A little puzzler

Anastasia has always loved puzzles. Just about as soon as she was able to pick up a piece, she was fitting them into board puzzles. Last year, Orlando found one of those ball puzzles with the shape pieces. Then she got a fun puzzle with animals that makes sounds and sings songs when the pieces are put together correctly.



For Christmas this year, we got her some new puzzles that we figured were the next step in challenging our little girl who figures out puzzles so fast. We guessed that the traditional jigsaw puzzles might stump her, and they did at first. But soon, she started to figure them out. Now, what she really enjoys is taking about 1/2 of the pieces out and putting them back together all by herself.



It's really fun for us to watch, and every time we try to challenge her, she steps up and shows us that she's smarter than we imagined.

Welcoming Change in DC

Today, Barack Obama became the President.

I had hoped that I would be able to take Anastasia to the Mall to see the event in person. We have several friends who walked from our neighborhood to the mall, including Annie's friend Lily from across the street. Unfortunately, my ongoing recovery from surgery has made it impossible for me to walk the distance that would be required. So, we decided that we would watch from home and marvel in the sheer masses of people standing on the nations lawn.

Anastasia was very excited by all of the pictures of Barack Obama around the city. Today, when we dropped Orlando off as close to the restaurant as we could get, the only thing that made Annie happy was that she would get to see pictures of Barack Obama soon. This isn't the first time, she couldn't get enough of him during the concert on the mall on Sunday, either.



We came home from dropping Orlando off, and sat with Myney to watch Obama make his way from the White House to the Capitol. While Obama was out of sight, Annie asked "Where Barack Obama go?" and did not like my answer that he was in a car and would be seen soon. She was very happy when he finally came on the screen. Content that he was back, she kept herself busy with puzzles while he was sworn in and spoke.

Even after the swearing in was finished, she refused to go to her bedroom to take her nap. I don't usually let her nap on the sofa, but today was definitely an exception.



The talking heads on NBC are not nearly as exciting to watch. I expect she'll probably wake up just in time for the parade to begin. Wouldn't want to miss a minute of President Obama on the TV.

Introducing Shock and Fish

One of the presents Orlando was very excited to give to Anastasia for Christmas was a small fish tank. She loves fish, so it was easy to get her excited about the new tank. She picked out the fish herself and put them into the tank herself once daddy had gotten it all set up.

Not long after they were put into the tank, we asked Anastasia what their names were. She pointed to the black one and said his name is Shock. (I had commented that he looked a little shocked by the new tank.) The gold one she dubbed Fish.



Feeding the fish is Anastasia's job, which she wants to do many times a day. We're trying to get her into the habit of feeding them every evening at dinner time. They've made it 2 weeks, and hopefully they'll be with us for a long time to come.

Goodbye Old Girl

Last night, we had to say goodbye to a beloved old friend. When Toute joined the Hitzig clan at 5 months old, she was a playful, curious puppy. She was smarter than the average dog, throwing the ball for herself when her people didn't want to do it for her, and figuring out how to retrieve her ball when it got stuck.



When Chase joined our family in 2000, Toute wasn't sure she liked the little puppy, and when Basil joined us in 2006, she established herself as the leader of our household; a pecking order that she would spend a lot of time defending.



In the last couple of years, Toute slowed down considerably, working harder to get up and down the stairs and expending less and less energy barking at the mailman. At 13, she was definitely the old lady of the group, avoiding the rambunctious playing of the other two.



Last night, she came to Myney for a bit of love before succumbing to a seizure which lasted for quite some time. When the seizure was finished, and Toute's faculties returned, Myney got her to the car for a trip to the emergency vet.

She had a second seizure at the vet, and they determined that she was suffering from pretty severe diabetes and liver failure. She was dying, and Myney made the decision that it was time to let her go.



This morning, Basil and Chase are a bit uncertain what's going on. Basil always waits for Toute to finish before eating breakfast. He's not the smartest dog anyway, and he was very confused by Toute's absence. Chase is just a little down today, hanging closer to me and seeking more attention than usual.



As for the people, we're going to remember Toute in her prime, hunting rats and cats, giving hell to bicycles that rode by the house, and guarding the house from point lookout. The portrait of her that Myney commissioned from a local arts school captured her essence beautifully.



Goodbye girl, we'll miss you.

Potty Success

Anastasia has not had much interest in toilet training. Being the only kid in her class at daycare that didn't use the potty didn't seem to bother her at all. She would sit on the potty when the other kids go, but didn't actually do anything there. She'll stand up and declare "I pee-pee" with nothing to show for it.

So, Orlando and I were both very surprised yesterday when out of the blue she asked to go potty, and actually peed! We were downright shocked when she did it again 2 hours later. As a reward for that, we decided she could be diaper free. By the third time, shock had dissipated, and all we were left with was pride. She got such a grin on her face every time we told her we were proud.

This morning, she woke up dry at 5:30 and came to us asking to go potty. It took only a couple of seconds on the potty before she was successful again! We dropped her off at school with a positive attitude and hope for happy news at the end of the day. Tonight, I hope to get some pics of her in action.

Recouperating with Natural History

Anastasia ended the holidays with an ear infection that kept her home Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday last week. By the time she was feeling better, it was New Year's day, and Orlando was in the hospital recovering from complications related to his tonsilectomy. Orlando came home that afeternoon, and went straight to sleep.

Friday, Annie was back to school: a much needed break from our house, and Orlando continued to sleep and try to regain some of the blood he'd lost. On Satuday, to give O a bit more time to rest, Annie and I went to the Museum of Natural History.



We got there a bit before the museum opened, so Anastasia decided to take a little walk along the Mall while we waited. She wanted to go all the way to the Washington Monument, but I was able to convince her that we should go see the elephant inside. Once she heard about the elephant, she was very excited.



We saw the elephant when we walked in, then Annie went straight to the mammals exhibit (her favorite). She asked about every animal. What is it, what does it say (what does a hippo say???)



Then we went over to the dinosaur exhibit. Anastasia was pretty excited about the dino bones.



After about an hour in the museum, it was time to go home and get ready for a nap (for both of us.) We had a lot of fun. I'm thinking we'll hit the American History museum this weekend.