Ok so you all deserve an update!

So I really have not updated what we have been up to in so long. Pretty much it is work, play, eat sleep around here. Not really all that fun but we have been having some fun in between the boring day to day life.

Our highlight of late is we went apple picking a few weeks ago. It was fun and I think E enjoyed it. We only picked a peck but have been enjoying apples and apple treats since then. Little E is a freak about apples and loves eating them. If I peel one she will hold a whole apple in her hands and munch away. It is very cute!

Ella is off pretty much all purees and on table food now. I must say that this makes life soooooo much easier. It also makes going out to eat much better. Since E is entertained eating her own meal we can eat together and have an enjoyable time for the most part. While I am still struggling with what on earth to feed her I have found some really yummy items that little E really enjoys. I have not done very many product endorsements here but I think these items are good options for busy working moms trying to feed a hungry toddler when I get home from work.

Little E just loves the Dr Praeger's broccoli pancakes and the California veggie pockets. Just throw them in the toaster oven for a few minutes and a yummy healthy vegetarian option is ready.

In other news Little E has been sick on and off for the past month. Darn you daycare! She has been home for the past 2 days with an ear infection. Just the latest in the sickness that Typhoid Mary has brought home with her. She came home from daycare on Friday with a fever and had it all weekend. She had no other symptoms though. When it didn't go away on Monday I took her into the doctor. Well Little E had an ear infection in one ear and is now on antibiotics. Poor little bumble bee! She was home today with my mom and will be home tomorrow with Shazam. Hopefully she will be back to daycare on Thursday where she can pick up another sickness! We are really happy with the daycare we just wish we could keep her in her little protected bubble for a little longer.

Ella is growing like a weed and while she hasn't really gained any weight since her 12 month appointment (according to her weight yesterday at the doctor) 21lbs she definitely is getting taller. I am looking forward to seeing how tall she is at her 15 month appointment in a few weeks.

The other big news is that Little E has been discharged from Early Intervention. She had an evaluation last week and she did not have the necessary 2 month delay in any area. It was interesting to see how far she has come since her last eval. We have our last appointment with our home visitor tomorrow and we all will be sad to say goodbye. We should get all her results tomorrow and I will have a more complete update on all of Ella's sub-group scores.

Well I must run an tune into glee!

Goodbye Sweet Friend

I have been absent from blogging for about a month now. This absence is partly due to the big life changes over here at Darwin's mommies. In the last three weeks Little E started daycare, I went back to school to teach a new grade (6th), and Shazam started grad school for her master's in social work. To say that we have been busy would be and understatement. I have loads to blog about but there hasn't been much time around here to think about a post let alone actually write one.

Truthfully though the reason why I have not logged on and posted is that I knew I would have to write the post I am about to write and I just wasn't ready to do it. About three weeks ago our spunky puppy and name sake was hit by a car and killed. He got out of a door that was left ajar and was hit. It was terrible. I found him in the road outside our apartment and knew from far away that he was gone. Darwin would have been 12 in another month. I got him at an animal rescue when he was 8 months old. I got a beagle because I wanted to name him Darwin (I am that much of a geek). He was a naughty puppy and drove us all crazy. He was still driving us crazy 11 years later. He was smart but used it, as I used to say, for evil. He ate all sorts of things he shouldn't have over the years. Amazingly only getting really sick from things in his later years. Goat dog's stomach just wasn't what it used to be.

Darwin was a true friend to me through some really rough times. I had him from age 26-37 and so many things changed for me in that decade plus, but Darwin always remained by my side. He was the one living thing that saw me almost every day for that entire decade. He slept for years under the covers with me (until he was ousted by Sue a few years ago). He was the my greeter every time I came home and took a nap after school on the couch with me every afternoon. I cried many tears onto his soft ears.

For a while in my early 30s I was kind of lost. My friends all were couples and I just couldn't figure out where I fit in. I was just starting to figure out that I was gay and didn't quite know what to do with that either. It was during this time in my life that all I pretty much had was my Woobie dog. We drove to the white mountains to hike, camped on the farm in VT and snow shooed in the conservation land around home. He was more than just a dog to me he was a true friend.

Darwin was with me through the tough times, went on Shazam and my second date, loved Shazam even though he knew he was replaced a bit by her. This last year had been rough for the hound who was just finally accepting the new "puppy" into the pack. Ella's early arrival and the chaos that followed stressed my old friend a bit. But over time he was warming to Ella and her constant attention. He particularly enjoyed Ella's treats that she dropped off the high chair. Ella's first word was DiDi and for a few days crawled around the house looking for her DiDi calling his name. Now she sees his picture and says DiDi. It is sad to know that she won't remember having a dog but we will tell her all about her big brother and how much he loved her.

It is quiet around here without Darwin to let us know when the mail arrives or when it is time to eat. To say that I miss him just doesn't do it. I kind of feel like I am missing part of myself. Before I had Sue I had Darwin, before I had Ella I had Darwin. My family just feels a little incomplete without him here.

I can say confidently that I don't know if I would have made it through the last decade without him and while I know I will, I don't really know how I will get through the next decade with him gone.

I picture him asleep curled up like a cinnamon roll on a cloud in dog heaven eating as many chicken wings he can find hidden in the clouds. I hope I get the chance to see him again and kiss his soft head and scratch his favorite spot on his chest. I miss you my sweet woobie. You will always have two mommies that love you so very much.