Super Bowl Baby!

Happy Super Bowl Sunday!
I thought we did not have a dog (or horse, or bird, or soldier, or mythical large human) in the fight. But it seems Ezra is faithful to the hometeam of his Godpadres.

Go Pats!

Lil' Heisman

Thanks, Zim

On the prowl. Photo by our pal Carrie Dorean, http://www.doreanphotography.com/

In May I wrote a letter to our cat, the esteemed Mr. Zimblestern George-Ira Gob Winter. (“Zim” in common parlance.) Ezra had just started to show an interest in Zim, and I feared the kitteh’s days of peace and quietude were nearly over.

Indeed, Ezra loves Zim. And Zim’s tolerance level for this love has continued to surprise. Baby and cat are nearly playmates sometimes.

Zim used to crawl under the slipcover of the couch to hide from visiting toddlers. We never expected he would allow an infant’s hugs. But he does!

Admittedly, Zim probably does not particularly *enjoy* Ezra’s affections. But he begrudgingly accepts the baby’s exuberant love. And he’s a cat, so you’ve got to give him top marks for that.

This photo pretty much sums up their relationship:

I suppose a love like this could not last. But it is not a scratching incident that got the best of these two, at least not Zim scratching Ezra. The problem stems more from Ezra scratching himself. We learned in December that Ezra is allergic to cats (and just about everything else). Our pediatrician recommended that we find a new home for Zim. Hopefully this will improve Ezra’s eczema and the allergies-asthma-wheeziness he has experienced.

Tomorrow morning we’ll say goodbye to Zim, and he’ll move to the suburbs with a cat-loving couple. Hopefully he’ll like the fresh air, green grass, public schools and voter representation available in the Commonwealth of Virginia.

We’re doing this for Ezra, of course. But we also feel really sad for Ezra. We are sad to take away something that gives him such joy. When Ezra is in a funk and I can’t figure out what to do with him, he inevitably perks up at the sight of the cat. There’s something special about growing up with a pet, and I wish Ezra could have that. (and no, we cannot get a dog at this juncture.)

But there’s also something special about growing up healthy, breathing easy and having skin that is not red and inflamed. I’m hanging onto that. Clinging.

Zimblecat, you have been a great pet. You saw us through a sad, lonely season, pre-baby. Admittedly, the past year has not always been easy — we had a rough transition after Ezra was born. But you’ve really come around and shown more love/tolerance than we could have ever imagined. Your new humans will give you the scratching and belly rubbing you (don’t) deserve. They assure me they come “from a long line of cat people” and even offered to set up skype dates for us. That’s love.

I hope you bring them much happiness.

Be good, Zimby. Use your box, don’t rough up the furniture too much, and keep in touch.

Santy in the city, part one

A night at the National Tree outside the White House…presented to you in multiple installments, because my access to technology at the moment is pretty dicey.

Waiting outside Santa's workshop. Ezra was digging the lights, although you cannot tell it here.

Inside Santa's workshop!

Santa's high-tech naughty and nice assessment

The loot.

Hark, hear the Christmas card bells

I’ve neglected the blog because we’ve been rather mentally preoccupied with our friend. You can read more about him here: http://getwellpk.blogspot.com/

But I needed to come out of hiding today to give a shout-out to Nana and Pops and their groove-inspiring Christmas card. After a day visiting at NIH, then sobbing on a run in Rock Creek Park, I picked Ezra up from his babysitter’s and came home to discover some delightful Christmas mail. I love holiday cards! Ezra got a very special one today, and you can see he enjoyed it. (These are Ezra’s dance moves, by the way. He’ll work on the leg kicks later.)

Thank you, St. Nick!

We want to (somewhat belatedly) give a shout-out to St. Nicholas, who kindly showered us with treats on his feast day, Dec. 6th.

Ezra woke up to discover a Nutcracker in his shoe. Then St. Nicholas’s helper, who also happens to be one of Ezra’s godmothers, brought us a basket of beautiful and delicious treats!

Here you can see Ezra showing some early enthusiasm for the foil-wrapped chocolate Santy, but what he truly LOVED was the pea soup.

Score another one for St. Nicholas! Christmas miracles all around.

Where’s my little baby?

On Thanksgiving 2010, I was in labor all day. One year later, I was very thankful to (eat turkey and) spend the day with this smiling face …

But what happened to my little, helpless baby? When did he become an assertive one-year-old? And who gave him a driver’s license?

Technical difficulties

Friends who get my posts on their google reader may have received a weird half-picture of a Pavo ultrasound. That was Ezra-in-utero from summer 2010. It published when I was trying to upload the park pictures. I have no idea how that happened. But there is no hidden message– just technical difficulties.
Sorry!