Part Time

Today was my first day as a part time employee at my job. I really enjoyed getting to go home at noon. It's been a long time coming, and I feel such a sense of relief that it is finally here and for a few months anyway I get to spend a bit more time with Penelope (and Tray too!). And hopefully my new job in August will enable me to spend a lot of time with them too.

Purple

From last week - one day when it was still cold in the morning, Penny picked out her purple stuff to wear. Purple shirt, purple skirt over purple leggings, purple socks, and she even picked out her purple jacket to top it off earlier in the day.

Cetaphil

The following is not a paid endorsement. :)

After Penny was officially diagnosed with eczema, a started using Eucerin creme. It was very hard to rub in, but I thought that was just the difference between a moisturizing creme and a lotion. This week we ran out of the first batch that I bought, and honestly her skin was better than it was, but she still had patches especially on the backs of her knees and insides of her elbows, so I decided to try something new. Cetaphil happened to be on sale and I had a coupon so I bought that brand. I got the moisturizing creme again and not lotion, but it rubs in SO much easier. It eliminates a lot of the squirmies trying to get her to let me rub it in and our evenings have gotten a lot easier since the swap. Cetaphil goes on like lotion - really quick. But the best part is, I've only been using it on her for four days and I have not had to put any hydrocordisone cream on her at all since I started. We have not had any patches of eczema during this time. It may also be due to the weather having warmed up, but even still I love Cetaphil, for the ease of use if nothing else, and I would highly recommend it to anyone needing something stronger than lotion.

ABC Song

Penny sang the ABC song today all the way through! It's not like every letter was distinct and well pronounced, but she went from A all the way to Z. She's so funny. She did it very quietly next to me when she thought I was busy doing something else. I could tell she was proud of herself when I told her good job, but like some other things she's done, I bet it will be a few days before she feels comfortable enough to sing it loud and proud. :)

Baby words

So far, Penny has tended to want to say things correctly rather than using a baby word, but there were a few things for which she did still substitute her own word. She called Mr. Bear "boo" for the longest time, but that went away several months ago around the same time that she swapped from ma-ma and da-da and wa-wa to mommy and daddy and water. It's kind of funny, but I think that if she can't pronounce something she just won't say it at all.

Early on we got her Boynton's "Belly Button Book" but she has never said bebo for belly button. She has always said belly button. But in the several months that we have had that book and others in the Boynton Hippo canon, she has never once attempted to say hippo or hippopotamus. Just this week she busted out with "what does a hippopotamus say?" (And really what does a hippopotamus say?)

And until recently she knew most of the names of the shapes on her shape sorter except for one - "hexagon" which she started saying this week too. But before that, it was like that shape just sort of got skipped over in naming; rather than say it wrong, she just wouldn't say it I think. Anyway, she's been calling Lindy, "D" and her yellow and blue stuffed dinosaurs "die-dows". This week though she's been saying Lindy and dinosaur more and more. We're going to miss "D". Well, we still have "wed-oh" for yellow, and I'm sure there are more like that. Oh - and "Penty" shows no signs of abating either. :)

Spring Festivities

Even though Springtime Tallahassee was last weekend, I think Spring really sprang this weekend. All the dogwoods and azaleas and other flowers are blooming like crazy and the weather is gorgeous. What a wonderful weekend! On Saturday we went up to Maclay Gardens again to try to catch the peak blooming season. We sat down out in front of the house there on the hill looking out over Lake Hall and watched sail boats. The temperature was just that perfect feeling - not too hot, not too cold and there was a gentle breeze coming off the water. Penny climbed up in Tray's lap and just laid back, so relaxed. We all enjoyed ourselves.



Today we had Easter fun. This morning I hid eggs around the living room and Penny took to it right away. She loved picking up eggs and putting them in her basket. After the first indoor hunt, we moved outside and I think she would have played easter egg hunt for hours. After lunch we went up to the City of Tallahassee's easter egg hunt at Myer's Park. Penny was so cute in her little dress carrying her basket around. She picked up four eggs and then afterwards went down the slide on the playground a few times. After we got home we played easter egg hunt outside in our yard a bunch more. She really enjoys doing that. Such a cutie!



Here is a video of her hunting eggs in our driveway. Enjoy!

Mullet's Birthday

Yesterday, April 1st, was Mullet's 20th birthday. And, yes, that is just insane. Mullet was old when she came to live with us. I believe she had just turned 14. Her previous owner, a co-worker of mine, passed away and Tray and I just couldn't stand the thought of a 14 year old cat having to go to the pound. We seriously thought that we'd have her a year or two and she could come live out her days in relative peace. Yep. Six years later and here we are. She's a really sweet cat (to be a torby) and never loses her patience with Penny no matter how many tail-pullings and/or sleeper-holds she sustains. Happy Birthday old girl.