In memoriam Hannah-Cat

I drafted this post some time ago but am just now posting it today, May 11.

We had a very sad week. Everyone's favorite orange cat, Hannah, died on Tuesday the 22nd. On Sunday and Monday, she was lethargic, but not alarmingly so. On Tuesday night, she was suffering badly and clearly having serious problems. Upon returning from class, I took Hannah to the hospital where she had an extremely high temperature reading of 109. With the prognosis grim, we made the decision to give our faithful companion a peaceful departure.

Hannah and her sister, Emma, were rescued from a farm in Vermilion township, Ohio, almost 10 years ago. Jen had graduated from U of Toledo and was preparing to move to DC to begin her program at American University. Jen had always wanted an orange cat, and step-dad, Steve, found one amongst two litters of cats born on a farm near his and Debbie's home in Vermilion. One of the momma-cats had died in an road accident, so the two litters of kittens were all struggling to survive with only one momma cat to look after them. Of all the cats, Hannah was easily the healthiest and Jen joked that she did the rest of the kittens a favor by taking her. The original plan was take only one cat, but Hannah and Emma were inseparable playmates, so they both made the trip to DC.

As a young cat, Hannah was a true athlete. She enjoyed playing fetch and would launch herself off the arm of a chair to catch thrown balls mid-air. Hannah stayed constantly by Jen's side or perched in her lap. Hannah was well-known for her social disposition, approaching anyone who came to visit with trust and a simple demand for attention.

During the summer of cicadas in DC, Hannah wandered the deck, maiming and eating the heads off slow-moving Brood X insects. Sometimes she would bring her still-struggling prey into the apartment to proudly show Jen, who was toiling away on her dissertation.

Hannah's charms were legendary. Even people who claimed not to like cats always found Hannah the exception to the rule. Hannah insisted that weekend visitors stay longer by laying on their suitcases to prevent them from packing.

Most recently, Hannah taught young Jack how to crawl. Because she was a social creature, she was always hanging out with us and Jack became increasingly curious about her. When Hannah strayed too close, Jack would grab a fistful of fur-- an abuse Hannah suffered without retaliation. Our big orange monster enjoyed being nearby.

Always a good cat and dependable companion, Hannah is irreplaceable.

Cherry Blossoms

You may have noticed the website trails real-life by about a week. Last weekend, we were hanging around the house on Saturday morning, waffling on whether or not we would take advantage of the surprisingly good weather and go into DC to see the cherry blossom trees around the Tidal Basin.

For those who haven't been to DC, this is one of those tourist moments that can actually live up to the hype. Everything looks beautiful when the cherry blossoms are out. The problem is, they peak fairly early in spring and the weather can be dicey. After a couple of rainfalls and windy days, the blossoms are history. Not exactly the kind of thing you can book airfare around.

Jen got us off the fence and declared that Jack should get to see the cherry blossoms during his first year, so we grabbed the camera and braved the crowds. It was definitely worth the trip.

Cherry Blossoms

Motivation

Our cats have been pretty desperate for attention over the past 9+ months since Jack arrived on the scene. They hang around despite the noise and commotion Jack causes and hope for an ear-scratch or maybe even a lap to sit in for a few precious minutes. Those opportunities are rare since we're pretty occupied with Jack.

I guess we always knew what would finally motivate Jack to start crawling-- his desire to catch a kitty. This video was shot on April 4th. He hasn't slowed down since.

Meeting Michael Jerome

Our family delayed Easter a week (don't tell the Pope) to gather in Columbus at my sister's place and visit with two-week-old Michael Jerome. Jack took his first airplane flight on March 29 to get there.

Jack took to the sky with ease and was greeted in Ohio by Karin, Dave, Ethan and young Michael.

The album below has a bunch of great shots of the family. We were missing my cousin, Kevin, because he was on the road for work. Although it was a whirlwind of a trip, we enjoyed a delicious brunch, helped Ethan hunt for Easter eggs and celebrated Karin's birthday.

Easter in Ohio

This picture (also in the album) is a favorite of mine. My sister makes a great mom.

How we treat guests

Last weekend, we enjoyed a visit from Jen's family. Below, you'll find an album of pics from the weekend. Very quickly, you'll see pictoral evidence of the fact that "Grandma Boop" (a.k.a. Debbie) got to snuggle with her very snuggly grandson all weekend.

Steve, on the other hand, worked all weekend. Three years ago, we built a 10x12 foot deck to get the patio furniture out of the mud pit of a backyard we inherited with our lovely fixer-upper home. Imagine Steve's dismay when I asked if he'd kindly help me reconfigure and reposition that same deck. Result: not so many pictures of Steve (or me for that matter) as the weekend was filled with laboring. Oh Steve!

Very few family members get to visit here and avoid work altogether. We are very lucky to have so many handy people in our lives.

Debbie & Steve Visit

9 months old

This morning, Jack looked more like a little boy than the baby we brought home last summer. We are so happy to mark this day.

Here is a quick camera-phone pic of Jack I took before Jen and I left for work this morning. If you notice a mischievous sparkle in his eye, it is because he was plotting to grab the phone out of my hand about two seconds after I took the picture.

Hippity-Hoppity

We had a great visit from Debbie and Steve over the weekend, and, naturally, I have a fun new batch of pictures to post later this week.

On Saturday, Jen and "Grandma Boop" took Jack to the mall, which was very entertaining for him because of all the new things to see. Nothing-- not even Jack's trip to see Santa (also engineered by Debbie)-- could prepare the boy for the sight of a giant Easter Bunny.

I find the Easter Bunny to be the scariest holiday icon imaginable. Technically, leprechauns should be considered more frightening due to their well-documented evil nature, but they don't line up kids in shopping malls to sit on any leprechaun laps, so the Easter Bunny wins the scary freak award.

Curious about how kids typically react to the Easter Bunny, I did a little online reading and saw that kids get nervous about these things between 2 and 3 years old. Jack is still too young to make heads-or-tails of this bizarre tradition, but we'll get there.

Our Social Butterfly

Jack has had a great month. I hesitate to even type this because to do so is a sure-fire jinx, but for the past few weeks, he has been sleeping through the night. After our family suffered through a post-holiday series of ailments that included bouts of fever and cold symptoms, Jack was practically a newborn when it came to sleep. Once Jack recovered, it took a couple of days of sleep training for Jack to learn to sleep. Since then, he's been a little champion.

So what's new in Jack's world? Well, he's eating three solid meals a day. Lunch features yogurt, which is a favorite. He's a sitting champion-- no more toppling over. And he plays very well on his own with toys (but of course he loves it when you entertain him with silly faces and voices). Jack is very social and loves grabbing other babies. At bedtime, he turns the pages of the books you read him and in the morning, he is quick to turn on the smile machine. Enjoy the new album of photos.

March Madness

Let's Do Lunch

I have a serious batch of pictures from this month that I need to put up in a new album, but that will have to wait a bit longer. Highlights from this past weekend alone include lunching with Aunt Niki on the Avenue and visiting Jack's buddy, Austin. More pics and other updates as soon as Jen and I can catch our breath!

Our Growing Family

Today, my sister, Karin, gave birth to her second child. She and Dave named him Michael Jerome. Ethan has a brand new brother.