Playing catch up

Well, where should I start? Since Mike returned from NTC, we've been catching up on family time. Nothing too, exciting, a trip to the zoo, park, and lots of playing. We have a new addition to our family, Max the cat. Ivie is in love with him. We adopted max from the Humane Society when he was just 8 weeks old. I don't think I've ever seen a kitty so small. We lost him in the house few times because he's so tiny. He's almost 12 weeks now and is growing rather well. He is becoming rather frisky and seems to be growing too. Ivie can be a bit overwhelming with him, but we;re working on teaching her to be gentle and treat him like a little baby! He's a trooper though and has endured many trips around the house in her little hands, snuggles, kisses, head butts, and Elly's little hands grabbing fistfuls of fur, ears and his tail!
We've been dog-sitting my friends Golden Retriever, Cali, the past 2 weeks and have been enjoying her company. The dog and cat get along quite well; Max even provokes Cali to play! Cali is the best dog I have ever had the pleasure of spending time with. She tolerates everything the girls dish out and then some! She's great company for me while Mike is at work! Cali has learned the best seat in the house is next to Elly's chair at the kitchen table. Ivie found Cali's treats and I found her hand feeding Cali nearly half of the treats in her treat box! Cali will be leaving us in a couple of days, and we'll all be sad to see her go.
Elly has big news: her two front teeth have popped through! The same day they broke through, she welcomed them with a big face plant on the floor and cut her top lip. She will be 11 months in a few days and I can hardly believe how quickly this past year has gone! She still seems like such a baby, but I think that watching Ivie and all she can do, say, sing, etc. makes Elly seem more like that.
Ivie is singing a lot more. She has her own little version of many popular toddler songs and it's adorable to hear her. All four of Ivie's 2 year molars are in and she seems to be more and more like a big girl everyday, except for the potty training. She's still not ready yet, or so she says. I really would like to potty train her before winter (so as not to have to deal with all the bulky clothes) but I can only move at her pace.
Mike will have his block leave soon, and we decided to just stay here in CO and enjoy time with our little family, as well as do some work around the house. We've talked about a trip to Denver for a couple of days, but we;ll see what time allows. It'll be a nice change to enjoy our time off here in the great CO, but we'll definitely miss our family back in MI. I've heard the fishing hasn't been too hot at lake George, so I guess we really won't miss out on anything too important!