12 weeks old!

Happy 12 weeks little monster!

It is absolutely astounding how fast this little tiny thing (only 7 lbs) has grown. She has more than doubled in size, going from being on the smaller side of the standard growth curves to now being in the 90+ percentile of the curves (for body weight, head circumference, and height)! She is a fast growing peanut. She has mastered smiling and holding conversations. She really enjoys talking to Gram and Franz the cat. Ian holds her up to our mellow kitty and Franz meows repeatedly at her - she actually answers his meows! (This is Daddy's game that he plays before bath time.) She has pretty good head and neck control but still needs some assistance. She definitely grabs things - strong for such tiny hands - and can very slowly track moving items.

I wish it were warmer outside, then we could go for walks during the day. I feel like Annette hasn't been exposed to anything new and perhaps she is getting as bored as I am with our daily routine.

The dogs are doing well - sleeping right now. Yesterday we had a bit of excitement when I sent them outside to scare off the large hawk that has been stalking the squirrels and birds at my bird feeder. The hawk was actually 10 feet away from the squirrels, stalking them from a branch in the mulberry tree. I can't believe the squirrels weren't aware of him! Lucky for them that I happened to look outside in time... I feel bad scaring the hawk away - he is quite beautiful and needs to eat too...I just can't stand watching him take his meals from my feeder! He started showing up last winter, and I guess my yard is now on his regular circuit. Not sure what to do about that.

These fat squirrels of mine are unbelievably spoiled, one sits on the feeder and stuffs himself, another sits on the corn cob holder and eats the dried corn (which is much cheaper than bird seed!), and the third one eats the kernels of corn that have dropped to the ground. I am trying to figure out if the same squirrel is always in the same position, but they do not have any discernible differences in appearance. There is often a fourth squirrel in a nearby tree - he is either on lookout patrol or on the outs with the other three squirrels, can't tell which. A fifth squirrel very rarely comes around - he is definitely not part of this pack that frequents our yard. They are tv for the cats.

I am still trying to muster the courage to read the Michael Pollan books - Omnivore's Dilemma and In Defense of Food and watch the movie Food, Inc. I am really afraid that I will not be able to stomach the facts and details regarding modern farming and animal production. I really think Pollan's ideas are excellent (have seen several interviews with him). He believes people should only eat that which they can make (essentially eliminating over-processed foods from the diet) and eat food products that are still food (and real food spoils). Plants play a major component of this kind of diet. In the meantime, I have decided that we are going to limit meat consumption in this house, eventually moving towards completely eating sustainably and responsibly. In the meantime, we will start cleaning up the freezer/pantry, and then start over from scratch. My goal for Ian is to have him limit meat consumption to once a day initially (marked improvement over his current behavior) and then eventually to only a few times per week. I would like the only meat consumption to come from local farmers who farm humanely - truly free range poultry (not just labeled as such) that are free to eat bugs and seeds etc, grass fed beef, pork from animals allowed to wallow and act like pigs! This has been bothering me for some time now, for years actually, after I became aware of how chickens are inhumanely treated in slaughterhouses. It disgusts me that there is an acceptable rate for suffering and incomplete slaughter. I truly believe that if each and every person had to witness this unnatural and cruel process, then they would not be so quick to eat this kind of product. Enough of this rant...

We are awaiting a snowstorm today. I am hoping for a lot of snow, but I think we will only get around a foot. If it is going to be cold, it might as well snow!

-Marie