Update on Sam

Sam is now home from the doggy hospital and doing as well as can be expected. He was supposed to stay at the clinic until later this afternoon to be evaluated but considering his temperament (or in other words a BIG baby) I was asked to get him early.

It was horrible heading back past two other dogs on the operating table to a small dark room where Sam, and several other recovering dogs, was staying. As soon as the door to the room was opened, Sam started to howl and wouldn't stop until everyone, including myself, was out of the room. He wasn't acting like himself. Now naturally he would be a little loopy after a 1 1/2 hour procedure, but he was very nippy and I was afraid of being bit. So I was asked to come back in an hour.

Not wanting to drive 30 minutes to home just to turn around, I wandered around a foreign grocery store hoping to check off one of today's tasks. Let me say that I hate shopping at stores that I don't know that lay out for and to make it worse I left my shopping list at home. I wasn't expecting to go shopping until later.

After an expensive food bill (and I forgot half of my list so I will end up spending more later, arg!) I headed back to the clinic. This time Sam would leave the confounds of his cage but still wanted nothing to do with me. He didn't want me near him until we got him out to the car and carefully (not wanting to be bit) onto a seat. Once in the car and all strangers were out of view, he finally needed me. I felt nice to be wanted but at the same time I was a little afraid of him. My sweet dog, and I was afraid.

We had a quiet drive home with plenty of time for me to figure out how I was going to get him and all 40 lbs of fur into the house. He did not want to be carried and can't walk. It was a very interesting experience that I do NOT want to repeat anytime soon.

So now that he is home and resting, I worry about the carrying outside to go potty, taking his pain killers, having the staples removed in two weeks, icing his knee 3 times a day and how to keep Livy from torturing him.

I hope that he will no longer be in pain once he is recovered, that he will be able to go on walks, and get up and down the stairs on his own. It is so hard to see a pet go through something like this. He is a good dog and I am SO attached to him. He has been my baby for so many years while I was going through infertility treatments. I even threw him birthday parties before I had Livy.

Okay, I need to stop crying now. He really is fine, I simple hate seeing him like this.

Wordless Wednesday: Sam

This is Sam. He is having knee surgery today.

Don't forget to check out my giveaway! Here

Is it time? Oh yeah!

For months I have been talking to Livy about using the potty. When she was able to sit up, I purchased a small potty and I would have her sit on it. I wouldn't expect anything, except to get her acquainted with it. I would bring it to her attention each time she was making a BM and show her the signs for it. Also telling her that mommy or daddy makes their pee-pee and poo-poos on the potty (to associate that that is where big people do it).

Yesterday, I had an extremely proud moment as a mother. After I put the daycare children down for naps, Livy came running to me frantically. She quickly signed stinky and headed off to the bathroom. Once in there, I got her on the potty where she did a BM. I was so excited that she has made that connection and even more importantly that she was able to tell me before she went.

So it is official, I am starting to potty train my 15 month old! I know that many people would feel that this is simply too young. But like many things in the child development world, there is a window of opportunity when children are ready to learn something new. Why wait until she is 2 1/2 and in the habit of going in her pants? One of my biggest pet peeves as a daycare professional is when potential daycare parents tell me that there child (who is 3!) is not interested in the potty yet and they will wait to start training. Or with their 2 1/2 yr old they are not going to introduce the potty for another year! Why wait! My only guess is that either they have never potty trained a child (I do have an advantage of potty training countless children over the years and working on three boys now) or maybe they like to change diapers. Not me! The sooner we are out of diapers (at least during the day) the better!

So today we are off to a great start. Livy woke up, I sat her on the potty (where she went) and in an hour I will put her on the potty again. My goal is to have her mostly potty trained by September when she turns 18 months.

Getting the lid open
Putting the little potty on.
Getting the step stool out
Trying to pull down her shorts.

Livy has been watching the daycare kids go potty. Early Tuesday morning I caught her in the bathroom going through all of the steps that she sees the daycare kids do.

Summer Flowers

I LOVE flowers! There is something about a well groomed garden that is very pleasing to me. I have been working on my garden for several years now. You wouldn't be able to tell that with the sparse flowers. Last fall I tore everything up and reworked the soil, and later replanted a few things. I am very pleased with this year's flowers and looking forward to planting more!
My Turkish Poppy. I was trying to purchase a vibrant red Oriental Poppy, but I am having a harder time finding one.
My rose garden. As related to this post and this post. It looks fantastic compared to what the photo is capable of showing. In front of the roses I planted some Yarrow which has taken over! It will have to be thinned or the garden widened.
As I was out water the drive strip this morning, I noticed how gorgeous this bush was! And the smell....mmmmm!

Old fashioned bleeding hearts. I have also had the pink variety.
My light pink Iris. I have been waiting for two years for this to bloom having no idea what color it would be and it is wonderful. I also have some pure white ones. A neighbor across the street who is a breeder, and gave these to me.

Middle of the Night

Every so often I have "freak-outs" at night. The first time that I remember it happening was four years ago after we moved into our house. Eduardo and I were sound asleep when I woke suddenly and couldn't figure out who was in bed with me. I jumped up and grabbed the nearest article of clothing that I could find and ran out into the playroom. I remember standing there alone in the dark thinking that there was a stranger in my bed. Soon I realized where I was and that it was only my sweet husband in bed with me.

The second time was very similar except it wasn't a stranger in my bed but my brother. It didn't take me as long to realize that my brother was far away in his own bed and Eduardo with me in mine.

Back in April when there was heavy helicopter traffic trying to find a local girl that was kidnapped, I woke up thinking that it was an alien invasion. It had finally happened, I was going to be abducted.

The most recent happened Wednesday night. The first time I was woken up I heard the thunder at 1 AM, and I did the only logical thing to dart right out of bed and start freaking out that it was an earthquake. How Eduardo sleeps through any of my night time freak-outs is beyond me! It took me a good 5 minutes to wake-up enough to realize that we had a pretty heavy storm and it was only thunder.

Does anyone else have middle of the night freak-out sessions, where you simple can't figure out what is going on for a time?