Happy Halloween!?

Our little Lion was pretty upset at the start of his 2012 Halloween experience.  He had been having a rough week - after just starting to get over a cold and he came down with a secondary infection.  This was the worst his Mama or Dada had ever seen him - he was in really bad shape.

He had started to feel better, so we thought he could handle dressing up for Halloween on the actual night of Halloween... it didn't start out so good.

But, once he started feeling better on Halloween, he got over the fact that his costume had a hood (which he hates), long sleeves (which he hates) and pants (which he doesn't love) and started to have a good time.

Then his Dada got home and he started to feel even better.  But once the doorbell started to ring and trick-or-treaters came to visit, Xander was intrigued.

What do you mean the candy is not for me?  I can't go play with those kids?  I don't get to go trick-or-treating yet?  WHAT!!???

Then Xander realized it was time to play instead and he cheered right up!

Then he started in with his spinning routine and his "ta da!" routine and cracked his Mama and Dada up!

In the end, it was a Happy Halloween indeed!

A Lion; Observed

We found our young lion in his containment facility on Halloween night, just two days after starting a course of antibiotics for a secondary infection after a cold.  After his afternoon slumber, the Lion awoke in a foul mood.

The Lion wailed and tore at his mane.

The Lion could not be consoled by his comfort items, including his snuggle blanket.

The Lion proceeded to pace near his cage bars.

Later, with animal carcass in tow, the Lion begins to stalk more prey - perhaps his mood is lightening.  

As his appetite increases, the Lion goes in for the kill.

Will this Lion ever be satisfied?

Catch Me Kitty

Catch me, catch me, if you can, I'm a kitty who likes to play!
Chase me, race me, you'll have fun
Ready steady come on let's run!

Kitty cat kitty cat, where have you been?
I've been to London to visit the Queen!
Meow!

Harry scary
I'm fast and fury!

Hey diddle diddle, the cat and the fiddle
Chase me now, don't stand and twiddle!
Ha ha ha ha ha!

Weeeee!
You caught me! Chase me again! Ha ha ha ha ha!

Meow meow meow!

We can type most of that out from memory.  Xander plays with his kitty almost every day.  He likes to chase it, press her buttons, hug her and give her kisses.  He carries her around by her tail - she's plastic so it is okay.  Her nose lights up and flashes, and as with most things he likes he puts her nose in his mouth... frequently.

The cat is fun for Xander but incredibly annoying for his parents... good thing he really loves it and we love him... plus he's so dang cute!!

16 months, and look who loves his Mama!

Hey, Xander!  Smile for the camera!  Ok, I guess that's officially your "cheese" face... you make that one a lot!

Just after a nap, Dada brought Xander to Mama while she was chillin' on the couch with a blankie.  What a cozy moment it was indeed!

Another day Mama tried taking some self-sih portraits.  Xander says, "Here's lookin' at you, Mama!"

It was so fun for Mama to capture these moments when Xander was looking at her - it is a totally different dimension of cute watching someone look at you and then documenting it too... so awesome!

Xander sure loves his blankies and Mama can't get enough of those eyes!

Mmm, blanket!

How much does this kid love his blankies?  A lot!  Duh!

Of course it is not always fun and games just cuz blankies are around...

Its okay though, Xander always snaps out of those emotional moments eventually.  He's a pretty tough cookie overall.

Kitty Love

Xander sure loves his kitties.  Mute gets the majority of Xander's kitty affection because she's the only one that lets him abuse her.  Ultimately she will be sleeping on the couch and Xander will see her, climb up onto the couch to get to her and start hugging and "petting" (slapping) her.  Then he starts with the open mouth kisses on her fur and inevitably he goes a little too far with one or some combination of those things and Mute runs away.  She really does take it well for a while though, which is nice because Xander has to learn what is ok and what is not and Mute and Sark have to play a part in that somehow.

Oh Hi, Muters!  Just wanted to come give you a hug!

And smell you and give you a kiss...

And rest my head on you to show you how much I love you...

Oh, I thought you liked it when I held your tail like this... you hate it and that's why you are leaving!?  I learn something new every day!

BRUUUUCE

Sure, the Seahawks underwent some changes in the last couple years, that's normal.  Some players left, new ones joined the team, and this year the team got all new jerseys and gear.  Dada tried to convince Mama that she should get a new jersey to match the new design, but Mama was fine with her Tatupu jersey because a) Tatupu rocked and b) jerseys of previous players that rocked are always cool to have.  

But during one of the games we went to this year, Mama got inspired.  Bruce Irvin was having a killer game and Mama realized that he and Tatupu shared the same jersey number!  Light bulb moment!

Dada asked Mama, as she was remodeling her jersey, if she was going to put "Irvin" on the back.  No, that's too obvious!  Mama wanted to put what everyone chants after Irvin makes an awesome move... "BRUUUUUUUUUUUCE!"  Dada asked how many U's Mama would put on, she said as many as could fit... wound up being four...

From far enough away, it looks like we could have bought it this way... nice!  In this photo, Xander is trying to steal the show with that handsome face... success!  

Go Hawks!

Oregon Trail? Try Oregon FAIL...

The Huskies took a go at the Oregon Ducks this October... if you can even call it that.  We lost 52-21... better than double digits to single digits for sure, but it still felt pretty horrible to lose that badly.

Regardless, we decided to make the best of what would probably be a loss by inviting some friends over to suffer with us.

We had pizza and some fun appetizers and, since Laura came over (thanks Laura!), of course we had some chocolate chip cookies!  (Xander's favorite... or so Mama claims...)

Xander had a good time chillin' with his homies including Wil and Laura as seen here.

He was the life of the party too - which was great since the game wasn't super awesome...  Here he is yuckin' it up with his buds...

Touchdown!

Yay!  Touchdown!  Gotta be honest, Xander was way more into his giraffes than the game...

See - more giraffe love...

Good thing Xander is so cute, otherwise our night could have been a total disaster!

Life for a young husky...

Xander has reduced himself to taking only one nap a day.  This works out quite well and he is on a pretty regular eating and sleeping schedule for the most part.  However, he still treats some of those naps like the second nap of the day - goes down fine but wakes up pretty cranky!  He cries for us to come get him, then we go to change his diaper and or his clothes and he is never happy about that.  Then it takes him a little while to warm up to life as he knows it.

Here, after getting dressed up for a husky game on TV that evening, our little quarterback is still pretty unhappy about being awake.  Mama and Dada still think he's the cutest thing ever, even when he cries, and Mama likes to document the cries some times because it paints a fuller picture of Xander's day to day.

Crying and whining sometimes leads to an all out tear fest...

But then, after walking around a little bit, maybe some hugs from Mama, and climbing up the stairs, Xander decides things are just fine and starts to smile.

Back down the stairs and off to play with toys.  Being a quarterback is pretty fun after all!

On another Husky game day, Mama and Xander both got dressed up while we waited for Dada to get home to watch the game on TV.  We managed to take this shot ourselves - almost looks like how excited we get for Husky TDs!  Go Dawgs!

By the way - who is the cutest husky fan you know?  I'll give you a hint, he's the little dude in that photo above!

The Tale of the Booze Monster

Once upon a time, Mama and Dada had occasion to take ownership of some "airplane" bottles of booze.  For some reason, those bottles wound up in the freezer to keep cool.  Sometime in Xander's 15th month of life, Mama had to dig deep into the freezer for something and Xander had ample time to check out the goods in cold storage.  Next thing we know, Xander is double fisting (unopened) bottles of booze!  

Watch out!  It's the Booze Monster!  Armed with Makers Mark and what looks like a tequila that no one will ever drink (who drinks tequila and why is it in the house?), the Booze Monster stalks his prey!

Sure, he looks innocent now, but he's dangerous!

Here is a rare look a the Booze Monster in his natural habitat.  It is difficult to see here but the Booze Monster is very intense and constantly testing the laws of physics.  Here he is testing how much force he can apply apply to either side of the booze bottles before they tip or fall over.

As soon as the Booze Monster had been thoroughly documented, he was easily distracted with toddler appropriate toys and morphed back into the sweet little boy we know and love.  But be warned, you never know when the Booze Monster will strike again!

Warm feelings for shoes lead to cold feelings for Mama...

One afternoon, Xander was playing nicely with his toys in the family room.  Mama decided it was a good time to sneak out and check the mail.  She grabbed the mail key and some shoes from the shoe closet and in an attempt not to draw attention to her actions (causing Xander to notice Mama's absence and cause him temporary distress), she did not shut the shoe closet all the way.  When she returned, she thought she heard some strange noise coming from inside.  She was pretty sure she knew what to expect when she opened the door and sure enough, she was right.

Xander discovered the shoe closet and his love of shoes.  This was about the time that he also discovered that holding items by a string of any kind is AWESOME!  He loves carrying shoes around by the laces and his Ra Ra around by its "leash".  This is the sight that Mama found when she got back into the house and grabbed the camera.  

Note the orange cup in the mix and how intense Xander is during this play time.  Mama then explained that while they are fun to play with, shoes are not toys.  Xander didn't quite understand what Mama was saying and continued playing as Mama put the shoes away.  Then... disaster struck...

Mama closed the shoe closet!  MAMA WHY!?!?!!!  How could you DO this to ME!?  The crying continued for a little while... then...

Xander started longing for those shoes... and like something you'd see in a soap opera he reached out out tenderly to the shoe closet and thought, "I will remember you always, shoes, I love you..."

Bad Mama, she took the shoes away... but it wasn't long before Xander moved on to some real toys and remembered how much he loves his Mama.  Yay!  A happy ending!