Middlest's 7th birthday!

Here it is March 23, and I'm just writing about Middlest's birthday, which was on the seventh.  Poor middle child.  Always overlooked.

Her day started by asking for cinnamon toast for breakfast.  Who was I to refuse?

  

After lunch, it was time for the party.  She had wanted a gymnastics one, so we rented a local place here.  As it turned out, only two of her friends came.  The kids were off school the week before, so that may have had something to do with it.  But no one even replied that they weren't coming.  That part was disappointing, but she still had a blast with the two boys that showed up and her sisters.

Julie had made her a mermaid cake, which she loved.

The party was two hours, but only one hour of gymnastics.  Needless to say cake and presents didn't take an hour. So we brought along the Uno game.  It was intense.  

They all slept well that night though.  And Middlest said it was her best birthday ever, which is what really matters.

It is hard to believe she is seven though.  She is a lot of fun and has a quirky personality and an infectious giggle.  She has her own sense of style and doesn't care what others think.  The more animal prints the better.  She is incredibly smart and can't get her hands on enough books.  We are incredibly proud of her and love her to bits.  Later.

A month in the life of a dog

It appears I have a bit of catching up to do - over a month again.  Where to begin?

Let's start with the dog.  Yes, Rosie has had an eventful month.  And expensive.  The first major incident happened when Littlest was playing tug-of-war with her and dragging her around the kitchen.  They got tangled up with one of the bar stools at the island and I turned around to hear the crash, the crying and the yelping.  Littlest had a pretty good mark right across her ear which we didn't notice until the next day because her crying didn't last long.  She was more concerned with the puppy who was in a lot of pain.  When the yelping finally stopped, Rosie wasn't putting any weight on one of her front paws.  Eventually she put a little weight on it, but she was still limping pretty good.  We called the vet and decided to let her sleep on it.  The next day came and it wasn't any better, so we were off to the doctor.  It was decided that it wasn't broken, but was swollen and sore, so we went home with three days worth of anti-inflammatories and instructions for lots of rest.  After about six days, her limp was gone and she was running around being a puppy again.

Then most of the snow melted and revealed a lot of treasures that she had been depositing.  There was a lot of poop to clean up.  And there still is, but now we have a lot of snow again.  In the meantime though, the melt brought with it the revelation of grass.  Oh the sweet, sweet grass.  Grass that tastes so good.  Grass that tastes good enough to eat twice.  Grass that tastes good enough to pick out of poop.  It's not a pleasant sight to watch.  Sometimes I wonder about the thought process.  Eat...puke...walk away...come back...see the puke...eat again...puke...poop...eat...eww.  One night turned out to be worse than the others.  She found some grass that had gone to seed and had large husks on it.  She started choking and puking.  It is amazing the amount of food that can come out.  Anyway, after quite a while of this, she was not getting any better and could not seem to clear whatever was stuck in her throat.  So we called the vet (after hours).  After an exam, it was determined that the best course of action would be to sedate her and clean out whatever was bugging her.  It turns out she had all kinds of grass seeds and husks and fibers lodged around her tonsils.  You'd think she would learn after that, but no.  It was back to the grass the very next day.  I think I got all the stuff with seeds picked though.

The other story I am going to tell didn't cost any money.  It may not be for the faint of heart though.  It deals with poop again.  It is amazing how the whole puppy/baby similarity keeps coming up.  How many times did she poop?  Was it soft?  Runny?  Lots?  Just a little?  Why do we care so much?  Rosie seems to start the day with solid poops and they get softer throughout the day and some of the evening ones are down right runny.  I'll ask the vet about this again when she gets her next shots this week, but in the meantime I thought I would see what Dr. Google had to say.  It is amazing the amount of people out there talking about puppy poop.  And that have the same issue as Rosie.  But I'm getting off track, back to the story.  One cool evening just after dark I set out to walk Rosie.  I had mitts on, there was still some snow and ice in yards, but the sidewalks were clear.  We were about half way through our usual circuit when she stopped right in the middle of the dry sidewalk and proceeded to let out this big, nasty pile of scours.  (Did I mention that it was Julie who really wanted to get a puppy?)  I looked at this pile of liquid and at my little, plastic bag.  There was no way this was going to go well.  I took off my mitts, flipped the bag inside out and attempted to scrape up as much as possible.  It didn't go well.  I got some on my finger in the process, then Rosie pulled on the leash and I dropped my mitts in it.  I tried to kick some snow on it to clean it off the best I could, but the snow was basically ice and not very effective.  So I set off for the rest of the walk, holding my mitts gingerly, holding this steaming pile of liquid poo even more gingerly and trying not to think about what was on my finger.  Good times.

But hey, she must be worth it right?

Can she be any cuter?

Playing with Julie

They are both in there of their own free will (and it's not locked)

Floor snuggles

I guess this post is long enough.  I'll catch up with the kids in another one...or two.  Later

Dishes fun

I came home from Littlest's skating lesson Wednesday morning and started to get some lunch together.  I let Rosie out of her kennel and she was busy running around the kitchen.  Then I happened to notice a small puddle on the floor.  My first thought was, 'No Rosie, you've been so good.  It's been over a week since you had an accident.'  I grabbed some paper towel and started to wipe it up.  That's when I noticed the remarkably clear nature of this puddle.  It didn't look like pee.  Then I noticed a dark, wet grout line leading under the dishwasher (which I had started before we left that morning).  Great.  I took the bottom panel off and realized it was leaking on the clean water intake line somewhere, so I turned the tap off and stopped the drip before any damage was caused.  Later that afternoon, I pulled the dishwasher out to see if I could pinpoint the leak.  It was a bit hard to get at and required a flashlight to see properly.  After a few moments of laying on the ground with Littlest shining the flashlight everywhere except where it needed to be and Rosie crawling all over my face, I got up and pushed the dishwasher back into its hole.  Hopefully I'll get a chance to work on it alone this weekend.

In the meantime, the dishes still need to be done.  After supper on the first night, I informed Biggest and Middlest that they would be learning to do dishes.  They were all over it.  I got them set up and they had fun.  I heard such things as, 'This is awesome!' and 'Can we do this every day?' and 'This is fun.'  If this keeps up, we may never need to fix the dishwasher.  I'm guessing it won't though, but now it has been recorded so that I can show them this later and remind them of their youthful enthusiasm.  Silly girls.

hard at work

Last night, it was the same story.  Still having fun and asking to do it again.  I wonder how many days of this we have left.

dish pan hands

Sttrreettcchh

Still smiling

I'll keep you posted.  Any wagers as to how many days till we start getting complaints?  Later.

19 ways puppies are like babies

Everything on the Internet these days seems to be lists. 27 reasons for this, 13 ways to do that, 41 uses for those. So now that we have had our puppy Rosie for two weeks, I am beginning to realize that she is just like another child in the house. So here is my list. 

19 ways puppies are like babies:

1.  If it's on the floor, it's in their mouths. 

2.  If they can chew on it, they will. 

3.  They need constant supervision. 

4.  They will deprive you of sleep. 

5.  They will have you up at least once every night. At least once every single night. 

6.  They will deprive you of sleep. 

7.  They sleep in enclosures that they can't get out of. 

8.  They will get your attention when they are ready to be out of said enclosure. 

9.  You think a little nibble on your finger is cute and then OUCH! 

10. They are noisy eaters and drinkers. 

11. They are messy eaters and drinkers. 

12. You need to get as much done as you can while they are napping. 

13. You need to nap while they are napping. 

14. You will need to gate off sections of your house. 

15. They are always glad to see you. 

16. They are adorable when they're sleeping. (Why are you watching them sleep?  See #12 and #13)

17. Potty training. 

18. You will get exercise chasing after them. 

19. It is love at first sight. 

Later. 

Five years old! That's a whole hand!

I'm a few days late, but Littlest turned 5 this past Saturday.  Where do five years go?  Crazy.  I guess I started blogging shortly after she was born so I guess I could look back at where the years went.  At any rate, here are some of the highlights from the day:

Opening presents

Making fruit loop necklaces.

It's gonna be tasty.

One for the necklace...one for me.

Colorful plates.

Blowing out the candles!

Birthday night 'sleepover' with Middlest.

It took a long time before any sleeping happened, but you only turn 5 once.

As you can see, it was a great day and fun was had by all.  We rented the preschool for a couple hours and had some of her friends there for a party.  It is always easier to avoid having that many kids in the house.

At bedtime, I moved Middlest's mattress into Littlest's room so they could have a sleepover. I pulled Littlest's mattress onto the floor so they were on the same level and then the talking and giggling and talking and giggling ensued. Eventually there was some sleeping and they had fun.  Eventually everyone else got some sleep too. Later. 

No bull, we got a puppy

Our family added a new addition this past Saturday.  She is of the furry, four legged variety and we are all pretty taken with her.  I'll have to admit, I've been fighting this for quite a while.  But now that our little bundle is here, I am enjoying our decision.  For the most part anyway.  I don't know why we decided to enter the potty training realm again or why I'm getting up a couple of times in the night to let the dog out to pee, but this will pass and soon there will be less accidents on the kitchen floor and more dead spots on the lawn.  

So without further ado, here is Rosie:

It probably won't be long till she can't walk under the kitchen chairs anymore (half Burnese Mountain dog, half Lab/Pyrenees X Shepherd):

How could anyone not love her?

The two new friends hanging out:

The girls are all pretty skitterish when Rosie is in full-out puppy mode.  I'm trying to teach them that they are in charge and not the dog.  Littlest hears everything I tell her and then repeats it when she is talking to Rosie.  'Down Rosie!  I'm the boss of you!' and 'No Rosie, I'm not your chew toy!' are fairly common expressions now.  Littlest coined one of her own too when Rosie decides that she should bark:  'No Rosie, inside bark!'

As with all puppies, Rosie loves to chew.  On anything and everything.  I was in Pet Planet yesterday getting some new food and I asked about the rawhide looking chew things they had and if they were good for new puppies.  We always had dogs on the farm, but they pretty much fed themselves and definitely didn't get bones and chew toys bought for them, so this part is new to me.  The salesperson suggested this corkscrew shaped one, so I went with it.  Needless to say Rosie loved it.  I brought it home and she worked on it for half an hour straight.  I texted Julie a picture of Rosie working it over and she laughed and asked what they were made of.  I said I didn't know.  She suggested something and I told her she was crazy (but she was right).  I looked at the tag and it said 'bully stick.'  So I googled that.  Well, there's an eye opener.  If you had told me that I would be spending $8 on a dried piece of bull penis, I would have told you that you were nuts.  It really is a crazy world.  But she loves it and it is probably saving some children's toes and shoes, so will I buy another?  Probably.  I can't believe I just said that.

Later.

Life lesson #1

This is the first in (hopefully) a series of life lessons to be posted this year. 

Life lesson #1:  depth perception is impaired when looking through a paper towel roll 'telescope' 

Later.