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Monday, July 27, 2009

Tooth! Tooth!

Just got a call from Mami that Ian has his first tooth! It must have come in overnight, or possibly this morning because I don't remember seeing it yesterday. How exciting! They are coming up to my office shortly so I can see it. :)

Ian is such a cool, easygoing baby that I just knew cutting his first tooth would be no big deal for him. He's been slightly fussy at night, but nothing major. No real crying, nothing a few nom-noms and a pacifier can't fix. I ignored all of those negative, "Oh just you wait until he teeths" bullcaca that people felt so inclined to tell me. That's not to say that he won't have a future teething freak-out...anything is possible.

Ian is also putting together syllables in his language development. Yesteday, the word of the day was "Hey-Teh." It almost sounded Swedish. Today it's "May-teh." He's loving his T's right now!

Can you believe this was him a year ago? What a miracle:

Friday, July 24, 2009

My Travellin' T-Shirt Man

Colombia - from Mami

Greece - from Tia Sylvia

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Goodbye, George

Our family just got a little smaller. Here's a message I sent to family and friends about George's death yesterday evening. He was almost 15 years old and had been my companion nearly his entire life.



"The procedure was quick, peaceful and humane. It took about 2 seconds from the moment the doctor put the needle into George for his little heart to stop beating. He took two final breaths and that was it. His eyes remained open so I was able to stare into those beautiful deep blue eyes. Cousin Jennifer was with me in the room and she was also able to witness the silent passing of one of this life's most beautiful creatures.

His body itself had given up growing several days/weeks earlier. For example, I cannot remember the last time I had clipped his little toenails and they had not grown back at all. He also stopped eating and grooming himself, but was still a gentleman to his final moment: Right before leaving for the clinic last night, George picked himself up off the floor, hobbled to his litter box, and urinated. Even on his deathbed, he was gracious.

Last week if you had asked me how George was doing, I would have responded that he is doing well! Eating, sleeping, talking talking talking. But just a few days ago his health and behavior plummeted. The change in him was instant. Yesterday morning I knew things were grave, but I had hope. Then when I got home from work, I was greeted by a completely different animal. It was time, and I knew it instantly.

The house is so quiet now. What I wouldn't give to hear that little thud of him jumping over the gate to talk to me at 3 in the morning."

Jason shot this video a couple years ago in our backyard. George was so plump and healthy. This is how I'd like to remember him:

Thursday, July 2, 2009

The Two Ians

Jason's old college friend Ian Bjornstadt finally got to meet Ian the Younger this past weekend in Austin. Big Ian was on tour and happened to be passing through Austin on the same exact weekend that we were vacationing there. Small world! The stars aligned for the two Ians to meet:

Hard to Believe

Hard to believe this is the same child. What a difference (almost) six months makes!

6 days old

5 1/2 months old