Monkey Spotlight: My Ethan Taterbug

This is my monkey Ethan Taterbug, Hootie, Dr. Destructo, the Tank, Ethanator. I wanted to share some some things about my baby monkey.

The Basics
He is a twin, born last in line by only a minute. This little "Big" guy came into this world a whopping 6 pounds, and some change. He was incorrectly measured at 19 inches but I believe he was only about 1/2 inch shorter than his "older" sister. He is a "man" amidst a harem of women. If and when the boy gets to speak, his sisters do most of the talking, it is usually very important boy business. He was sooo very blond when he was born it took almost two years before we saw eyebrows.

The Special
His personality is very sweet and gentle. He is my lovie, every day I get the biggest of hugs and an unsolicited "I love you mommy". He melts my heart and God help the girl that tries to marry my baby boy. When he hugs you, his little fingers give an ever so gently pat on your back. His spirit is genuine, he loves and protects his sisters. This is not to say he won't give them a what for when they push his buttons, that is what brothers do I guess, he is not afraid cuddle on the couch with his girls and watch movies. He also is a willing participant to play Prince Charming in many adventures to save the damsels in distress. I think he is well on his way to being a good man.

When he was a infant, because as you all know he is still my baby, he would softly hoot when feeding. This is how he got one of the many nicknames Hootie. He has not hooted in awhile, well since he stopped drinking from the "nottle" (a mixture of homegrown milk source and the manufactured style).

The boy does not like change in his environment. Now, he succumbs to the event, but on his own terms. I recently made some decorating changes to his room, since the boy light turned on I thought I would make his room a little more masculine. The Husband and I got decorations for the walls, trains, you know, boy-ed it up. So when he came home from a weekend at Gma's house, got excited and oohed and ahhed, then just at the last few moments before going to sleep he said to me, "Mom, take the stickers out of my room" I say "Son, they stay on the walls", he said "no, I don't want them in here" I said, "Son, the glue is permanent". Still if any of us leave items in his room which do not belong there, shoes, towels, whatever, you will find a little pile of stuff outside of his bedroom door.

He is very ticklish! It doesn't matter which part you go for, neck, tummy, toes, the result is the same. Total pee in the pants laughter. His little face turns red and he sounds like a wind up toy. I only have faint memories of laughing that hard, courtesy of Doc, Heather, Bambi, and Godzilla. After he begs you to stop, he promptly asks "Tickle me again!"

Dreamy blue eyes. The boy has hound dog, round dreamy blue eyes. They twinkle, and if I ever get to be a great photographer I might be able to produce a picture to prove it.

All boy, all the time! The light came on, so fast in fact he went to sleep and the next morning I was being invaded by boom sticks. How do they know this stuff? He is hard pressed to even take a nap, uncorked amount of energy could light an entire city.

He is a man of few words but when he speaks he has something to say. He recently has been developing a collection of stories he tells me in the car about when he was a baby, and how he had to go down the tracks. It is very similar to Abbiedo's one time at band camp. The story usually starts, "Mommy. MOOOMMMY! This one time when I was a baby I had to walk a very long way across these tracks."

He L.O.V.E.S. trains. Can not get enough of them. On a weekly basis he would like to take a ride on a locomotive. If only I lived closer to a train museum, I think we would be there every weekend. He will sit in his room for hours playing with his toy trains, loading the cargo cars, standing over the tracks so the train will go through his legs. Like I said, all boy, all the time.

I love this boy. My children are very special to me, but a mom and her boy, that is special too. I will dearly miss those days when the hugs and kisses are not as plentiful or freely given. So for now, I will take what I can get.

Monkey Spotlight: My Abbie Doodlebug

This is my Abbie Doodlebug. I thought I would take some time to share special things about my little monkey.

The Basics

She is a twin and a middle child all rolled into one powerful package. My introduction to my Abbdo was that she firmly kept her brother at the bottom of the womb right up to the time she stated unequivocally she was coming out first. Even in utero she and her brother have been squabbling for space and attention. She weighed in at 7 lbs and some extra change, 21 inches, with a good run at a head of hair. Oh man, thinking about it, I can hardly remember the tiny little body I held in my arms, I know she smelled good.

The Special

Her personality is powerful. She may be small but this little girl is determined. I knew from day one this baby was going to give me a run for my money. Little miss bossy is in the house! Born to organize, tell people what to do, fiery temper, easily negotiable for better terms for her benefit. This one will watch the action and find the right combination of buttons to bring down her selected targets. Brains before brawn is her motto.

Her sweetness is beyond comprehension. As loving as she is fierce, there is not a moment when this one will pass up an opportunity to lay on the smooches and hugs. She is cuddlely, genuine, and motivated to do for others.

Her laugh is like a toy doll. To get her to laugh, I mean really give a belly laugh, is often hard work. She makes you earn the giggle or two. But when the laughter begins, it is all you can do not to giggle because of the itsy bitsy laugh filling the room.

She will be 4 years old in a few months and she can still wear clothing from 18 - 24 months. She is within 1/2 inch of her brother, and consistantly 10 pounds lighter. Eats a lot, but hardly puts on a pound.

She has Bowie eyes. One is blue and the other is green/brown. I used to think it was lighting issues when I would take photos, but when I really looked at her eyes, by golly they are different colors. Her eyes are just as unique as her personality.

She has a bald spot on her left temporal. She was born with this little bald area, well there are baby hairs, but the rest of her hair just grows longer and covers the spot. Sometimes it makes styling her hair a little difficult.

This little girl is a talker. She has the capacity to talk or sing for hours, and when I say hours, I literaly mean HOURS. Road trips are interesting, the other two will drop into slumber and this one will talk her way into sleep. She can go into a routine of "This one time I was walking on the ice.........." her version of the time at band camp.

I love this little girl, my life is richer and more challenging with her in it. I am so curious to know what life brings before her, I know that she is going to kick life's ass.

Emma's Spring Pageant

I was not fortunate enough to be able to make her spring pageant so I am grateful to Brian for taking these pictures. I know they are a little fuzzy but Em was dressed up as a ladybug and her group sang the song "She's a lady". This is more of a reason to have my own business with my own hours. Stuff like this comes once around and I am missing it. DOH!

My little Prarie Rose

She is too freakin' cute. One of her aunties had made this hat for her daughter and gave it my little bitsy. She wears the hat everywhere. If only her mom could take a decent picture oh vey!

Get me some gold lame' and call me Cha Cha

I had it all planned out, this was an opportunity for hearty belly laughs. I lingered at the left mouse button, sweat upon my upper lip, agonizing "should I or shouldn't I?" The imp in me hit the mouse button to confirm my purchase. Immediately, the pains of buyer's remorse hit me like a Mack truck. OMG WHAT HAVE I DONE! THE HORROR, THE HORROR, SOYLENT GREEN IS PEOPLE! (that was three movies all rolled into one quote)

The deed was done, I was committed to a night of laughter. Robin Williams would be in Vegas and I treated the ole ball and chain to a night of comedy. I was pretty stoked after the initial purchase trauma wore off. I said to the Husband; pack thy bag ole naive, we are hitting the trail for funsville. Like he needed any prodding. There you have it, one big father's day shindig for my loving gorilla. I had hit the peak. Then, the storm came in.

A mere two weeks since the infamous clicking of the left mouse button, the news came. “Weapons of Mass Destruction Tour to be cancelled due to heart surgery; all East coast shows to be rescheduled”. Ok, I thought well, Vegas is a little farther west and hell maybe he will get better by then. Nope. Now don't get me wrong, I wish the man well, and I am happy his heart is healthy again and he is going to continue to tour. WHEN ARE YOU COMING BACK TO VEGAS?! Apparently, not in the too distant future, or even in this calendar year. Yeah, all I am seeing on his website is the East coast. WTF! See the obsessive compulsive side just went to the site again just in case.

Ok, so now we are committed, got plane tickets, hotel, car rental, there is no stopping the trip. So we leave. Got on that jet plane, knew when we would come back again, and tried to figure out what are we going to do. Well what the hell else are you going to do, you go to the desert.


Let's take a look shall we?

One of the places we didn't see on our last trip was a place called Valley of Fire National Park. Anyone we ran into while there in Nevada the last trip said "You have to see it! The colors is spectacular". Well, they were right. The rocks were amazing, only in nature can these colors come to life.

Almost every rock surface had holes, burrows, or some kind of cave like dwelling. Brian loves holes so this was really fascinating and compelling for him to climb into one. I know, you counseling types, you can analyze him later. I have my own theories.

I was excited to take pictures again, I seemed to have lost my mojo as of late and cannot seem to get my camera to do what I want it to do. It is a constant argument with myself and the camera. So far, the camera is winning. Winning big.

The road into the park is small, winding, and HOT! Yeah, I tried to lay down on the asphalt to get the "arty" shot but I burned my biscuits. My biscuits are too old to be burned in that manner.

My homage to the burning bush. I felt a little like Moses for like a second. I was hot, bothered and looking for some water. Funny thing about the desert, even when it is overcast, still FREAKIN' HOT!

One of the attractions besides the amazing colors of the landscape was the 3,000 year old petroglyphics of the indigenous Basket people who lived in this area. The preservation is outstanding and apart from the visiting chuckle heads that think they are being funny carving into the rock and defacing a state park, it is truly amazing to see how people who lived thousands of years before you communicated. I am awestruck in the pictorial detail and care that went into the drawings.

I am still wondering how the hell did these people survive here? Man, there is no visible water sources, I am told there are two kinds of food pods growing wild in the area but to find something that small would be a miracle at best. This is tough living folks.

I told Brian to jump, for once he did what I asked him to do. ::smiling:: And as you can see below, MY man found himself a hole to climb in. Can you tell he is squealing like a little girl on the inside?

One of the local residents. Luckily this guy was hanging out in the visitor's station in the middle of the park. I like them but getting this close is allowed when they are behind glass.

The local color, bright and beautiful.

Proof that I have a husband. He often claims I don't have enough pictures of him. The Pigeon, looking cool as always.

Another local resident ran up to my feet while I was taking pictures of the flora. These guys are fast.

This was in a place called Mouse's Cave. This was on the 1 mile round trip trail to an area where a renegade would escape and be able to find water. At the end of the trail, there is a natural collection bowl in the rocks where he would be able to stay in the area for months. When we arrived all we found was a insect infested pool of dirty water. Geez, I guess if I was thirsty enough it would do.

Brian also likes to climb rocks. He is one with the rock. You can never take the boy out of the man. I sat at the bottom and took pictures.

On the hike back to the car, these guys showed up. I was not afraid to get close and they were not afraid of me. Actually I think they enjoyed the posing. I even got a little head bob from the big one.

This guy looked a little worse for wear. He was molting and there was a little evidence of a fight in the recent days. Tough little bugger.

The road out of here was barely a road. At some points it was just gravel and no way to contact anyone. I think we may have even wandered into Arizona, but I can't be sure.

I treated Pigeon to a pedicure the next day. He was in man heaven. Someone was willing to massage his feet. I think I created a monster.