New Stance

Ella Bella is standing tall. She prefers it to sitting or laying, you want to get a chuckle out of her, just stand her up. Your world view has to change if you go from looking at everything on your back to looking at it straight in the eye. Fitz the cat, goes from being 4 furry sticks to a furry body on 4 furry sticks. All of her sudden her feet have a bigger purpose than being stuck in her mouth. The whole game has changed. There is not just the ceiling and some dangling toys, oh no, now there is a whole room full of stuff to look at. Course, the guinea pigs still look the same. They are short, very very short.

Employee of the month

Here at the Zellner houshold, we have our very first employee of the month. Please note how well Fitz blends in with the couch cushions. Perfectly suited for his new permanent position of couch cushion impersonator and just in time for Halloween. Except for the snoring and the ears you would never know, there was a cat. Well, and of course there is the fur. And the constant meowing, and how Fitz throws up every now and then... But a great cushion impersonator. Great.

Sock Dance

I thought it was hard to keep Miss Ella's socks on before she could grab her own feet. Now I am thinking about duct taping them to her feet. Gray goes with everything and Ella would have custom made duct tape shoes, plus her socks would stay on. A win-win. Ella's socks and feet have always had a rocky relationship. Her socks and feet are like the boy and girl in one of those date movies, you just know they would be perfect for each other, if only they could realize it. As the weather is getting cooler, keeping socks on her feet has become a higher priority, just as being able to take socks off of her feet has become an Ella ability. I do agree with Ella and her feet, baby feet are sooo much cuter not in socks. And since Ella's toes are pretty agile, I sort of feel like I am covering up her other set of fingers. What if the reason we can not use our feet as well as our fingers, is because our parents have been blanketing them in socks, since we were just wee ones. I could be ruining my child's chance of playing the piano with her toes, or at the very least, buttering her bread with them. Who am I to stump a toe prodigy. Well, I will just have to talk to Drew about moving to a warmer climate. Somewhere, where feet can go unfettered and toes are able to reach their true potential. Poor socks, maybe I can use them to make some puppets.

Red-Eared Step Child

Dear Dr. Phil,
Please let me begin by saying I love your show. My family and I are in desperate need of your intervention. Recently, my family acquired a baby. I knew there would be an adjustment period but I believe things have begun to unravel and I now find this situation untenable. My family ignores me, gives my lap-space away to others-that-will-not-be-named and often forgets that I enjoy tuna. All of the discretionary income for the family is being funneled into brightly colored plastic objects that now liter the house. Never is money spent on say a paid cat-petter or a professional lap sitter. I am constantly being shushed because the "someone" is sleeping. There has also been a large reduction of available laps, since the baby does not posess one. I am not sure how much longer I can take this. I look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely
FitzWilliam

Mouth Off

Miss. Ella has begun to stuff anything and everything in her mouth. She is like a lab pup, all of her toys are covered in slobber. I feel like I might be in for a little payback from karma. As a child, if I could some how get it into my mouth or lick it, I did. This went on way after it should have because I have a picture in my mind, of my frantic parents pulling my tongue off a metal post, saying something along the lines of "you are old enough to know better". Pre-parenthood, I smugly contributed my fantastic immune system to this old habit. I also have a memory of how most things taste, wood, metal, dirt, cat food, cat food in milk. If I could somehow pull out my taste memory at parties, I am sure it would impress. However, now, as I begin to monitor everything that gets near Ella, I regret my pre-parenthood smugness. Things right now are pretty easy. All I have to really watch out for is keeping Fitz in an un-lickable distance, but I know as soon as she starts moving it is going to be a new ball game. My only consolation is, if she does stuff everything in her mouth, maybe I will not have to spend large amounts of my time bribing her to eat her vegetables.