Life with Max

We continue to have adventures aplenty with our new kitty, Max. Matthew loves holding and carrying him (Max is not such a fan of this, but seems to generally tolerate this behavior). Matthew loves him but wants to hold him more than pet him, and Max would greatly love more scratchies out of the deal. But we are all learning how to get along!



Max is greatly intrigued by all the goings-on of the household, and wants to be close at all times.

The big news of the day was "the introduction" of the beasts. I did this after Matthew went to school, because I was tired of listening to Max wail behind the playroom door while I attempted to work upstairs. I finally let him out and supervised the introduction which went very well. There was meeting of noses and sniffing of butts, and there has been on-and-off hissing from both as they've gotten too close, but they have spent the better part of the day upstairs in the den with me, within sight of each other, just laying down with wary observation of each other. No swipes and no jabs, so I think they will be friends in no time. (Or at least not mortal enemies.) It is rather nice working from home with the company of two furry companions at my feet.

Love

Couch Snuggles

Gumbi Kitty?

You decide....did we get a tolerant cat? I told Matthew this morning that I wanted to take a picture of him and Max on the red beanbag. He took me literally. He grabbed Max and this is what happened. Max tolerated this position for 3 photos and when done, continued to sit on the beanbag in the hopes of scratchies. What a winner!



This last picture was taken on my lap and chest this morning.

I also wanted to give an update on last night. As I said in my last post, Matthew and Max snuggled down in bed together peacefully last night. All was well until 2:30am when I awakened to Max's yeowling in the monitor. He was all over Matthew, begging for love. Matthew clearly had no idea what to do. He kept trying to get Max to lay back down so he could go back to sleep. I watched in the monitor for about 5 minutes until Matthew finally gave up and called for me. I went down and Matthew and I discussed the situation. I explained that Max didn't realize we were trying to sleep, that he just wanted love, and that he might not realize that it was nighttime. I gave Matthew the choice whether to keep Max in his room or move him back to the playroom, and Matthew chose (wisely) to have Max moved back to the playroom so he could go back to sleep. I moved Max back to the playroom and we both went back to bed (Max wailing plaintively in the background as I went back upstairs).

Sadly with all the excitement yesterday, the late bedtime, and the middle of the night wake-up call, Matthew was still up bright and early at 6:00am. I am tired this morning.

Love,
Kristi

Max

Meet Max.
He's a real sweetheart!

I've never met a cat before who adjusted so well to a new environment. All he cares about is love and scratchies.

Even from a 3 year old. He's not picky!

The afternoon went so well that I asked Matthew if he wanted Max to go to bed with him. Duh, Mom!

So we moved Max, the food, water, and litter box into Matthew's bedroom. Matthew and Max are now both curled up asleep on Matthew's bed.

Amazing.

The Newest Family Member

We do not have a name yet, and so far he is confined to the play room until he and Kobe become aclimatized to one another. He is 8 months old and the sweetest, cuddliest, most affectionate kitty you've ever seen. A real sweatheart.

I've been taking pictures up a storm (on my old digital point and shoot) and when I uploaded them all a moment ago I discovered that I think my old camera has finally died. The camera quality is terrible and grainy so I will retake a storm of pictures with another camera tonight and post more. More to come on the little guy, including name updates. We are having a blast with him!

Love,
Kristi

Summer Lives On

However briefly...summer lives on in a gloriously warm and mild September. We are enjoying after-school visits to the park and time in the backyard as much as we can before the weather turns.

Not enough sense to come in out of the rain

It's been raining here for almost 24 hours. The news says we've gotten close to 4 inches, and it's not going to stop anytime soon. Ike is headed this way, and should dump more rain on us once this system passes through.

Since Matthew's been in school all week, I hated the idea of him being cooped up indoors all weekend too. So this morning we agreed that a walk in the rain sounded like the perfect way to start our day. With rain boots and rain coats on, we headed out.

Of course we ended up at the park. And of course we ended up in the sandbox. And of course it was very full of water, which Matthew promptly sat in and got completely soaked. Fun!

Messy!

There were excellent puddles for splashing.

Alcuin School Picnic

Yesterday was the Alcuin school picnic. It is an annual beginning of the year event for Matthew's school, an opportunity for all the families to get to know each other and for the kids to spend time together outside of class.

This weekend Mike has Matthew, so he brought Matthew to the picnic and I met them there. Matthew was very excited to come to the picnic because his friend Cole was going to be there, and he was thrilled to see me as well.

The two guys in front are dads of kids in Matthew's class. The woman in the back is Ms. Sara, Matthew's primary teacher. Matthew has two other assistant teachers as well - Ms. Clarice and Ms. Lakshmi, and they are all WONDERFUL.

Matthew and Cole had a great time playing with some of the balloon decorations at the picnic. Cole is Matthew's new "best friend" - he lives around the corner from us (near Barrie Park) and also goes to Alcuin. He is in a different morning class, but is also in Day House (the after school program) so he and Matthew spend every afternoon together. We met Cole and his parents at an Alcuin get together in the spring, and Matthew and Cole played together all summer.

More balloon antics.

Mike and Cole blowing bubbles.

I Cried

So I totally cried today. Not because I had to drop off Matthew at school. Not because he cried to see me go (he didn't!) Because on the way home from school late this afternoon, completely out of nowhere, Matthew from the backseat says this:

"Mommy, I really love you."

Anyway, he is doing amazingly well for day 2 at school. He seems to like his teachers, is adjusting to the new schedule, and this morning when I dropped him off...no tears! He ran off to help his teacher feed the pet frogs and waved bye to me. So far it's going great.

Love,
Kristi

My Baby

I am astonished at how time flies. It really doesn't seem like that long ago.

THEN

NOW

When did that happen?

First Day of School

Today was the first day of school! Matthew is feeling better, and was excited to go.


Here he is posing on the back porch steps as we left the house, with his Diego backpack.

Here is the front of Matthew's school, Alcuin Montessori. It is housed in the Oak Park Lutheran Church.

This is the "Alcuin Rock" in the front of the school. Another pose...

Matthew and Mommy.

When we went into Matthew's new classroom he was immediately interested in the pet frogs, the toys, and some of the other kids already there, but there were still some tears and drama at the goodbye. When I left he was wailing. Hopefully he will adjust quickly! I will be only working a half day today and will be picking him up at 11:30am. I'll try to post an update to let you all know how he did!