I would have to disagree about rabbits being solitary creatures. I beleive they do enjoy some interaction, but your is probably getting some from the duck, even if they seem to ignore each other. I will say that nuetering him would be a good idea. I have a female Holland lop. We got her spayed before she was a year old. She kinda went crazy when she went into her first heat - lunging at us when we would feed her, grunting at us, pulling her hair out (to make a nest etc). All of this behavior stopped once we got her spayed. She is over all a more well adjusted bunny. Hell, I wish I could get rid of my hormones now and again. She is 4 years old now and when people meet her they say "Wow, she is so relaxed and sweet, most rabbits are so skitish". I truely believe this is due to getting her spayed. A friend of mine rescued to male bunnies a couple of months ago. We have no idea how old they are, the vet guessed in the 2 year old range. We got the first one nuetered a few weeks ago and have seen an instant improvement in his temperment. Now we just have to get the other one nuetered so they will stop having pissing contest, I swear they try and see who can spray the furthest. On that note I will say it sounds like you are doing just fine by your bunny. I worry more about bunnies that are out in an outdoor hutch all day with NO interaction what so ever with animal or people. But if you did decide to add a friend (which I just did 3 months ago) I would recommend nuetering your male and adding a spayed female. Male and female sets tend to bond better. But even then it doesn't always work out. I am thinking next time I am going to work out something with a rescue group where I can "test drive" bunnies until I find one that clicks with my current bunny. I am not sure that our princess (read spoiled brat) is ever going to bond with the new friend I brought home. Currently she just turns her back on her or thumps her feet and runs off. We'll see Kat

Thanks for the advice so far- it is very helpful. Paigect, we had considered moving closer to his kids a year ago, but it is not an option right now because of our jobs. There are also issues with his ex harrassing him (obscene phone calls and the like) and it seems that the stress level for my fiance is lower with him living away from her. I am not clear as to how much the autistic child depends on his father as part of his routine. When he was in my house, the child was very stressed and wanted to leave the whole weekend to go home, although we did everything possible to keep him occupied. Because of this, I believe it is just too disruptive to him to be traveled. He also acted the same way in his grandparents' house for the first few months until he adjusted to the routine there. But, because of the severity of his condition, I do not know if he would even notice the difference between monthly and twice-monthly visits. I don't want to make that assumption having never been exposed to a developmentally disabled child, but it seems to me that an infant would notice her dad gone more than he will. When he was here, his father did most of the caretaking, but because the autistic child needs so much supervision, I ended up taking care of the girl the whole time and cooking all meals for the family, etc. which was hard because I had been working all week and had no down time(my job demands a lot of me during the week). It is true that I have not been as active as I should be with going with my fiance to visit his kids at his parents'. This has been largely due to my pregnancy, but I do agree that after the baby is born I could, and plan to, take a more active role in going up there with him and spending time with the kids. The baby's grandparents will want to see her, regardless, and it is important to me that we are providing them with that opportunity. My fiance is trying to make alternate arrangments with his brother to bring the kids to the brother's house once a month to alleviate the stress on his ill mother. I hope his brother will accomodate this. I feel that it is not only exhausting to the grandma and to me to have him driving so far every weekend, but to my fiance to make this trip twice a month. Once a month would be more managable, and there is no reason why a 13 year old could not take the train here alone (after a practice run with dad). I also agree that he feels a great deal of guilt for the situation his children are in due to having divorced parents and probably overcompensating. Compounding it, is his ex wife not handling the situation very well. She has been living with someone else for longer than we have been together, but seems to be very jealous that her ex is doing fine without her and about to start a family with someone new. I have never met or talked to her and prefer to keep it that way, and my fiance tries to keep a business-type relationship with her. However, she has been feeding information to the daughter that her father will not want to see her and the son anymore once the baby is born, and this has created jealously between the daughter and the baby even though the baby is not born. I can only hope that the daughter will grow out of this or that the jealousy will be smaller once she meets her little sister. I do not know if it is normal behavior for a 13 year old to express such extreme jealousy toward a baby sister (she tells her dad that he is ruining her life by having this baby, that she was happy being the only girl, that she hates the baby). Otherwise, she is well behaved with me and I have enjoyed having her here the 2 times she came to visit. I have a wonderful relationship with my stepmother and hope that over time we will, too. The ex wife is sure to be very unhappy if we try to reduce the amount of time he is picking up the autistic son, as she seems to want to go out to bars and party a great deal, and cannot find another babysitter. It seems strange to me that she never wants her kids on the holidays. What she thinks matters very little to me, but the fact that she drags the girl into it makes the situation harder. To me, it is not appropriate to say anything negative about the other parent in front of the child. I believe that my fiance has a certain level of fear that she will try to take the kids away from him (which is ridiculous, he is a wonderful father to those kids and she would have no grounds in court). It is a complicated situation, and I just don't want to be selfish and whiny about it. I understand that there are real challenges associated with marrying a man is divorced with kids from a previous marriage, but I also believe very strongly that my baby deserves a normal life, and I don't want my only baby to miss out on time with her father. Again, I have no idea how much an infant needs her father but I expect that being away from home 2 weekends a month would interfere with their bonding. I can handle a great deal here on my own, and he does work very hard to contribute to this household while he is here, but to be gone so much seems excessive. All of this, I have discussed with my fiance, and he understands, but I can tell he feels a great deal of guilt and I don't want to make him abandon his children. Just the opposite. I just want to make sure I am not out of line for feeling this way because I don't want to make the situation even more unfair for all involved when there are 3 kids this affects. Any more opinions on this, I would really enjoy hearing- and thanks again for the input.

We were invited to the mountains to spend Thanksgiving with friends, and then another friend invited us to come spend the day with them and their family...both of which we declined. Bob just doesn't feel up to going and socializing in a group of people these days.. We had a large Thanksgiving gathering at church on Sunday and that was a delight.... and everyone had a really great time. There are so many folks we love to spend time with, and do on occasion, but with Bob's failing health, he prefers to stay home more and more.. So, today I have a turkey in the oven, complete with stuffing, and U have bread rising, a broccoli casserole ready for the oven, and butternut squash and mashed potatos ready.. and so all we need to do is make the gravy and put the bread in to bake. I have New england butternut squash pie and an apple pie made.... and the table is set with table cloth, napkins and candles...so it will be a wonderful day. Our family used to have those "Norman Rockwell" Holiday dinners when I was growing up. We really enjoyed them, but then everyone now is scattered all over the country and so we don't see much of that anymore...tis a pity..... We have so very much to be thankful for... our love for one another, and God's Grace and the bounty He blesses us with each and every day. That's what Thanksgiving is to us ...Praising our Lord. Carolyn

I took a trip. I'm not going to sit around and be sad and feel sorry for myself. I found a trip that interested me and went and had as great. I'l probably do the same next year. Find something that you want to do, and do it!