"Ah-ne"

Ok. The time it takes us to update this this is getting out of hand. I think the reason for the delay is because there isn't much going on that is significant enough to write about, so we're constantly waiting for the next big thing to blog...so I have decided that no matter how mundane, we will blog. And blog often.

However, this one is not mundane. It is significant. Read on...

Last night was just like any other night. We played with Declan, read him a story, gave him a bottle, said prayers, gave kisses and turned on his music to fall asleep. Declan got fussy as I left the room, but that is the norm. He will fall asleep.

I went back to our bedroom and sat there piddling around on my laptop. I had noticed that lil man had stopped fussing and that his CD had played through. Maribeth was already sleeping, so I went about my business of playing games on my laptop when I noticed little Declan noises coming from little Declan's room. Nothing alarming, but I stopped to listen. It sounded as though he had fallen asleep and was making noises while dreaming. I thought, "Hey...why not turn his music back on and let him sleep to it?". So over to his room I went.

I opened the door a little, sneaked over to the radio and turned on his Kermit CD. I turned to leave and I saw that Declan was standing up in his pack and play (his 'bed') with his bottle, making faces and making tiny little laughing noises. I walked over to him and said, "Hey, bud. What are you doing?". He glanced at me and then pointed across his room to the area where the radio and rocking chair were and said, "Ah-ne."

I looked in the direction he was pointing and thought that he meant "Ernie" because Kermit was singing (Jim Henson had been both Kermit and Ernie, so they sound similar). It didn't make sense to me though that he would think it was Ernie singing because we must have listed to those songs a hundred times and he knows that it is 'Termit' and not Ernie. I looked at him and said, "What?"

Once again, while still making faces and noises he pointed and said, "Ah-ne." I asked him, "Do you mean Ernie?". He replied with a cute little "Noo".

Then it clicked...He was imitating someone. You could tell. His attention was focused, he was making faces and little laughing noises.

He wasn't saying 'Ernie'. I took a deep breath and hesitantly asked, "Do you mean Arna?".

Without skipping a beat, he replied, "Yeah".

With an odd feeling, I kissed him goodnight, walked over to the door and said, "Tell Great Grandma not to keep you up all night" and pulled it shut. He didn't fuss at all.

_______________________________________________________

For those of you that may not know, Arna is Declan's great-grandma. She passed away some time ago and Declan had never met her before.

We had been over at my parent's house this weekend, and coincidentally enough we showed him a picture of her and had told him her name was Arna.

So that's the story in a nutshell...If it was you...thanks, Gramdma.

-zs

I knew it....

Well, I guess I can see the future. This is the first update on here in a looong time. I had a feeling that would happen. Sorry about that. Maribeth and I were getting so caught up in all the goings on and--uh..ok...so there's not much going on.

The only real news we have is that Maribeth got her new job!!! Yippee!! Congrats, honey! She starts in less than two weeks. It was a huge relief when she got the news. She absolutely deserves it. Good job, MJ!

Oh and I got my discharge papers in the mail on Friday. I had actually been out since June 29th, but it didn't really sink in until I got the certificate in the mail. That chapter is closed.

Not much else is new. I have a feeling that work on the house is going to increase as it is not so blasted hot outside. Hopefully this weather is the start of the downfall of summer heat. I for one will be keeping my fingers crossed. Heat = grumpy.

The "What exactly is a Swarr" profiles will continue with none other than Maribeth herself.

Not much has changed on the Declan front either. Once in a while he spits out a sentence here and there. It's pretty cute:

wangedown-nwok = I want to get down and walk

See? Cute. I win. Actually Declan wins. He always wins. Even when he's bad, he still wins. Just this weekend he pitter-pattered over to the cat's water and . "Uh-oh" he says staring at the mess. I walked over and told him (for the 1,000,000th time) "Kitty water is yuck. It is not to play in". And what does he do? He shakes his little cute-infested finger and says, "No, no, no" while looking at the mess. He turns, walks away, rubs his soaked overalls and says, "Ahwet" (All wet). See? He always wins. cute.

Needless to say, the posts will continue (and in a more timely manner). Hopefully the content is fresh and exciting enough for all of you.

Talk to you soon.

-Zach

MEOW HAS RETURNED!!

Good news everyone! I got a call from the venue where we had the company picnic...they needed Animal Control to show up to pick up a wild tiger! Yippee!

After work I drove over to daycare and picked up Declan and then off to get Meow. I walked inside and there he was, sitting on a watermelon looking all mischevious. I scooped him up and walked him out to the car where Declan was excitedly waiting. I opened the car door and handed the little tiger to the little man. He said "Meow!" and grabbed him and hugged him, kicked his little feet, and gave him a biiiig kiss on the nose.

The were together for the rest of the night...

Meow is MIA

There is no easy way to say this...Meow is missing. For those of you that don't know, Meow is a little stuffed tiger that is best friends with Declan. Not only is he just a stuffed animal, he is THE stuffed animal. Declan goes everywhere with him. And Meow goes everywhere with Declan.

Our story begins at my company's annual summer picnic. Much fun was had by all. A magician, a bouncy castle, and a little frog pond for Declan to fall into. "Froggie?" sploosh! Time to change the clothes. So there we were having fun and enjoying ourselves to the point where we decided to call it a day. Packing up the lawn chairs, the diaper bag and the wet clothes, we made our way to the car. We loaded little man up and piled the things in the back. Upon looking around and making a mental inventory of what we brought vs. what we're leaving with, something struck me. Taking a second and even third look around I could only come to one conclusion: no little tiger. So naturally we went back to the table we called home during the party to search. Outside and inside we looked. No tiger. We even asked around...got a few funny looks in response (because how often are you asked , "Have you seen a little tiger anywhere?"). Coming to the conclusion that that Meow was no longer there, we slumped back to the car, drove the two minutes home and proceeded to unload our goods. Untangling Declan from his web of a car seat, we picked him up and turned to go back to the house. "Wha Meow?". There it was...the realization that his little tiger didn't come home. Of course we responded as any responsible and honest parent would: "I think he's inside. Let's go inside" and hurried off.

We did a good job keeping him distracted throughout the evening, but when it came time for bed there was no avoiding it. Following the bedtime rituals, we read him a story, gave him his bottle and said our goodnight prayers. He laid down and..."Wha Meow?". Crap. There I sat explaining to him how Meow went bye-byes, he's sleeping over at someone else's house, etc, etc...Not an easy thing to explain to an 18 month old. Partially because I don't think he understood a word I was saying. We said a little prayer for Meow and off to slumberland he went.

The next morning, Mommy woke him up. He sleepily opened his eyes, smiled and reached up for her. She picked him up and turned to walk out of the room and, of course "Uh Meow" (meaning "I want Meow"). She went throught the same routine that I went through explaining how Meow went bye-byes, but he is safe and we'll get him back, etc...

Here we are...Meow-less. Declan slowly realizing that his friend may be gone forever.

So the hunt is on. Maribeth and I will not rest until we bring Meow home. We have a couple of leads and some questioning to do. We'll see what turns up.

Meow, wherever you are...keep your chin up. We're coming to get you.

What Exactly is a Swarr? Part 1 of 5

This entry is the first in the series entitled "What Exactly is a Swarr?" In this series we will profile who...or what a Swarr really is. What make them tick? Do they tick? And What exactly gives one the right to be called a Swarr anyway? Is it a birth-rite? A trial by fire? Or just sheer stupidity in a 'wrong place wrong time' sense of the word? We shall see...

And the first profile is....

Artemus.

Artemus J Cat or just 'Arty' was originally a Schaeffer...a wha? Yes. A Schaeffer. He was originally discovered living among a tribe deep in the jungles of Lancaster...I believe they called themselves the Humane League tribe or something. Anywho, Maribeth and I discovered him in October of 2004 as a 4 month old kitten bottled up in the Kitten Room of that jungle village. We instantly fell in love with the little bugger...ok...we looked at about 4 others before him, but who's counting? We loved him and he loved us. We saw Swarr potential. There was only one problem: We lived in our apartment at the time and technically couldn't have cats. Our landlord had an off the books, "I don't care" policy, but officially we weren't allowed to have them. But getting him from the Humane League required approval from the landlord which we obviously couldn't get. Maribeth and I sat in the parking lot contemplating a way to free our trapped Swarr-to-be. Then It struck us like Lightening Force: Lamar the Revenger. Known to many commonfolk as 'Dean'. He came to the rescue and adopted Artemus for himself...only to transfer ownership wholeheartedly to the Swarr family. For that we salute you, Lamar the Revenger. Wherever you are.

But not all was rose petals and dandelions. Arty came down with a nasty respiritory infection. Maribeth and I took turns pinning him down and giving him a dropper full of medicine. Ahh, clawmarks. How I miss thy burn. Given time and a LOT of babying by Dad, Arty eventually came around and began his journey into Swarrhood.

Arty has since become a big, lazy and snuggley cat. He loves to sit on nightstands and meow until I scooch over in the bed to make enough room for him to lie down. He sometimes curls up under the covers with us. Maribeth loves it! He's become very cuddley as of late, but the summer months make him shed and make us sticky creating a beautiful faux beard and moustache for everyday use.

Arty has his fun days and his lazy days, but overall, he makes a great addition to the Swarr family. A top notch feline.

Thank you, Arty.

Hello Swarr Blog

Well here we are typin up our first post. All of the witty remarks and humorous anecdotes that made this seem like a good idea an hour ago have just oozed out of my brain onto the floor somewhere and I think the cats are eating it. eww!

For those of you who can't get enough of the lil Swarr family, you can now feel a little closer just by reading this handy little blog whenever your heart desires. You'll get updates on the latest cat musings, Declan antics and parental woes and wows along the way.

Hopefully we'll get the hang of the posting thing and have enough gumption to keep it going so that that it can grow and progress as we do.

Here's to much blogging together! CHEERS!!

-zs