Goodbye, dear Toodles.

Toodles had to be put to sleep on Wednesday due to an undiagnosed blood clot disorder. It was extremely unexpected, and very heartbreaking for Andy and I. So unexected, in fact, that only a week ago I took this picture of Toodles after he jumped onto our kitchen shelf just a foot shy of the ceiling. He was so proud of himself after this- he was purring up a storm up there! I guess we'll never know how he managed to get up there now...it will be one of the unexplained mysteries of the amazing Toodle-boy.

For those of you who never got the chance to meet him, check out the video we posted a few weeks ago of Toodles and Andy playing with a laundry basket.

Toodles was such a silly, silly kitty, and I am a better person for having had the privilege of his companionship these last ten years.

Elsie at 6 weeks

Dad has discovered that Elsie is very helpful when he wants to carry a snack downstairs.



Elsie likes spending time playing on her mat, especially when she rolls from her belly to her back.





Elsie loves when Grandma RJ visits. She gets lots of hugs and kisses, gets rocked to sleep for every nap, and gets to go on long walks. She especially has fun making silly faces with Grandma RJ.

Elsie at one month

At one month, Elsie weighs just over nine pounds and wears size NB or 0-3 clothes. She has given her dad one "social" smile- a big goofy grin when he came home from work one day. She holds her head up for minutes at a time when being held, and for 30-60 seconds when having "tummy time" on her play mat. She loves bouncing on the yoga ball when she feels colicky, preferably in the guest bathroom with the vent on. She generally has one 4-hour stretch of sleep a night, but sleeps for less than 45 minutes at a time during the day. She prefers to be held 24 hours a day, and protests loudly (or wakes up) when laid in her crib. She adores being outside, but only likes walks in her carrier, not her stroller and car seat.

For comparison, Elsie at one week.

Elsie likes flowers.

Elsie snoozing in the sun while Mom works in the garden.

Toodles is keeping us in line

So even with the new baby Toodles still gets some attention. Here he is being entertained.

Workin' Hard

Working on a "Project" - this went on for ~2 minutes or so.

A valuable skill is learned

A friend visited and Elsie did nucks _with_ explosion on the very first try! She is quite advanced.

Elsie Rose at one week

Elsie at the hospital

FIRST MOMENTS WITH MY MOM


THREE GENERATIONS MEET


MEETING GRANDMA ANN


GRANDMA RJ THINKS LILAC IS MY COLOR...


SPENDING TIME WITH DADDY AND GRANDMA

Elsie's Almost-Birthday Post

Since today was Elsie's official due-date, I thought she deserved a little post celebrating the fact that she was one of a very select group of first-born babies to be born six days early.



Elsie's best frowny face.



Cuddling with Daddy.



One very happy milk-drunk smile.

Elsie

Here she is!

First trial with our new Flip...

...in which Toodles leads his brother and sister in asking for dinner, and Ms. Ping tells Pongo in no uncertain terms that she does not want help taking a bath before she eats.

A bit more of NZ

Here is the garden at the B&B we stayed at in Westport, it went all the way around the house in a horseshoe like this. Apparently it takes almost zero maintenance! Very few weeds/pests in NZ.

Seal colony south of Westport! Here is a momma and baby getting along.

And here are some seals fighting over a sunny spot. I did not understand the battle as they did not ever touch. The one on the right seemed to "win."

Down the west coast another 40 minutes are the Punakaki (sp) Rocks, aka the Pancake Rocks. Basically the ocean tides slam into channels in the rock and can explode like a geyser! This was the best one in the 30 minutes we were there watching (high tide):
After the geyser there was also this cool fine mist for a bit:

More from NZ!

These are some rocks on the west coast - right near the seal colony. Very harsh ocean. A beach near Westport, this shot shows blowing sand, and some of the mountains inland.

This a view from the top of the Mountain across from our B&B at St. Arnaud.

This is the base of the same lake as the above, just amazing to see soo many mountains right to the base of this lake (lake seemed sea level).

View from a kayaking break from our day kayaking at Abel Tasman National Park.

Back from New Zealand!

We are back and slowly recovering from the 18-hour time change. Lots of great memories,beautiful hikes, and new animal friends (and some human ones, too). Here we are in the mountains of Arthur's Pass the day before we flew home.

Anyone for a nap?

Feeling just a little queasy this afternoon (I think I'm coming down with a bug), I went in search of a cat to cuddle in bed with while I napped. Looks like Toodles was one step ahead of me!

The Cooper family is growing...

...as is my (Josie's) midsection. Baby Cooper ("Sprout") will be joining us at the end of June, and we can't wait to meet him/her! With only 25 weeks of gestation left, we are realizing that nine months is not a very long time to prepare for the arrival of a baby! When you take out the three weeks this winter that we will be spending in New Zealand, it seems like Baby Sprout will be arriving in no time at all.


While I've been busy trying to avoid morning sickness, Andy had other things to keep him occupied:



Shoveling us out after 18 inches of snow from The Great Blizzard of 2009







Keeping Toodles from performing his new favorite trick- jumping on top of the refrigerator and knocking cereal boxes onto the floor for Miss Ping to play with.









Taking Josie to a Christmas concert and trying to stay awake (he failed).






Bringing Josie to a tree farm to cut down their very first Christmas tree, then ensuring that no Christmas tree decorations were hung within two feet of the ground (the danger zone for being eaten by curious cats).





Considering past Christmas tree problems (Toodles climbing the tree, then falling and breaking his tail, Toodles eating glass Christmas tree light bulbs...), the season was an uneventful success. Happy New Year!

Newish Couch

Some updates our couch:
-Brownish
-Does not smell yet
-Comfortable to sit on
-Good for sleeping
-The cats love it:

Stalin gets the scoop on new art!

This "new" art has been on the wall for some time but has not been seen online - yes the 3rd piece exists! Photos exist and will be posted if they do not appear on a popular art blog soon!

SPOOKY, SCARY

The neighborhood children were not prepared for the Cooper house. They got their candy but witnessed...

Yep, they won't be back.