Batman & Princess

It was 13 years ago in March that I found two day old kittens in a crushed box on the side of the street. I remember hearing meowing, walking across the street, and then seeing the box and inside were these two tiny kittens with their umbilical cords still attached. Of course, I couldn’t leave them there, so I brought them home. It was late at night, so I didn’t want to bring them in the house. I woke up my brother and told him what I had found. Since they were crying we decided to leave them outside and in the morning we would bring them in the house and tell my parents what I had found. We were the house that all the stray animals found, so I was pretty confident that my parents would allow me to keep the kittens. Sure enough in the morning my parents said yes, but I was to take care of them. At the time, we had two cats, Tiffany and Tiger. I was pretty sure Tiffany and Tiger weren’t going to like to two new additions to the family.

The first order of business was to start feeding the kittens. I fed them animal formula and condensed milk through a syringe. I had to feed them every few hours from the syringe. Since they were only a few days old and their Mom wasn’t there to clean up after them, I had to wash them every time they went the bathroom. It was so gross those first few days, they would just go poop or pee wherever they were and it was all over them. There were cute things about them, my favorite part was when they had just finished eating and their stomachs were like big balloons, so cute.

After a few days (or maybe it was weeks, it was a blur) of around the clock feeding and bathing I decided on names for the kittens. I come from a family of T’s, but I decided to break that tradition. I named the boy cat Batman because he is all black with yellow eyes and named the girl cat Princess because she always acted so prissy when it came to bath time.

There were many sleepless nights for me, but it didn’t take long for them to start getting stronger, eat on their own, and use the litter box. I still bathed them quite regularly. Batman loved the water, Princess not so much. They were usually confined to my room where I would set up barriers for them, which they eventually learned to climb over. Tiffany and Tiger kept their distance from them and I think they were glad the cats stayed in my room. They didn’t want them in their territory. When Batman and Princess were finally able to roam the house as they pleased without me worrying about them getting stuck somewhere and not being able to get out, Tiffany and Tiger were friendly.

Just a year and a half after finding Batman and Princess, Tim and I got married and moved across the country to Connecticut. There was no doubt about it, the cats were a package deal, and they were moving with us to Connecticut. It was an adventure in the Ryder truck with them. They both had separate carriers, which we would later decide when traveling they could travel in one carrier. The carriers took up so much space on the bench seat of the truck that Tim and I were squished. The cats were already taking over our lives. I am sure Tim was thinking what did he get himself into with these two cats. When we would stop along the way I would put their leashes on and take them for walks. There was one time when I was letting them roam around by the truck and Princess being the scardy cat that she is jumped up in the wheel well and we had a heck of a time getting her out of there. That was Princess, getting herself stuck somewhere. We learned quickly that at hotels we would have to block the back of the bed off because they would get up and under the bed. It made for a long morning getting out of the hotel and on the road. We eventually made it to Connecticut, set up our apartment and the cats settled into their new home.

Batman has never had any trouble making any place his home, but Princess it takes her a VERY long time to feel comfortable. It was months before she would get out from under the bed during the day and roam around. She would roam around at night, but when there were people in the apartment, she was under the bed. I don’t think many people saw Princess while we lived in Connecticut, but they all got to know friendly Batman.

When we would go home to California for a few weeks during the holidays we would bring the cats with us. The first time we traveled with them was Christmas time and we flew through Pittsburgh during a storm. Our flight got cancelled and we spent a night at a hotel. I had given them sedatives, but only had enough for the flights, not the extra night in a hotel. It was a nightmare to say the least. When traveling, people rarely realized that we were traveling with the cats because their carrier looked just like a bag you would carry on. The only time people would notice was when they wouldn’t shut up with their crying on the plane. The engine kind of masked their crying, but there were times when I was rethinking the decision of bringing them with us. Towards the end of our stay in Connecticut when we would travel we would leave them home and a friend would take care of them. It was so much easier on everyone. When we moved back to California my Mom traveled home with them, so they won’t have to travel in the moving truck. I am sure Batman and Princess were thankful that they didn’t have to be put through that again.

Once we moved back to California we moved around a few times before buying our house. Each time we moved I could tell Princess was bitter and would find the most ridiculous place to hide during the day. Batman could careless where he lived as long as he had me and some food he was fine. This 4th of July we are going on our 7^th year in our house and Princess still hides under the bed everyday and Batman still lays where he is not supposed to, climbs up on the counter, and loves to lay on me when I am falling asleep.

I am pretty sure they love their life and are happy I found them that night. They have lived a good life, traveled across the country a few times and are loved so much. I know they can’t live forever and when the time comes for them to pass on, it will be one of the hardest days of my life, I know this, and I will miss them so much. They have been great companions for all these years. Even though there have been times (ok several years) when Batman cried almost every night to be fed and all I wanted to do was open the door and let him outside to find new place to live, I would never change one moment of my life with them. I love them so much and they prepared me a bit for being a Mom to Trent. I was their Mom first and I think I did a pretty good job with them.

Batman always finds a great place to lay.

Batman is a Dodgers fan too.

My pretty girl Princess. She sleeps next to my pillow at night.

One of Batman's favorite places to lay, he loves the sun.

A New Start

Today, Trent had his first day at his new school. We thought it would be a good idea to get Trent acclimated to his new school by taking summer school. He is taking four weeks of summer school, which has started off great. This week he is taking Reading and Music; fun classes to meet new friends. We arrived at school to get Trent checked in and immediately we looked around to see any familiar faces. We quickly found RJ, who has been in Trent’s class for a few years. It was so nice to see RJ and his Mom. RJ and Trent quickly started playing and when the bell rang we walked them to their reading class with Ms. Calamia. Trent was as happy as can be. I was nervous, but I knew he would be in good hands and I had to let go. I went on to work and tried to concentrate. Noon time quickly came and I picked up my boy from school. He had a great day and his reward was lunch at McDonald’s and a few hours at Jump n’ Jammin. He was excited to get to Jump n’ Jammin and start playing. He had a great time and all in all I am pretty sure he had a great day.

On our way to school.

Trent's new school.

An Evening of Fighting

On Saturday night, the three of us enjoyed an evening at Medieval Times. Trent received from Greg and Claudia for his birthday a gift certificate to Medieval Times. We finally found an open night and headed on down to Buena Park. Neither Trent nor I had been before. Tim remembers going when he was little and Trent kept asking him about when he went and what went on in that show. Trent has to know all the details. We got there over an hour early, which was good because we got the souvenir shopping out of the way. Trent picked out a red jewel, a shield and sword. He loves searching for treasures and finding jewels, so the big red jewel is perfect for him. The shield and sword are self explanatory…he fights evil.

The time finally came when our group was called into the stadium to be seated. We had great seats in the blue section right in the front row. We were so excited about our seats; I was excited about the good pictures I could get. The show started and the food and drinks began being served. One look at the chicken on the bone and Trent graciously said “No Thanks!” Tim and I had no expectation that Trent would eat the dinner, which was fine with us. I didn’t want to ruin the evening by fighting with him to eat. He did drink two big cups of Sprite, at least he was hydrated. The show was great. The knights did an amazing job making the jousting and fighting look so real. Trent was scared at first because it looked so real to him, but after explaining to him that they were just pretending to hurt each other he started to enjoy the show. Two hours later the show ended and Trent was all smiles. He definitely learned a few new moves from the knights.

Trent showing off his new shield and sword.

Trent and Daddy

Trent and Mommy

The Knights. We cheered for the Blue Knight.

For the Love of Star Wars

I can’t pinpoint the exact date when Trent’s love for Star Wars started, but it was when he was 4 years old. He has always loved to play with action figures, whether it is Power Rangers, Transformers, Batman, Pirates, or Disney characters, pretty much anything. He loves to play and use his imagination. He can play in the sun room for hours and be content. Trent has so many toys and I can honestly say that he loves and plays with all his toys. One week it may be Star Wars, the next week it could be Transformers.

Once the interest in Star Wars began, he then slowly stated accumulating Star Wars toys here and there. When his 5^th birthday and Christmas came around he was showered with Star Wars toys. He got the Captain Rex helmet, light sabers, a blaster, Star wars legos, X-Wing Fighter Plane, more fighter planes, and A LOT of figurines. Trent also got the Star Wars Trilogy. As most people know, Star Wars was filmed out of order. My generation saw episodes 4, 5 and 6 and then years later episodes 1, 2 and 3 came out. Well, if you know Trent, then you know there would be no way that he would listen to reason and watch the episodes in the order they came out. So, Uncle Jeff and Auntie got Trent episodes 1, 2 and 3. A few weeks later, I got him episodes 4, 5 and 6. Trent loved the episodes right from the beginning. He has seen each episode at least 10-15 times. He now watches them out of order, recites many many lines and can tell you which episode specific fight scenes happen in. It’s pretty crazy. He has a memory like Tim, which is a good thing.

This past weekend, Connor had a Star Wars themed birthday party and had a special appearance by Captain Rex from Star Wars. Trent was talking about this party for a week. He couldn’t wait to see Captain Rex. When Captain Rex walked into the party, Trent’s smile was so big. For an hour, Trent was enthralled with Captain Rex and listened to every command he made. It was a fun party and Trent will remember it for years to come.

I was never a big Star Wars fan, I don’t think I have seen an episode all the way through. Even though Star Wars isn’t my thing, I love that it’s Trent and he has such a love for it.

Captain Rex

Shooting the Blaster

Trent showing off his cool tattoo.

Father's Day

We had a bit of a busy, but fun Father’s Day weekend. On Saturday, Tim was able to go for a bike ride. He hit the snooze button a few too many times, but finally figured out what day it was and got up to go for a much needed ride. Trent and I got to sleep in, which is always nice. We went to Connor’s Star Wars Birthday party, which was awesome. Trent was so excited when Captain Rex from Star Wars showed up. Captain Rex entertained the kids for an hour and Trent loved every minute of it. In the evening, we celebrated Father’s Day with my Dad. We had a nice time chatting and enjoying the yummy pizza.

Sunday morning came early and when Trent finally woke up we gave Tim his gifts. He loved them. We surprised him with a Tommy Bahama shirt (finally one that fits) and a DZ Nuts cycling jersey (Love it!). We went on to church and then enjoyed the afternoon at John and Cindy’s. The kids played in the pool. Trent is for the most part water safe, so Tim and I don’t have to get in the pool with him, but we have to keep a watchful eye on him. He sometimes pushes off the wall with no plan and just likes to bob up and down, which makes his former lifeguard parents a little nervous. Trent loved going down the water slide and a few times did some nice big arm circles. We had a delicious dinner of ribs and lobster, which were specially requested by Henry. We had a relaxing Sunday afternoon and I think all the fathers had a great day.

I am truly grateful for the father Tim is to Trent. He is amazing. He loves every minute of the time he gets to spend with Trent. Trent has an awesome example of what a great father is in Tim. I knew Tim would be an amazing father, but he has definitely exceeded all my expectations. I am also grateful to my Dad for being a great father and Grandpa. Tim has a great example of a father in John and I thank him for setting a such a great example for his boys.

Tim, we love you! Hope you had a great Father's Day.

Tim's new Hawaiian shirt

A new cycling jersey

Having fun with Uncle Jeff in the pool.

Tim enjoying his day.

Kindergarten Graduation

The day finally came on Friday, June 18, 2010, when Trent graduated from Kindergarten. It was an exciting evening for all of us. Trent and his classmates had their graduation caps on and when their name was announced they walked down the aisle to get their certificate. Trent had the biggest smile on his face. Great Grandpa and Great Grandma Haase, Papa and Grandma Cindy, Grandma and Grandpa Wodke, Uncle Jeff, Auntie, Zachary and Madison and Uncle Scott and Aunt Fiona all came to see Trent graduate. It was great to have so much family there to share in this special occasion.

The Kindergarten class performed a few songs and poems. It is amazing how much kids can memorize. They all did a great job.

We were treated to a special performance of Cinderella the play. Trent was the King and did a great job with his lines. He really liked wearing the red and gold cape and would not stop playing with it. As always, all the kids did a great job.

After the ceremony, everyone came to our house for cake and ice cream. Grandma Jennifer got a cute Mickey Mouse cake. Trent loved it! Uncle Jeff, Auntie, Zachary and Madison gave Trent this huge balloon that sings (it will last for 50 days, oh joy!). Trent’s loves tapping the balloon and dancing. Trent also received some gift cards, which he will love using to buy toys (Star Wars, I'm sure)

All in all, it was a great evening. We are so blessed to have such a loving and supportive family. Trent you are one lucky kid! Congratulations on doing so well in Kindergarten. We love you so much and we can’t wait to see what the future holds for you.

A few pictures with Mommy and Daddy before heading off to the ceremony.

Our Graduate!

Trent as the King.

Where does the time go?

In January of 2006, Trent was 16 ½ months old and it was time he started at his Grandma’s preschool. I remember that first day as if it were yesterday. I opened the room to the Tigger’s class and he walked right in and started playing. Of course, like the paparazzi I am I had my camera in hand and starting taking some pictures of Trent exploring the 1 year old room. My friend Shawna worked at the preschool at the time and was working in the Tigger class, so I knew and trusted that Trent was in good hands. And, of course, Grandma was there, so everything would go just fine. I kissed Trent good bye and went off to work. I returned a few hours later and he was still as happy as can be. At the time, Trent only went to preschool two days a week for a few hours. My Dad watched Trent for a few hours the other two days and then we had our day on Friday. We had a great schedule for a few years.

In the summer of 2006, Trent moved into the Chipmunks class and fit right in. Potty training was introduced after he turned 2. He wasn’t so interested in it at first, but as time went on and with a lot of work from me and Teacher Alma Trent was potty trained in April of 2007.

Since Trent has an August birthday he moves up a class each summer. He moved into the Penguin class in the summer of 2007 when he was 3. Teacher Deanna was thrilled to have him in her class. The Penguin class had an art project each day along with some academics. They are preparing the kids for the 4 year old Teddy Bear class where they do a lot of academics and the real work begins. Trent loved doing gymnastics on Fridays and he also started computer classes, which were a lot of fun. While Trent was in the Penguin class he was now going to school 3 days a week for a few more hours. I would usually drop him off around 9am and pick him between 1-2pm. He wasn’t much of a napper at school, so I would bring him home to nap.

Summer 2008 came and Trent moved into the Teddy Bear class. When September came around it was suggested to me that Trent start going five days a week to school. That was going to be a big adjustment for me, Trent and my Dad. My Dad loved having Trent those few hours a week. I knew it had to be done, but it was hard at first. I loved my Dad watching Trent and I loved having our Fridays to do fun things. Our Disneyland trips were becoming less and less frequent. Trent has always loved going to school, so the change didn’t even faze him. The academics starting to pick up and Trent was doing well. He was now writing his name, simple words, the alphabet, and numbers. He was also reading sight words. It truly is amazing how much they can learn in one year. Alma, Suzanne and Jeremiah were great teachers and Trent loved being in the Teddy Bear class.

The time finally came in the summer of 2009, when Trent was moved into the Kindergarten class with Teacher Nancy. I won’t lie, I was a little nervous about how the academics were going to be with Teacher Nancy. Trent and 14 other kids started Kindergarten in September. I committed to volunteering every morning with the reading. We started the reading books on the first day, in typical Teacher Nancy style we jumped right in. I enjoyed my time with the kids and loved getting to know Trent’s classmates. Trent excelled in reading and by the end of the school year is reading at the 2^nd grade level. He can pick up a book now and start reading it. It is pretty amazing! Trent also did well in Chinese and really has an ear for the language. He also enjoyed math, but has to remember to slow down and count his fingers. A few years ago, Cindy started the Science Program where twice a month the kids get a lesson in science. Trent looks forward to those science days and he tells me and Tim that he wants to be a scientist. Trent is in his last two days of Kindergarten. He graduates on Friday and his class is putting on the Cinderella play where Trent will be the King. This year of Kindergarten has gone by so fast. I can’t believe in September, he will be starting 1^st grade at his new school. As I am writing this I am tearing up. It is hitting me that he is getting older and the time just goes by so quickly. I will miss knowing that Trent will be well taken care of at his Grandma’s school. I know he will be just fine at his new school, but there is something to your son going to his Grandma’s school. You feel a great sense of security and we are truly grateful for all that Cindy has done for Trent in his years at her school. He has received a wonderful education and the nurturing by his teachers and Grandma has helped shape him into the wonderful boy he is today.

For me it’s a bittersweet time. I am so proud of Trent and can’t wait to see what his new school has in store for him. I know he fit right in and do well. On the other hand, I wish I could just keep him in a safe little cocoon at Grandma’s school. Again, I am grateful for Trent’s 4 years at Grandma’s school and I know we will miss going there each day.

Trent on his first day of school in the Tigger class.

Trent on his first day of Kindergarten.

Welcome to the world of blogging

Today, when I came into the office it was like any other day so I thought. I opened up my usual websites and checked by Google reader and then the idea came to me…start my own blog. It was really weird. My husband has been trying to get me to start one for some time, but I have been resistant for one reason or another. Well, I guess the time has come. I am not sure what all I am going to write about, but I will figure it out. I think what I want to journal and document his little t’s adventures. A few years ago, I started writing a journal documenting our life. It started as a journal that I would give to little t when he was older, married and had children of his own. I wanted him to know what an amazing little boy he was and all the funny little things he did to make me and his Dad laugh. Unfortunately, life got in the way and I stopped journaling. My routine was to write a little bit each night, but that soon became every other night and the days just kept passing with no writing. So, today I am going to commit to journaling our life via the World Wide Web. Wish me luck!