Thursday, August 14, 2008

If I Were A Soothsayer

If I were a soothsayer, or an oracle, a fortune teller or a witch, what would I make of these things that happened this week? Signs? You decide.

1. Remember the coyote I told you about who lives around the corner from our house? I finally saw her this week. The kids and I were driving home from school, and she loped across the street about 20 feet in front of my car. I pulled over to see where she went, and she stopped and turned around on the neighbor's lawn, staring us down. Elliot was completely unimpressed by the cool factor of a wild predator checking us out in our own neighborhood, but I could have sat there watching her all day. She continued on into the hedges as we pulled away (again, no camera on my phone - I have got to update my technology).

2. I almost killed a dog. Again, I was driving the kids home from school, and a cattle dog walked right onto Lombard into 50MPH traffic in front of my car. I was about 30 feet back and slammed on my brakes, hoping the people behind me were paying attention. Even so, my car stopped so close to the dog (who happened to look a heck of a lot like our old dog, Oscar) that I couldn't see it over the hood of my car. Luckily, everyone behind me saw the dog, too, and we all stopped with no rear-ending and no dog-smooshing. The dog continued across the street undeterred and never even looked in my direction.

3. I found my first gray hair. Make that two. They have sprouted right at the front of my hairline, right in the middle of my forehead. Actually, I've always thought I'd make a sexy long, gray-haired woman, but still. I'm only 36. I guess now I have to stop giving Thomas a hard time about his increasingly salt-and-pepper locks (though they only serve to make him look more lawyerly, the stinker).

4. Elliot found a dead bird next to our car. Actually, this occurance isn't that unusual. Rufus has taken to channeling our dear departed cat, Zillah's, huntress energy of late and can bring down the occasional bird or a good-sized rat.

In other news, Imogen turned 11 months old today.


Miss Idgie is still sporting only two teeth, but she's making up for it in spades by growing still more wild and crazy hair. She's cruising plenty but not yet walking (Elliot was walking by 11 months, but he never had any interest in crawling, at which Imogen is a wiz). She's eating all sorts of lovely mashed foods but still gags and sputters on anything vaguely solid, say, a grain of rice. Her sweetest trick these days is babbling, babbling, babbling. She's definitely talking to us now, making all sorts of sounds that are coming pretty close to being words. What will the first one be? Mama? Papa? Elliot? My money is on "kitty".

So here's the best part of the month - the sibling comparison photos. Here are Elliot and Imogen in almost the same pose at 11 months old.



And here is darling Miss Idgie loving on two of her favorite things - a kitty and Mama (well, my shoes anyway - she's such a girl, I swear).



Ok, fingers crossed for no more black cats (or dogs, for that matter) in my path or crows showing up on my doorstep. Or I may have to offer up one of the moles tunneling through our backyard and have its entrails read. Sheesh.

2 comments:

tami said...

Happy 11 months to Imogen and her fantastic hair! As for yours, you made it 10 years longer than I did before the gray debut. (I started to make the pun but it just looked like gray butt--and no one wants that.) Congrats!

Unknown said...

Hi B--just found you here. Congrats to your little one and to you for your 2 grays. Mine are coming in in droves--such is life. I'm counting on the sex appeal of gray as well.

Be well--hope to see you all soon.
Luv,
bernadette