Roman

I haven't posted in forever because it has been a very very hectic last few weeks. Our beloved cat, Roman died a few weeks ago and we miss him dearly. He was the best cat EVER and anyone who met him during his 17 years here would most definitely agree. He was a true friend and companion to us. The last few days he wasn't eating anything anymore and would barely leave John's closet. He had to be carried to the litter box and when he did try to walk anywhere he was stumbling all over the place. He even stopped drinking anything the last day. It was so sad and makes me cry thinking about it again. Hunter was hopeful that he'd pull through and kept saying, "Mom, I think Roman is gonna make it because he drank a lot yesterday." I think he was in denial. He told me on several occasions that he didn't want Roman to die because then we would have no pets. I don't think he remembers much about Bailey (my cat who died a couple of years ago) but he has seen videos and pictures of him. John finally had to make the decision to take Roman in to the vet to end his misery. He left work several hours early and was bringing him out to the truck and Roman died in his arms on their way down the stairs. I think that the way it ended up happening turned out to be for the best because this way John didn't have to make the decision to end his cat's life. Roman decided. John took him to his parent's house in Madison and buried him there so he'd have a place to visit him. He didn't want to bury him in our yard because we hope to move in the next few years. We are sad that Tyler and Brody will never remember Roman because he is a cat that should be remembered. They did enjoy "chasing" after him. Roman would casually walk away and occasionally glance back at them while they were fiercely trying to catch up to him crawling as fast as they could. We miss him every day.

The big 5!

Hunter turned five last week and we had a nice party at our house. We had 21 adults and 9 kids over. Luckily the weather cooperated and we enjoyed a beautiful day out in the backyard. Since Hunter has been obsessed with Scooby Doo for about a year now he decided that's what his birthday theme would be this year. We decorated the van like the Mystery Machine, and when I say "we" I mean "I." As I was decorating the van at 11 p.m. the night before the party it occurred to me that I probably cannot top this in subsequent years so we better come up with a Plan B. It was a total pain but turned out awesome and Hunter loved it. When he saw it parked in the garage (before moving it to the street) the morning of the party he said, "Wow!" We sent the kids on a hunt at the party to solve the mystery of the birthday present caper. They went around the yard collecting clues by playing certain games like musical chairs and "Scooby Scooby Phantom" (Duck Duck Goose) and at the end unmasked the villain (John) who was hiding out in the Mystery Machine with all of the presents. John agreed to be the villain as long as he was allowed to say, "And I would've gotten away with it if it weren't for you meddling kids!" We cannot believe that our "baby" is already five years old and will be going to Kindergarten in the fall. I can't even think about that right now.

He went to the doctor today for his well check-up and here are the stats: 44.75 inches (90%) and 52 lbs. (95%). He got a kick out of answering the questionnaire before seeing the doctor. It has a series of questions to test your child's development. Hunter had to draw a picture of a person and stand on each foot for as long as possible (8 seconds is the goal), identify which animal gallops, etc. One of the sections had blanks I had to fill in with his answers to questions like, "What is a ball?" and "What is a fence?" I thought his answer to, "What is a ceiling?" was interesting. He said, "It's for holding the lights!" He seemed pretty amused by all of the questions and kept saying, "Mom, I already know what all of these things are!"

He was over at his friend Hailey's house (preschool friend) for a playdate recently. Hailey's mom and I were busy talking and hadn't heard either of them in a while so I went up to her room to check on them. I found them in the closet with the door closed. I opened the door and Hunter immediately told me that I had to leave because they were doing something private. YIKES! Hailey was holding a doll and she spoke up and said it was a baby. I said, "Oh and are you playing Mommy and Daddy?" to which she replied, "Yes." Tonight before Hunter took his bath out of nowhere he says to me, "Hailey told me that I wasn't going to marry her because I was probably going to marry someone else like Nyelli (another classmate)." He said he told her, "No! Why would I do that?" I cannot believe this is starting already. HE JUST TURNED FIVE!!

I've been wanting to document a few "Hunter-isms" that I never want to forget from this stage of his life and so...here they are!

Baby smatter=baby drool or slobber
Scirf=scarf (one of the questions at the doctor's office was "What do you do when you are cold?" He said, "I put on a scirf!")
Coverds=cupboards
Susposed to=supposed to

I know there are more so I will publish them in future posts as I remember them.