neighborhood and in breaking my face. I did get a totally rad bruise on my forehead. You should see the door, though...

Herding cats: Princess, Dinosaur, Peter Pan, Tin Man

Peter Pan and his crush, Abby Fairy, Big Bird, Tin Man

This whole trick-or-treating thing is a little confusing. I knock on people's doors, say some magic words, and they give me candy? Seriously, why doesn't this concept work at home? Mostly, I just kept trying to give people my candy, which Mom found very funny. Apparently I was over-sharing. Since I'm not really into candy, I didn't care too much about what I got. Until this one lady said, "Do you want fruity? Or chocolate?" What what?!?! Chocolate. I know that one. Suddenly trick or treating gained a new luster. Unfortunately, I pretty much forgot all about those tiny little bags. Mom and Dad did not...
It was a fun day.
Tuesday just couldn't compare. And it doesn't get a slideshow either...

Yee Haw

You know, one of the things I like most about shopping with Mom is how fun it is. She always finds cool things for me to do.

And I always make friends. Seriously. Everywhere I go.

I really like this horse Mom pulled out for me to ride. Yee Haw is just my way of sharing the love. And it's fun to say. After I got done, we said bye bye and put him back with his herd.

And then we bought toilet paper.

Ride 'em, Cowboy!

Fo Fo

Or FLORIDA, as Mom and Dad say. Personally, I like the way Fo Fo rolls off the tongue.
We took a little trip to St. Petersburg before Halloween for my cousin Matt's wedding. It was super-fly.
Mom and Dad sure do clean up nice.

Why don't you dress like this for playdates, Mom?


Who is that dashing fella?

We took an airplane (which is cool except for that whole take-off and landing thing), went swimming, found a kid's festival, hung out with some of my favorite people, and, best of all, practically lived on Cheerios and Goldfish for 2 days. For some reason, Mom and Dad were less thrilled about that last part.


Here's me getting ready to make a speech. Applause is wonderful. Seriously, a whole room full of people clapping. OMG. Fabulous.

Toastmasters, here I come!


Mimi! Pop Pop!

Oh, Chi Chi (Tito), you are so funny.
Seriously, I had so much fun hanging out with Uncle Ari. We played all my favorite games and went swimming with Mom. It was awesome and I can't wait to see him again. Mom thought Tito and I made a really good team.




Swimming in October: fantastic. Until it gets cloudy.


Bouncy houses rock. Who knew?

Cha Cha (Aunt Chavie) and I really tore it up while Mom and Dad went to the wedding. It was so much fun playing and touring the hotel so I could pick up old ladies. And some younger ones, too. And I impressed her by eating a lot of my bell peppers. (Even I get tired of Cheerios and Goldfish, but don't tell Mom and Dad. Mmm-kay?) Mom was really happy to see her and to catch up.


And then we came home and got ready for Halloween...

Here's a slideshow with all our Fo-Fo pictures: