Slippin and Slidin'

frankie slide, originally uploaded by silverzephyr.

Nuthin' quite like a ride down the slide.

B-Ball

basketball frankie, originally uploaded by silverzephyr.

I assure you, socks and sandals are all the rage amongst the younger set.

Ahoy Matey!

ahoy matey!, originally uploaded by silverzephyr.

Yar!

Christmas in March

peekaboo frankie, originally uploaded by silverzephyr.

Youda thought the kid had a birthday or a second Christmas. MawMaw wanted to get Frankie this castle play set on the last day of the Toys R Us sale. He loves it. Of course, we couldn't resist getting him a basketball hoop and T ball set.

Spring Training

Malcolm

frankie and malcolm outside, originally uploaded by silverzephyr.

I like the look of unamused resignation on his face. Malcolm continues to be a champ when Frankie throws balls at him, grabs his tail and does the sorts of things kids his age will do to a compliant kitty. We're working on "pet nice".

Bubbliscious

Frankie Eats Bubbles, originally uploaded by silverzephyr.

Mmm...soapy...

Frankie has been enjoying the warmer weather. First thing in the morning, he starts saying "out!" and looking outside forlornly. Sometimes, he brings you his shoes. He doesn't understand that Mommy and Daddy might not be ready to go out at 6am when it's still dark.

Glorious Ebay

bert light shade, originally uploaded by silverzephyr.

We have a lot of trouble finding light shades for the very old fixtures in our house. They have to be almost entirely flat. They've stopped carrying shades like that at chain hardware stores, which left us to Ebay. I found an amazing shade with cowboys and horses most likely from the mid-fifties, but the bidding went up to...$120. For a shade! I was able to get this one for a more reasonable $15.

New Shoes

new shoez, originally uploaded by silverzephyr.

I am obsessed with tiny shoes in the way I am obsessed with tiny kittens. We just bought these for Frankie. I just wish they came in my size so we could be twinsies.

I'm Just A Boy With A New Haircut...

Frankie's Haircut, originally uploaded by silverzephyr.

Please view entry while humming to yourself Pavement's "Cut Your Hair" From Crooked Rain.

Frankie & Dad Ready For Baseball Season

cards and astros 3, originally uploaded by silverzephyr.

Bringing Up Baby

Two things have kept me from posting more often: the change from old Blogger to new Blogger (Google bought Blogger a while back) and Frankie’s bout with a stomach virus in early February -- and now pneumonia and an ear infection. The former really wasn’t such a big deal, but since Dave started this blog, only he could make the change and he forgot his password. The latter has been a bigger issue. Luckily, in each case, we’ve had the aid of MawMaw and PawPaw B. to help us out since Dave and I are working full time. I was out of town for the poopiest part of the stomach virus cycle, so kudos to grandparents B for taking care of Frankie’s butt when he most needed it. Now, Frankie has a cough that makes him sound like a lifelong smoker/bourbon drinker. In fact, his cough rivals our neighbor two doors down, who has what I presume to be emphysema and hacks so brutally, sometimes I hear her at 2 in the morning even though our windows are closed. She also still smokes -- I mean, I guess she figures why the hell not?

With Dave working 14 hour days, MawMaw and I have been attending to Frankie this week, a sometimes sad, sometimes comical job. Yesterday, as we all calmly sat in the living room, molding Play-Doh (which I am just delighted that Frankie is getting into because Play-Doh has such a yummy salty smell and the feel of it squishing in my hands is so relaxing), we heard a noise emanating from Frankie’s hind quarters. Just as MawMaw says, “that doesn’t sound good”, like the dark, slow rush of blood that crawls like lava from the head of a fallen hero in a Scorsese flick, a pool of diarrhea creeps from beneath Frankie’s butt into the floor. And yes, he was wearing a diaper and pants….this stuff escapes, people! We were horrified yet amused as Frankie didn’t seem to notice and continued to stamp a flattened green mass with stars. MawMaw rushed to retreive paper towels and I ran to the bathtub holding him out in front of me. We removed hisclothes and bathed him since the poo was just everywhere and I spent a half hour decontaminating the tub and floor. Good times, folks! Anyway, he’s in a good mood for a while, and then unhappy because of these coughing fits and the awful stomach cramps from the antibiotics and the other five medicines he’s taking. On top of that, every four hour breathing treatments make him hyper and though he’s sleepy, it’s hard for him to rest. We’ll be here traveling the slow road to recovery in the next couple of days.

PS: Oo top of this we’re now dealing with a crib to bed transition since Frankie managed to climb out of his crib last week. He actually really likes climbing in and out of the “big boy” bed. He does this maybe fifty times a day.