Sunday, January 27, 2008

End of an Era

Iris is off to daycare this week, which means the end of her time with Madi and Miriam. Although I think Iris will enjoy daycare, parting with Madi and Miriam was very sad. (For me; Iris obviously doesn't understand this yet.)

A small tribute to Madi:



We don't have any good pictures of Miriam, but we hope she will stay in Iris's life on a regular basis.
In case you've ever wondered what I do at work, you can now check out my new work blog - http://collectivevoice.chemheritage.org/. And feel free to comment! (But keep it professional, please.) That blog chronicles our work in opening a new museum, and has four other authors besides me. If you have any interest in the history of science and/or museums, also check out the main page for the museum project - http://www.chemheritage.org/exhibits/ex-nav6-exhibition.html, particularly the slide show of objects (to the right).

You can also hear me on CHF's new podcast, available at http://distillations.chemheritage.org/. (I'm on episode 5, and a few upcoming episodes.)

And since this blog is actually about Iris, here's a picture of her showing how much she loves her new puppy, a Christmas present from Mimi (which she dropped right before the picture was taken):

One might get the impression from this blog that Iris is rarely clothed. Not so! In fact, she looks so cute in her snowsuit from honorary Grandma Nola that she sometimes wears it all day. (Just kidding! But honestly, isn't it adorable?)

Saturday, January 26, 2008

Heads Will Roll

Further enabling Iris's Sesame Street "problem," Grandma Jo sent Iris her very own Ernie doll this week. This Ernie had, however, some less than lovable features (which I guess is actually true to the character). He spoke, without warning or provocation, and very loudly. He also snored, with his plush chest rising and falling in rhythm. This, however, was preceded by an alarming whirring sound, completely ruining any possible verisimilitude the manufacturer might have been striving for.

Note the use of the past tense above. For Ernie had been in the house for less than an hour before I realized I had to sever whatever passed for his vocal cords. That was easily accomplished - two quick snips and the battery pack was out. But to my surprise, that left a large, hard plastic core - very unhuggable, in my opinion. It seemed the lungs had to go as well. This proved far more challenging - while the battery pack had been easily accessible, the lungs required more complex surgery.

So it was with triumph that I finally pulled the large lung contraption out - only to have Ernie's severed head roll to the floor. Much like the song says, it seems Ernie's lung bone was connected to his head bone.

Given Iris's deep attachment to Ernie, I had to smuggle his constituent parts out of the house the next morning to fix him at work. Fortunately, we have all sorts of delightful archival supplies lying around, so Ernie is now not only whole, but his empty insides have been stuffed to make him delightfully squishy yet firm to the touch.

Below, this saga in pictures, with a close-up of the only lasting scar.




The Nest

In true monkey-see fashion, Iris has been showing much interest in sitting in chairs, like we do (even though we mostly sit on the floor with her). But despite what felt like an eternity spent in the children's section of Ikea, we were unable to find the right baby-sized chair for her. So we got her the next best thing - her very own cat bed.



Unsurprisingly, Henry and Mabel also enjoy this addition to the house.




And everyone enjoys the moses basket Iris refused to sleep in as an infant.

When Wild Animal Babies Attack

Just for Auntie Lee, a full set of pictures of Iris enjoying her new magazine subscription. (The doormat is where Iris goes when she'd like some private time or to hide - somewhat tragic, that, as we always seem to be able to find her there.)







Tuesday, January 8, 2008

The Kiss

Iris now has all the elements of kissing - an open mouth placed against someone else's face accompanied by a lip-smacking noise - down. But the elements don't always come together. Sometimes it's just an alarmingly wide open mouth, pressed against your nose or eyeball. Other times, when a kiss is requested, she comes over to simply tap your cheek with her index finger, as if to indicate she knows where the kisses go, but is too busy to actually give you one. And recently, if she's occupied with some other important task, like finding just the right book to read or grunting at the darkened television, she sometimes just tosses the smacking noise in your direction. Many kisses, however, are lavished upon her favorites in her book of cat breeds (a rather wild-eyed British shorthair and an orange "exotic shorthair" that is not, in our opinion, the least bit attractive), as well as on the baby in the mirror.

Tuesday, January 1, 2008

Discover the magic

Iris visited her ancestral homeland for the first time over Christmas, which required her taking off her size 3 shoes for airport security. Thank goodness someone is battling the infant menace.

The Ontario snows were mighty until the day before we arrived, but enough was left for Iris to enjoy her new sled:



This healthy outdoor activity was countered by Iris's complete inertia in the face of one of her other Christmas presents, dvds of classic Sesame Street:


Except when she tried to kiss Bert through the screen:


In the week that these dvds have been in her life, she has already learned to pick up the remote, point it at the TV, and grunt. Her new favorite activity is to sit on one of our laps, watch Sesame Street, *and* read a book.