It's crazy to think that it's already been 5 years since we rescued Buster and Lady, and that both dogs will be 9 very soon!
Both dogs are doing well, and right now are just exhibiting age-related problems. Lady's arthritis flares up a little more frequently than before, and she's had a few days recently where she's been on restrictions and not able to play as often as she would like. Buster's pinched nerve acts up occasionally, but a little bracing helps resolve that.
They will constantly "battle" each other, one shoving the other out of the way for the preferred spot on the couch next to me, or the preferred spot in the sun that comes in through the doors and windows. They really love Judith, and love her even more when she'll drop something during meals and snacks. Both dogs, but especially Buster, love their blankets, and any blanket is fair game for burrowing. If you can't find one of the dogs laying in the sun, it's a good bet that they're snuggled in a little blanket nest!
Happy 5th Gotcha Day, Buster & Lady!
Showing posts with label lady. Show all posts
Showing posts with label lady. Show all posts
Friday, July 18, 2014
Friday, February 21, 2014
Update on Buster and Lady
I haven't had a post dedicated to them in a while, and now's a good time to do it since we had their well dog checks yesterday.
4.5 years ago when we adopted them and met their foster family to pick them up for our trip home, their foster mom gave us some good advice: "Don't overstuff Buster." I knew from the pictures that Buster was a bit on the bulkier side, and it didn't take long to figure out that he's highly food motivated. Lady was tall and long, but very lean since she had the energy of a roadrunner on high doses of caffeine. I can say without a doubt that I never thought the tables would be turned and it would be Lady who was the one being overstuffed!
Buster's maintained his weight well, and is just over 22 lbs. Lady, on the other hand, gained a whopping 5 lbs since last year's check, and tipped the scales at 27 lbs 7 oz. We've had some issues with her bullying Buster for his dinner, so we're going to have to go back to feeding them separately so she stops doing that. Of course having a 3 year old who thinks it's hilarious to toss food to them whenever she thinks I'm not looking isn't helping either.
Besides the weight issue, Lady's been having a lot of problems with her eye, and we're at the point that we knew would eventually come. There's basically zero tear production in there anymore. There was barely any production there to begin with, but the artificial tears aren't cutting it and her eye is dry within 5-10 minutes of an application regardless of how often I apply it (and right now, it's rather frequent since the air's so dry). We got a stronger drop that's lubricating her eye more, and I noticed a huge difference this morning. We're still doing the artificial tears in between applications on the stronger drops, but I'm hoping this will help minimize some of the inflammation and keep a good amount of moisture in her eye.
It really wasn't a bad appointment, and overall both dogs are healthy and doing well. They got their booster shots, and we're going to go back in a month for the heartworm clinic so we can start the Heartguard for the year.
4.5 years ago when we adopted them and met their foster family to pick them up for our trip home, their foster mom gave us some good advice: "Don't overstuff Buster." I knew from the pictures that Buster was a bit on the bulkier side, and it didn't take long to figure out that he's highly food motivated. Lady was tall and long, but very lean since she had the energy of a roadrunner on high doses of caffeine. I can say without a doubt that I never thought the tables would be turned and it would be Lady who was the one being overstuffed!
Buster's maintained his weight well, and is just over 22 lbs. Lady, on the other hand, gained a whopping 5 lbs since last year's check, and tipped the scales at 27 lbs 7 oz. We've had some issues with her bullying Buster for his dinner, so we're going to have to go back to feeding them separately so she stops doing that. Of course having a 3 year old who thinks it's hilarious to toss food to them whenever she thinks I'm not looking isn't helping either.
Besides the weight issue, Lady's been having a lot of problems with her eye, and we're at the point that we knew would eventually come. There's basically zero tear production in there anymore. There was barely any production there to begin with, but the artificial tears aren't cutting it and her eye is dry within 5-10 minutes of an application regardless of how often I apply it (and right now, it's rather frequent since the air's so dry). We got a stronger drop that's lubricating her eye more, and I noticed a huge difference this morning. We're still doing the artificial tears in between applications on the stronger drops, but I'm hoping this will help minimize some of the inflammation and keep a good amount of moisture in her eye.
It really wasn't a bad appointment, and overall both dogs are healthy and doing well. They got their booster shots, and we're going to go back in a month for the heartworm clinic so we can start the Heartguard for the year.
Monday, November 4, 2013
Halloween, Flooring, and A Birthday
We had a fun Halloween, even though the weather was unseasonably warm and a bit rainy! Judith went to houses on 2 blocks before she tired out, and she got a decent amount of candy. She was so excited to trick or treat, and kept asking me if she could "go to Halloween"! She's still in love with her Sofia the First costume, and I have a feeling she might insist on wearing it to her birthday party in December (I'm planning a Sofia theme for her).
Over the weekend, she visited her great-grandparents and did some trick or treating with them. That worked out perfectly, because she was able to stay with my parents for a bit while John & I stayed at the house and worked on some other things while the contractor finished laying our wood floors. I'm glad that project is done, and the flooring looks great! Eventually we want to rip the carpeting off the steps and redo that, and I'd love to lay wood in both bedrooms. We also want to put tile in the upstairs bathroom (to get rid of the hideous '80s linoleum). This'll likely be an ongoing thing, but it'll help update things!
While the contractors were here, I decided to work on the laundry that was piling up. Let's just say I learned a good lesson about not overloading the washing machine, because I managed to cause the suspension rod to disconnect, and it created the most awful thudding in the washer. I had a pretty large load to begin with, but there must've been more stray clothes in the washer before I dumped the basket in so it was a really heavy load. Luckily John came to the rescue on Sunday and was able to fix it, and now it's running much better! I was sweating bullets trying to figure out how to get all of my laundry done without a functioning washer, and kept thinking that if we had to call a repair person that it wouldn't cost an arm and a leg to fix.
Yesterday we celebrated another birthday! Miss Lady is now 8 years old, and acts like she's still 4. I noticed that she's becoming a bit arthritic, particularly when it's been so cold, so it makes playing a bit of a challenge at times. I've also noticed that she's starting to slow down a bit, but when she has a ball, stick, or other toy to fetch she goes full throttle, and shows the lively spark that's always been there! It's hard to believe the dogs are already 8, but we're thankful that they're healthy and doing well despite their "senior dog" status.
Thursday, July 18, 2013
Happy 4th Gotcha Day!
Another year has passed, and we're celebrating the 4th anniversary of adopting Buster and Lady! They really are a great and fun addition to our family, even though they drive me nuts sometimes.
Overall, they're doing well, but I can tell that they're senior dogs and are starting to show some age-related problems. In the last year, Lady has injured her shoulder a few times after playing too hard, and the recurring soft tissue injury requires her to be on confinement for a certain amount of time. Naturally she can't stand that, and gets upset with me because she's not allowed to play and has to rest. She still has an insane passion for balls, sticks, frisbees, and anything else that can be chased, but she does tire out a little faster sometimes, and I think she might be developing some minor arthritis in her joints. Buster's been suffering from periodic flare ups of a pinched nerve in his neck, and when he has problems we have to put his doggy neck brace (that our vet showed us how to make using a towel - it's pretty neat!) to help stabilize things so he can get some relief.
Buster's still as snuggly as ever, and like I said earlier Lady still enjoys playing! They love to go for car rides, sleep, bark at the neighborhood dogs and assorted wildlife, eat, and come to us for a good scratch behind the ears. They're much better about leaving Judith's toys alone, but they're not as good about leaving her food alone. Buster in particular will follow Judith around anywhere if she has food in her hands, and she's also prone to toss him things because she thinks it's funny (we're working on that with both of them, and this is the major reason why she doesn't get anything that could be toxic to them unless they're in a separate room). I am very pleased that they are tolerant with her, and patient with me as I work with Judith to treat them with respect.
We truly enjoy having them as a part of our family, and are blessed to have 2 great dogs!
Happy Gotcha Day, Buster and Lady!
Overall, they're doing well, but I can tell that they're senior dogs and are starting to show some age-related problems. In the last year, Lady has injured her shoulder a few times after playing too hard, and the recurring soft tissue injury requires her to be on confinement for a certain amount of time. Naturally she can't stand that, and gets upset with me because she's not allowed to play and has to rest. She still has an insane passion for balls, sticks, frisbees, and anything else that can be chased, but she does tire out a little faster sometimes, and I think she might be developing some minor arthritis in her joints. Buster's been suffering from periodic flare ups of a pinched nerve in his neck, and when he has problems we have to put his doggy neck brace (that our vet showed us how to make using a towel - it's pretty neat!) to help stabilize things so he can get some relief.
Buster's still as snuggly as ever, and like I said earlier Lady still enjoys playing! They love to go for car rides, sleep, bark at the neighborhood dogs and assorted wildlife, eat, and come to us for a good scratch behind the ears. They're much better about leaving Judith's toys alone, but they're not as good about leaving her food alone. Buster in particular will follow Judith around anywhere if she has food in her hands, and she's also prone to toss him things because she thinks it's funny (we're working on that with both of them, and this is the major reason why she doesn't get anything that could be toxic to them unless they're in a separate room). I am very pleased that they are tolerant with her, and patient with me as I work with Judith to treat them with respect.
We truly enjoy having them as a part of our family, and are blessed to have 2 great dogs!
Happy Gotcha Day, Buster and Lady!
Friday, April 26, 2013
What A Week
It's been interesting, and I blame full moon. It always baffles me how such a natural occurrence can make people and animals go bat crap crazy.
Judith has been a whiny mess for most of the week. I do think part of the problem are the pesky molars that still have not cut through her gums. She is gnawing on things more than she previously was, so I'm hoping we're nearing the end of teething.
Last Friday my poor little peanut was so constipated and so tanked up on miralax that I didn't know what to do to give her relief. She finally was able to go mid-morning, and for the last week her diapers have been rather interesting. It's been a long time since we've burned through so many diapers in a day, but I'm glad she's cleaning her system out. On top of that, she started coughing again. It's not anything super serious like a respiratory infection, but it's happening more than normal. I just wish I knew what I could do for her to help make it better, and I wish I knew if it was allergies or something else.
Sometime next week we'll get Judith's 4th pair of frames since she got her glasses last September. It's not a bad break, and the same thing happened this time as the last time: the coiled wire piece that wraps around her ear unraveled and weakened, but this time it actually snapped off. John and I are trying to keep it taped so she has her glasses for the weekend. I wish I would've realized it was that bad yesterday so they could've called in the order and had them in the office faster (last time they had the frames there within 24 hours). This is yet another time when I'm grateful that her ophthalmologist has that 1 year warranty on the frames!
The dogs have kept me on my toes as well. I'm almost convinced that Lady is starting to develop some arthritis in the shoulder that she injured a few times (I jokingly call it a sports injury, since it usually happens when she's playing). She started limping early in the week, and I had to restrict her play times so she could rest the shoulder a little more. Lady still gets rather pissy when this happens, but she's also a little better at accepting it. Buster's having allergy issues, and keeps reverse sneezing frequently. Poor pup is so itchy, too.
I was able to snap a cute picture on Wednesday, so since I forgot to do a Wordless Wednesday post I'll share it now. I like to call it "breakfast with a friend":
Judith has been a whiny mess for most of the week. I do think part of the problem are the pesky molars that still have not cut through her gums. She is gnawing on things more than she previously was, so I'm hoping we're nearing the end of teething.
Last Friday my poor little peanut was so constipated and so tanked up on miralax that I didn't know what to do to give her relief. She finally was able to go mid-morning, and for the last week her diapers have been rather interesting. It's been a long time since we've burned through so many diapers in a day, but I'm glad she's cleaning her system out. On top of that, she started coughing again. It's not anything super serious like a respiratory infection, but it's happening more than normal. I just wish I knew what I could do for her to help make it better, and I wish I knew if it was allergies or something else.
Sometime next week we'll get Judith's 4th pair of frames since she got her glasses last September. It's not a bad break, and the same thing happened this time as the last time: the coiled wire piece that wraps around her ear unraveled and weakened, but this time it actually snapped off. John and I are trying to keep it taped so she has her glasses for the weekend. I wish I would've realized it was that bad yesterday so they could've called in the order and had them in the office faster (last time they had the frames there within 24 hours). This is yet another time when I'm grateful that her ophthalmologist has that 1 year warranty on the frames!
The dogs have kept me on my toes as well. I'm almost convinced that Lady is starting to develop some arthritis in the shoulder that she injured a few times (I jokingly call it a sports injury, since it usually happens when she's playing). She started limping early in the week, and I had to restrict her play times so she could rest the shoulder a little more. Lady still gets rather pissy when this happens, but she's also a little better at accepting it. Buster's having allergy issues, and keeps reverse sneezing frequently. Poor pup is so itchy, too.
I was able to snap a cute picture on Wednesday, so since I forgot to do a Wordless Wednesday post I'll share it now. I like to call it "breakfast with a friend":
Friday, January 4, 2013
Meds are DONE
The last dose of bactrum was given this evening, so now we wait to see what the reculture yields. I'm not super optimistic about this one because of the battles over the last 2 weeks, so we'll see what our next steps will be.
In the meantime, we've been having some fun around the house, and Judith's been parroting everything we say (literally - this was quite obvious on New Year's day when she echoed "Oh shit!" seconds after my mom said it). She is absolutely obsessed with the dogs, and is constantly laying her head on them to give them hugs and asking for "tisses" (kisses). Lady has been getting a few extra workouts since Judith started chasing her, and especially loves when Judith leaves smaller toys laying around so she can steal them, bringing them to me to throw, and instead having them confiscated so they don't get littered with teeth marks.
I also started thinking about some "upgrades" we could make in the living room, mainly in terms of toy storage, and to give Judith an area to do activities. Once the tree is down, I want to get a storage system to put her toys in so we can be a little more organized, and also so I can weed through stuff that she doesn't play with anymore or is too young for her. There's a very nice storage system at Ikea that I want to get, and this will give me an excuse to finally make a trip to that store so I can say that I've been to one! The other thing that's catching my eye is a toddler table and chair set. There are 2 options that I like, and both would make a nice addition to our main room (in place of the Pack-n-Play). It's giving me something positive to look forward to, and I can't wait to hopefully set this in motion soon.
In the meantime, we've been having some fun around the house, and Judith's been parroting everything we say (literally - this was quite obvious on New Year's day when she echoed "Oh shit!" seconds after my mom said it). She is absolutely obsessed with the dogs, and is constantly laying her head on them to give them hugs and asking for "tisses" (kisses). Lady has been getting a few extra workouts since Judith started chasing her, and especially loves when Judith leaves smaller toys laying around so she can steal them, bringing them to me to throw, and instead having them confiscated so they don't get littered with teeth marks.
I also started thinking about some "upgrades" we could make in the living room, mainly in terms of toy storage, and to give Judith an area to do activities. Once the tree is down, I want to get a storage system to put her toys in so we can be a little more organized, and also so I can weed through stuff that she doesn't play with anymore or is too young for her. There's a very nice storage system at Ikea that I want to get, and this will give me an excuse to finally make a trip to that store so I can say that I've been to one! The other thing that's catching my eye is a toddler table and chair set. There are 2 options that I like, and both would make a nice addition to our main room (in place of the Pack-n-Play). It's giving me something positive to look forward to, and I can't wait to hopefully set this in motion soon.
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Nerves
Don't let the title deceive you: I'm not nervous, although the toddler behavior around here lately has been getting on my nerves. This post is actually about the dogs, namely Buster, and his nerves.
A couple weeks ago, Lady re-aggravated an old soft tissue injury in her shoulder, and I think it's to the point where she's getting arthritic. Buster was not very understanding of the pain she was in, and insisted on playing with her like he normally does. Since Lady was put on confinement to rest and heal, she's been doing a lot of licking and cleaning of Buster, particularly the gross-sounding deep cleaning of his ear canals. The pattern continued last week, and it was starting to make Buster itchy.
Last Thursday, during one of his "scratch fests," Buster was having a grand time itching his ears when he suddenly yelped in pain. I didn't think too much of it, figuring he scratched too much and developed a raw spot. I didn't think much of it, and we went to bed as normal, figuring whatever it was would be better in the morning after some rest.
Friday rolled around, and Buster kept acting stranger and stranger as the day went on. He acted like he wanted to scratch, but couldn't. He was sitting in odd positions, and wasn't even begging for food from Judith (a rarity, as he usually stakes out the best spot under the high chair to catch as much of the thrown food as he can). He kept sitting and twisting himself into a crescent shape, resting his head on the back of the couch. Any time I tried to pet him and got too close to the base of his right ear, he would let out a loud yelp and would shake from the pain. I noticed his breath smelled really bad as well, and thought that maybe he had a toothache or was getting ready to lose another tooth (back story: one or both of the dogs, but I suspect it's only Buster, lost 2 teeth over the last year). Buster started acting stranger and stranger while I was doing Judith's vest therapy, and barely went to the door to greet John when he came home from work. Dinner was offered, and he refused to eat until I hand fed him some mashed potatoes and veggies. Once we went to bed, he was so restless, kept yelping in pain, and kept us up most of the night.
With no improvement overnight, I called the vet Saturday morning. We were able to get him an appointment quickly, and I was bracing myself for a big vet bill and a possible overnight stay for either surgery to extract a tooth or teeth or something else. I also knew I had to separate Buster and Lady for the first time since we officially adopted them. The short car ride to the vet was not fun: Buster sat on the seat and violently shook from nervousness and fear that I would take him somewhere and leave him. I kept reassuring him that he would come home, that he wasn't leaving us and we weren't abandoning him, etc. Once he realized we were going to the vet and he saw where we were, he was fine and actually enjoyed some of the individualized attention. Anyway, I described the symptoms to the vet, and he diagnosed Buster with a pinched nerve. I was relieved that it wasn't anything super serious, but was also kind of bummed that it's not something that can easily be fixed and would go away after antibiotics or another quick treatment.
The vet showed us how to make an improvised cervical collar. Obviously they don't make these for dogs, so we basically take a long towel, fold it to fit Buster's shape, and tape it up to help immobilize his neck. It definitely helps, and we've seen improvement, but needless to say Buster is less than thrilled with it. He needs to wear it for at least a week, and then we can put it on him as needed since the issue will probably flare up every now and then.
A couple weeks ago, Lady re-aggravated an old soft tissue injury in her shoulder, and I think it's to the point where she's getting arthritic. Buster was not very understanding of the pain she was in, and insisted on playing with her like he normally does. Since Lady was put on confinement to rest and heal, she's been doing a lot of licking and cleaning of Buster, particularly the gross-sounding deep cleaning of his ear canals. The pattern continued last week, and it was starting to make Buster itchy.
Last Thursday, during one of his "scratch fests," Buster was having a grand time itching his ears when he suddenly yelped in pain. I didn't think too much of it, figuring he scratched too much and developed a raw spot. I didn't think much of it, and we went to bed as normal, figuring whatever it was would be better in the morning after some rest.
Friday rolled around, and Buster kept acting stranger and stranger as the day went on. He acted like he wanted to scratch, but couldn't. He was sitting in odd positions, and wasn't even begging for food from Judith (a rarity, as he usually stakes out the best spot under the high chair to catch as much of the thrown food as he can). He kept sitting and twisting himself into a crescent shape, resting his head on the back of the couch. Any time I tried to pet him and got too close to the base of his right ear, he would let out a loud yelp and would shake from the pain. I noticed his breath smelled really bad as well, and thought that maybe he had a toothache or was getting ready to lose another tooth (back story: one or both of the dogs, but I suspect it's only Buster, lost 2 teeth over the last year). Buster started acting stranger and stranger while I was doing Judith's vest therapy, and barely went to the door to greet John when he came home from work. Dinner was offered, and he refused to eat until I hand fed him some mashed potatoes and veggies. Once we went to bed, he was so restless, kept yelping in pain, and kept us up most of the night.
With no improvement overnight, I called the vet Saturday morning. We were able to get him an appointment quickly, and I was bracing myself for a big vet bill and a possible overnight stay for either surgery to extract a tooth or teeth or something else. I also knew I had to separate Buster and Lady for the first time since we officially adopted them. The short car ride to the vet was not fun: Buster sat on the seat and violently shook from nervousness and fear that I would take him somewhere and leave him. I kept reassuring him that he would come home, that he wasn't leaving us and we weren't abandoning him, etc. Once he realized we were going to the vet and he saw where we were, he was fine and actually enjoyed some of the individualized attention. Anyway, I described the symptoms to the vet, and he diagnosed Buster with a pinched nerve. I was relieved that it wasn't anything super serious, but was also kind of bummed that it's not something that can easily be fixed and would go away after antibiotics or another quick treatment.
The vet showed us how to make an improvised cervical collar. Obviously they don't make these for dogs, so we basically take a long towel, fold it to fit Buster's shape, and tape it up to help immobilize his neck. It definitely helps, and we've seen improvement, but needless to say Buster is less than thrilled with it. He needs to wear it for at least a week, and then we can put it on him as needed since the issue will probably flare up every now and then.
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Happy Gotcha Day, Buster & Lady!
It's been 3 years since we adopted Buster and Lady, and I can't believe how time has flown! I am so pleased at how well both dogs do with Judith, especially now that she's mobile. Judith adores both of them, and loves to pat them and say their nicknames (Dee and Boo), although she still confuses them sometimes.
Buster is as snuggly as ever, and is still perfectly content laying tight against you or being scratched (poor guy's allergies have been bad this year, and he's very itchy, so he does get demanding at times). Lady is still a ball-crazy girl, and lives to play! She has been learning that not all of the toys in the house are hers, and she can't grab whatever random baby toy is lying around. However, she does like to play with Judith, and there are some common objects that we allow Judith to use to play with Lady (supervised, of course) - this video is of Lady playing gently with Judith using the lid off a big canister:
Buster & Lady still enjoy their visits from their grandmas and grandpas, going to Petsmart, and going for rides in the car. Even though they're getting older, they both still have a lot of energy.
Happy 3rd Gotcha Day Anniversary, Buster & Lady!
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Miscellaneous Musings
We made it through the worst of the heat! The end of last week was absolutely insane. We were near, at, or above 100 most days, with the heat index soaring higher. I knew it was blistering hot when the dogs refused to go outside to do their business, and when they did it was a very quick trip (except for the 1 day when Buster thought it would be awesome to lay in the grass sunning himself - weirdo).
I can't believe how quickly Judith's taking off with so many things. Her little personality is really developing, and she's having a language explosion! Her ST and I figured she has about 10-15 consistent words now, 2 of the newest being "Bickey" (Mickey) and "nishe" (nice). Her babbling has gone to a new level, and it sounds like she's trying to say words instead of just stringing sounds together. A friend recently said that toddlers sound like they're talking "Simlish" - the language from the popular life simulation game The Sims - and I agree with that assessment!
Judith is up to lots of shenanigans, and I can't help but laugh at some of them! This morning, during her CPT, she sounded like she was giving Buster orders, all while pointing her finger at them (she sees me do this when I have to discipline the dogs, so it's no wonder she picked it up - oops!). I have no idea what she was saying to him, but it must've been serious! One of her other favorite activities is to play the piano. She walks up to it, plays an original composition, turns around and waits for us to clap, claps with us, wipes her hands off, then spreads her arms out at her side and declares "All done!" It is so hilariously cute, and I'm desperately trying to get it on video! The little stinker won't do it as soon as she sees the iPod come out, so I have to use some serious stealth if I want to capture this moment.
On the CF front, we've had some interesting moments. I don't get why Judith's bowel habits change so drastically in the few weeks before a clinic visit, and all it does it make me worry about the "what ifs." She has been having a lot of problems with some constipation lately, so we're currently embarked on an adventure with Miralax. Dr. G. and the nutritionist said (over the phone - I called because things have been concerning, and I'm glad I did this) that she's probably having some motility issues caused by the disease, and that she's going to be dealing with this for the rest of her life. I feel bad for her, but it seems like the Miralax is working - Dr. G.'s goal is to get her cleaned out as much as possible before we see him again, then we'll regroup and decide where to go from there. The Miralax has led to some exciting (/sarcasm) diapers lately, but I'd almost rather deal with that over the alternative.
I can't believe how quickly Judith's taking off with so many things. Her little personality is really developing, and she's having a language explosion! Her ST and I figured she has about 10-15 consistent words now, 2 of the newest being "Bickey" (Mickey) and "nishe" (nice). Her babbling has gone to a new level, and it sounds like she's trying to say words instead of just stringing sounds together. A friend recently said that toddlers sound like they're talking "Simlish" - the language from the popular life simulation game The Sims - and I agree with that assessment!
Judith is up to lots of shenanigans, and I can't help but laugh at some of them! This morning, during her CPT, she sounded like she was giving Buster orders, all while pointing her finger at them (she sees me do this when I have to discipline the dogs, so it's no wonder she picked it up - oops!). I have no idea what she was saying to him, but it must've been serious! One of her other favorite activities is to play the piano. She walks up to it, plays an original composition, turns around and waits for us to clap, claps with us, wipes her hands off, then spreads her arms out at her side and declares "All done!" It is so hilariously cute, and I'm desperately trying to get it on video! The little stinker won't do it as soon as she sees the iPod come out, so I have to use some serious stealth if I want to capture this moment.
On the CF front, we've had some interesting moments. I don't get why Judith's bowel habits change so drastically in the few weeks before a clinic visit, and all it does it make me worry about the "what ifs." She has been having a lot of problems with some constipation lately, so we're currently embarked on an adventure with Miralax. Dr. G. and the nutritionist said (over the phone - I called because things have been concerning, and I'm glad I did this) that she's probably having some motility issues caused by the disease, and that she's going to be dealing with this for the rest of her life. I feel bad for her, but it seems like the Miralax is working - Dr. G.'s goal is to get her cleaned out as much as possible before we see him again, then we'll regroup and decide where to go from there. The Miralax has led to some exciting (/sarcasm) diapers lately, but I'd almost rather deal with that over the alternative.
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Picky, Picky, Picky
I am about ready to bang my head off the wall in frustration. Judith cannot afford to be in a picky phase. I know this is normal for toddlers, but when you're trying to pump almost 2,000 calories a day into her and she refuses 95% of what you place in front of her, the frustration is bound to happen.
For example: today's lunch menu consisted of "souper orzo" (it's basically orzo made with a can of tomato soup, some milk, and some butter), and a country blend of veggies with butter. Both were rejected in favor of potato chips and an ice cube to help soothe her gums from teething (we have another tooth, by the way, and there are 3 more on the way). 5-6oz of Pediasure was also consumed.
At least the chips are high in calories.
A typical mealtime conversation right now is as follows:
Judith: (looks at food presented, pokes it with finger, samples, fusses for sippy cup, consumes at least half of contents of said cup)
Me: Why don't you eat some of your (insert food here)?
Judith: (moves rejected food item from one side of the tray to the other) Aaaaaaaaaaah! (smears contents of tray around the tray with 1/3 of the contents flying in all directions)
Me: You need to eat.
Judith: Ahh dah (all done)!
Me: No, you're not all done. Eat.
Judith: Ahh dah!
Me: Eat more. More! (signs more)
Judith: Ahh dah!
Lather, rinse, repeat.
I can't wait to see what she weighs when we go to our next clinic appointment. At this rate, her weight gain will be minimal or worse, negative. I can't help but worry about it.
On the flip side, I'm glad we don't have to take Buster & Lady to the vet for their well doggy visits until next year. Judith may be turning her nose up at everything I present her with, but the dogs are putting their noses to the ground and having a heyday with the leftovers and rejected scraps. Lady looks like she gained a pound or 2, and Buster still has his round shape. They don't feel heavier, and they're a long way away from being obese, but I'd hate to see what the scale would say if one of them was on it.
For example: today's lunch menu consisted of "souper orzo" (it's basically orzo made with a can of tomato soup, some milk, and some butter), and a country blend of veggies with butter. Both were rejected in favor of potato chips and an ice cube to help soothe her gums from teething (we have another tooth, by the way, and there are 3 more on the way). 5-6oz of Pediasure was also consumed.
At least the chips are high in calories.
A typical mealtime conversation right now is as follows:
Judith: (looks at food presented, pokes it with finger, samples, fusses for sippy cup, consumes at least half of contents of said cup)
Me: Why don't you eat some of your (insert food here)?
Judith: (moves rejected food item from one side of the tray to the other) Aaaaaaaaaaah! (smears contents of tray around the tray with 1/3 of the contents flying in all directions)
Me: You need to eat.
Judith: Ahh dah (all done)!
Me: No, you're not all done. Eat.
Judith: Ahh dah!
Me: Eat more. More! (signs more)
Judith: Ahh dah!
Lather, rinse, repeat.
I can't wait to see what she weighs when we go to our next clinic appointment. At this rate, her weight gain will be minimal or worse, negative. I can't help but worry about it.
On the flip side, I'm glad we don't have to take Buster & Lady to the vet for their well doggy visits until next year. Judith may be turning her nose up at everything I present her with, but the dogs are putting their noses to the ground and having a heyday with the leftovers and rejected scraps. Lady looks like she gained a pound or 2, and Buster still has his round shape. They don't feel heavier, and they're a long way away from being obese, but I'd hate to see what the scale would say if one of them was on it.
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Reculture and Miscellaneous Musings
Our days have been fairly busy lately, especially now that Judith is walking all over the place and getting into everything she possibly can. She seriously wears me out big time - at least I'm getting a decent amount of exercise chasing after her!
Thursday and Friday of last week we enjoyed some warmer weather. Friday's temperatures were high enough that I was able to break out one of the adorable smocked sun suits I purchased for Judith a couple months ago! I decided to go with the Preppy Alligator pattern from Shrimp & Grits Kids:
Thursday and Friday of last week we enjoyed some warmer weather. Friday's temperatures were high enough that I was able to break out one of the adorable smocked sun suits I purchased for Judith a couple months ago! I decided to go with the Preppy Alligator pattern from Shrimp & Grits Kids:
Removing all of her animals from the chair
Check out that ruffle butt!
Adorable detailing, and a bonus side-eye (she's getting rather good at that...)
On Saturday I packed Judith and the dogs into the car and drove to my parents' for a little visit! The dogs were excited to go to their house again, but were apprehensive at first - they weren't sure about what was going on with my dad, and they finally warmed up and realized things are ok after an hour or 2. I went with my mom to the salon to get haircuts, and Judith had a great time trying to de-shelve the brightly colored bottles of products and playing in the hair that was cut off of my mom's head and my head.
Sunday afternoon we caught a break. John played in our local AGO chapter's member's recital, and got a ton of compliments on one of his arrangements! Thanks to these people complimenting him, he got an extra dose of motivation to start contacting publishers to get some of his stuff out there (I've been encouraging him to do this for years, but I guess this was the push he needed to really take it seriously). Since Judith decided naps are for quitters (that made for an interesting worship service), I stayed home with her so she could sleep and I could relax.
We'll skip over Monday since it was a boring day with minimal action. Fast forward to today: I took Judith to Hershey for her reculture of her throat/sputum. While we still have 3 more doses of TOBI to give her, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the meds worked and the pseudomonas are gone. We probably won't get the results until Monday.
I was alone with her for this appointment, and thankfully she didn't have an epic meltdown - she was by no means happy about having her throat swabbed, and melted down a little bit, but it didn't last as long as normal. She even reached out to the nurse for her to hold her! Of course after the nurse swabbed her, Judith gave her best "boo boo" face and cried, but when I reminded her that she wouldn't see Dr. Graff at this appointment she calmed down.
Speech therapy went well today! Judith babbled more for her therapist, and we got a charge out of her carrying around a canister lid and laughing hysterically at Lady, who was closely trailing her - Lady naturally saw a disc shaped object and assumed it was a frisbee for her, and wanted to play with it but Judith wasn't giving it up! I knew she was getting tired on top of it, because she was extra silly, but I was also impressed at how focused she was when playing with Lady! Naturally Lady had a blast chasing after Judith, even though she didn't understand why Judith wouldn't just throw the lid for her.
Saturday, April 21, 2012
Sad Pups
I knew when I went to my parents' for a visit today (Judith in tow, of course!), I would be thoroughly sniffed and inspected when I got home. What I wasn't expecting was dealing with 2 sad Bostons as a result.
Long story short, my dad had some surgery and still has stitches in. With all that's happened, the dogs haven't seen him for at least a month now, and they cannot figure out what's going on. Buster (a.k.a. Mr. Sensitivity) is taking it especially hard, and is constantly moping around the house - he absolutely loves my dad, and is constantly at him for scratches. Even Lady, who is usually pretty laid back and carefree, is starting to show a lot of disappointment and sadness, especially if my mom comes to our place without my dad.
I'll admit it: I'm one of those strange pet parents. I've gone to great lengths to let the dogs know that my dad is ok, and the other day I caught myself trying to explain things to them like they would actually understand. I've held the phone up for them so my dad could talk to them, and they could sniff the little speaker hole. To someone looking in from the outside, it probably looks completely ridiculous, but it seems to help a little bit. Buster mopes around for a while after a call, but eventually he recovers and goes back to gnawing on one of his favorite rawhides or to snuggling under 50 different blankets.
My dad's stitches are being removed this coming week, and I'm hoping that a visit with the dogs will be in the very near future - I know they're going to go nuts when they see him! And once Buster & Lady know that everything is back to the way it should be, the little rain clouds above their heads will disappear. :)
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
Switching Up Routines
It's always hard for us when we have a major change to our routine, especially a routine that has been in place for a year! It was our first day without physical therapy services, and I'll be honest: I was nervous about how Judith would react, and I wasn't sure what to do with myself since I was missing out on one of the rare opportunities for face-to-face adult interaction that I get in any given week (pathetic, I know, but such is the way of life during RSV season, especially when you don't have Synagis to back you up). By 2:30, I was trying to figure out why it felt like the day was dragging, and I remembered it was because we wouldn't have PT today. To celebrate, Judith decided to take a nap during the time when she was so accustomed to working hard.
We're almost a week into the breathing treatments, and we've had a good stretch of cooperation! It helps that I discovered the goodness of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on Disney Jr. every morning - that show is like baby/toddler/preschooler crack, and Judith is hooked after 2 episodes. As far as kids' shows go, this one is pretty good and doesn't drive me nuts like some of them (::cough cough Barney cough cough::). It gets us through the majority of the treatment, and I'll take any special distraction we can! She's also adjusting nicely to the mask. I know that for many kids, the mask is a huge issue. However, the more she's using it, the more she's adjusting to it. I'm always amazed at how quickly she adapts to things, and I attribute a lot of that to everything she's been through in her short life thus far. Plus it helps that she's used to using her spacer twice a day, every day - that has a mask on it, and Judith knows our key words for her treatment, so I can turn those around and use them during neb treatments!
Granted, I'm typing all of this and painting a glorious picture of this calm, cooperative toddler, and that's not exactly the case. She has her moments, and today she was extra wiggly during treatment time. Even so, I'm getting the bulk of the TOBI into her lungs, and that's the important thing.
I feel bad for Buster & Lady. They're not terrified of the nebulizer, but they certainly don't like it. The machine is loud, there's vapors in the air, and Judith looks like a little dragon breathing the mist through the mask. For some odd reason, cords, tubes, and wires freak Buster out, and he's paranoid to jump up or go near an area that he perceives as "obstructed" (realistically, he can easily clear said cord, tube, or wire, but chooses not to unless we coax him... a lot). Lady has taken to plastering herself against me while I give Judith her treatment - I love the dog, but it's mildly annoying when she does this and sinks into the crevice between cushions on the couch, making it hard for me to move if I need to readjust to Judith's squirming. I know this is an adjustment for them too, and I'm hoping they adapt, otherwise I'm going to hate to see how they react once Judith can get The Vest.
We're almost a week into the breathing treatments, and we've had a good stretch of cooperation! It helps that I discovered the goodness of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on Disney Jr. every morning - that show is like baby/toddler/preschooler crack, and Judith is hooked after 2 episodes. As far as kids' shows go, this one is pretty good and doesn't drive me nuts like some of them (::cough cough Barney cough cough::). It gets us through the majority of the treatment, and I'll take any special distraction we can! She's also adjusting nicely to the mask. I know that for many kids, the mask is a huge issue. However, the more she's using it, the more she's adjusting to it. I'm always amazed at how quickly she adapts to things, and I attribute a lot of that to everything she's been through in her short life thus far. Plus it helps that she's used to using her spacer twice a day, every day - that has a mask on it, and Judith knows our key words for her treatment, so I can turn those around and use them during neb treatments!
Granted, I'm typing all of this and painting a glorious picture of this calm, cooperative toddler, and that's not exactly the case. She has her moments, and today she was extra wiggly during treatment time. Even so, I'm getting the bulk of the TOBI into her lungs, and that's the important thing.
I feel bad for Buster & Lady. They're not terrified of the nebulizer, but they certainly don't like it. The machine is loud, there's vapors in the air, and Judith looks like a little dragon breathing the mist through the mask. For some odd reason, cords, tubes, and wires freak Buster out, and he's paranoid to jump up or go near an area that he perceives as "obstructed" (realistically, he can easily clear said cord, tube, or wire, but chooses not to unless we coax him... a lot). Lady has taken to plastering herself against me while I give Judith her treatment - I love the dog, but it's mildly annoying when she does this and sinks into the crevice between cushions on the couch, making it hard for me to move if I need to readjust to Judith's squirming. I know this is an adjustment for them too, and I'm hoping they adapt, otherwise I'm going to hate to see how they react once Judith can get The Vest.
Saturday, January 21, 2012
Snow & Sweaters!
Buster & Lady gave their new sweaters a whirl today! They look absolutely adorable in them!
Buster's sweater has a pocket on one of the sides, but he wouldn't give me a good profile shot.
Judith got to play in snow for the first time today! This isn't her first snowstorm since she's been home, but it is the first time we took her out to explore. She had a very take-it-or-leave-it attitude, and was honestly more interested in watching the landscapers shovel, snow blow, and plow in our development.
Thursday, January 19, 2012
A Get-Together and Milestones
Today Judith and I met up with one of my friends, Amy, and her 3 children! We had some lunch, and the kiddos spent at least a good hour playing in the play area. While this isn't the first time Judith's been to a park/play area, it is the first time that she could really do more than just swing (not that they had swings haha): she crawled all around the space, stood up at the walls/windows and explored them by pounding on them, drummed on the climbing equipment, and actually figured out how to climb up on the lowest play thing designed for toddlers! It was so awesome to see her doing this! She also did some people watching, but, as expected for this age, didn't play with anyone.
Amy took up crocheting a little while ago, and she shared some pictures of a cute dog sweater she made. So I asked her if she could make sweaters for Buster and Lady, and she did! Amy is super awesome, and the sweaters are adorable! I'm going to take pictures of them in the sweaters this weekend, and I'll post pictures as soon as I can get them loaded. We talked a little bit about crocheting, because I never learned how to do it, and thought it looked like a relatively easy hobby to pick up. Call it peer pressure or whatever, but I'm going to give it a whirl and see what I can do! I'm not the craftiest person, so I'm hoping that this will go smoothly for me, and I can add crocheting to my very short list of crafts I can do (counted cross stitch and scrapbooking are about the only other things I can do semi-decently).
I was so glad that we were able to have a few hours together to sit and talk, and to allow the kiddos to interact with each other! We had a blast, and I can't wait until we can do it again!
Judith has developed a few more milestones: she just cut another tooth, this time on the bottom, and it feels like there's another bottom tooth working it's way to the surface. Total tooth count right now is 7 - she's a tooth cutting machine these days! She's still babbling a ton, but we're still waiting for her first word to come out. She's cruising around, using the furniture as a support, and is starting to take some steps assisted (by holding on to our fingers). She can climb the whole way up the stairs, but still needs some assistance coming down. This one I was so excited for: she's finally clapping on her own! She's a stinker about it though, because she'll smile and clap if I have to pull her away from something she's not supposed to have - I can't help but laugh when she does this. I'm sure it won't be quite as amusing in a few years, but for now I feel safe in enjoying it.
Amy took up crocheting a little while ago, and she shared some pictures of a cute dog sweater she made. So I asked her if she could make sweaters for Buster and Lady, and she did! Amy is super awesome, and the sweaters are adorable! I'm going to take pictures of them in the sweaters this weekend, and I'll post pictures as soon as I can get them loaded. We talked a little bit about crocheting, because I never learned how to do it, and thought it looked like a relatively easy hobby to pick up. Call it peer pressure or whatever, but I'm going to give it a whirl and see what I can do! I'm not the craftiest person, so I'm hoping that this will go smoothly for me, and I can add crocheting to my very short list of crafts I can do (counted cross stitch and scrapbooking are about the only other things I can do semi-decently).
I was so glad that we were able to have a few hours together to sit and talk, and to allow the kiddos to interact with each other! We had a blast, and I can't wait until we can do it again!
Judith has developed a few more milestones: she just cut another tooth, this time on the bottom, and it feels like there's another bottom tooth working it's way to the surface. Total tooth count right now is 7 - she's a tooth cutting machine these days! She's still babbling a ton, but we're still waiting for her first word to come out. She's cruising around, using the furniture as a support, and is starting to take some steps assisted (by holding on to our fingers). She can climb the whole way up the stairs, but still needs some assistance coming down. This one I was so excited for: she's finally clapping on her own! She's a stinker about it though, because she'll smile and clap if I have to pull her away from something she's not supposed to have - I can't help but laugh when she does this. I'm sure it won't be quite as amusing in a few years, but for now I feel safe in enjoying it.
Saturday, December 17, 2011
Dogs
Our two lovely BTs are very well fed these days. Not that they didn't eat well before, but the extra handouts are definitely a regular occurrence anymore.
Judith has figured out how to feed the dogs, and I have to be extra careful what I give her now so I can be sure Buster & Lady don't eat something that could be poisonous/toxic. I knew this day was coming. Judith actually looks for them, will hold something out and babble or laugh at them, then proceed to eat it herself. I'm not wild about her teasing them, and try redirecting her. After a couple rounds of this game, she proceeds to either throw food over the side of the high chair to the floor (Buster's always first in line for handouts - he's such a foodie), or will hold the food and dangle her hand over the side where the dogs lick the food out of her grasp.
She thinks this is the most hilarious thing in the world.
I'm just glad she's feeling better and is back to her normal antics.
Judith has figured out how to feed the dogs, and I have to be extra careful what I give her now so I can be sure Buster & Lady don't eat something that could be poisonous/toxic. I knew this day was coming. Judith actually looks for them, will hold something out and babble or laugh at them, then proceed to eat it herself. I'm not wild about her teasing them, and try redirecting her. After a couple rounds of this game, she proceeds to either throw food over the side of the high chair to the floor (Buster's always first in line for handouts - he's such a foodie), or will hold the food and dangle her hand over the side where the dogs lick the food out of her grasp.
She thinks this is the most hilarious thing in the world.
I'm just glad she's feeling better and is back to her normal antics.
Monday, October 31, 2011
Halloween Eye Exam
It's Judith's first Halloween today, so how do we celebrate? With a follow-up appointment to the opthamologist!
In a previous post, I mentioned that we were monitoring Judith for strabismus. Much to our relief, it turns out she has pseudostrabismus: it may look like her eyes are crossing, but they really aren't. It has a lot to do with her facial structure, and as she grows it should go away.
We also learned that we can hold off on getting her glasses for at least another 3 months. The doctor doesn't think it's necessary to give her glasses right now, but we are closely monitoring how Judith does with the farsightedness. It's inevitable that she'll end up with glasses in the near future, but I'm hoping to hold off as long as possible in the hopes that it'll be a bit easier to teach her not to rip them off her face when she's older.
Judith didn't go Trick or Treating this year - I thought it would be a bit silly to take her around, and there would only be 2 places we'd go to anyway (our neighbors on either side). Plus I feel bad getting candy for her when she can't eat it. That probably sounds completely silly. Anyway, we did dress her up in her costume for her appointment, and managed to snap a picture of her with the dogs in their costumes:
In a previous post, I mentioned that we were monitoring Judith for strabismus. Much to our relief, it turns out she has pseudostrabismus: it may look like her eyes are crossing, but they really aren't. It has a lot to do with her facial structure, and as she grows it should go away.
We also learned that we can hold off on getting her glasses for at least another 3 months. The doctor doesn't think it's necessary to give her glasses right now, but we are closely monitoring how Judith does with the farsightedness. It's inevitable that she'll end up with glasses in the near future, but I'm hoping to hold off as long as possible in the hopes that it'll be a bit easier to teach her not to rip them off her face when she's older.
Judith didn't go Trick or Treating this year - I thought it would be a bit silly to take her around, and there would only be 2 places we'd go to anyway (our neighbors on either side). Plus I feel bad getting candy for her when she can't eat it. That probably sounds completely silly. Anyway, we did dress her up in her costume for her appointment, and managed to snap a picture of her with the dogs in their costumes:
L to R: Buster (cow, or "Boo Cow"), Judith (pumpkin), Lady (unicorn)
Happy Halloween!
Sunday, September 4, 2011
9 Month Pictures & an Update
As promised, here are some pictures from our 9 month shoot this afternoon, and as a bonus, a couple from this morning!
Judith at 9 months
She LOVES to play the organ! (pardon the blurriness from my moving child)
Proud Daddy!
We may have a future organist on our hands!
As you can see from the pictures, Judith started sticking her tongue out at everyone...again. And now we have the added benefit of raspberries being blown at us constantly! I know it's not a real milestone, but I find it humorous, and I'm glad she's mimicking us!
I also learned very quickly how difficult it may be to take pictures of Judith, especially if I would like her to sit still. This is stemming from one of our newest milestones: Judith is very quickly becoming a mobile baby! She is creeping all over the place, and is oh-so-close to crawling - she just needs to figure out how to coordinate the movement of her arms and legs, then she'll be off! She's already taking a big interest in the dogs, and I can't wait to see what will happen once she can crawl after them. Of course we're starting to teach her how to be gentle with them, and monitor all of them closely while they interact. I am very grateful that our pups have been through the baby stages before - they had young children in their former home, so they are remembering what it's like.
Lady is very tolerant of Judith, and really loves her! I am shocked, because Lady is so active and doesn't like to sit still to receive attention from most people. She wants the attention, but is usually moving while receiving it. I took this picture the other day when both Judith and Lady were interacting with each other:
Naturally, about a minute later, Lady decided Judith needed some kisses:
I can always tell when Judith's sweating and losing more salt, because the dogs lick her more.
We had our Occupational Therapy (OT) evaluation on Thursday, and overall things are looking good. We are going to start OT services because Judith is a bit delayed with her fine motor skills, but the therapist didn't see anything overly significant or anything that's going to take a long time to correct. Basically we're staying on top of things and nipping anything in the bud before it does become a serious problem.
We may have a bigger problem to deal with, though: during the evaluation, the OT confirmed my concern about Judith's eyes. If you look closely at the first picture of Judith and Lady, you can kind of see what I'm concerned about. She is crossing them more often, and has to constantly reposition them to focus on something. If the muscles around the eye are functioning normally, the eyes will follow your movements and readjust themselves without us having to think about it. What the therapist saw with Judith is her muscles aren't doing this properly, and there's a lag with their movement - she's working and thinking to refocus them herself. I believe I posted before that we know she's far-sighted; however, since we're concerned and the therapist noticed something's up, we are not going to wait a year to have her checked. I am going to talk to her pediatrician at her 9 month well-baby check and ask for a referral to a pediatric opthamologist to see (haha) what's up. I wouldn't think this is caused by the ROP, but I could be wrong. I'm not even sure if this is a normal preemie thing, or if this is caused by the crappy vision history in our family, and I'm hoping the eye doc can give us some answers.
Monday, July 18, 2011
2 Years!
Today is a big and special day in our house. 7/18 marks the 2 year anniversary of our adoption of Buster & Lady!
I can't believe we've had them with us for 2 years already. They are more than comfortable here with us, and are having a blast. They love Judith and often use her as a salt lick, which is really ironic because the kid's tasting super salty right now with the heat (people with CF lose salt very quickly, especially through sweat). Both dogs are patient with her exploration of them, especially Lady because Judith is favoring her right now during her CPT time - she likes to reach out and touch her jowls and neck, and feel her soft fur. Buster's not too fond of Judith when she gets super loud because she disturbs his beauty, or "boo"ty sleep (see what I did there?) as I like to call it! Lady still follows me to the nursery whenever I change Judith's diaper (Buster follows most of the time too, but if he's sleeping under his blankets he won't follow) to make sure that everything is fine. Lunchtime is their new favorite time of day, because they know they'll get to clean up and finish whatever solid is left in Judith's bowl.
Most of you don't know their story, so I would like to share it with you!
A little more than 2 years ago, John & I decided that we wanted to get a dog. We were in the middle of TTC, and still having a rough time with it. The economy was stinking, and I couldn't find temp work to fill in the gaps - things were pretty darn lonely here, so we decided since having a baby more than likely wasn't in the very near future, we would get a dog. The timing was perfect because I was home and would be able to train a puppy if necessary.
We had to decide on what type of dog to get. John grew up with boxers, I grew up with terriers (an airedale when I was a baby, and a westie through my school and college years). We didn't want anything too big because we didn't have the space, so a boxer was eliminated from the list. We thought about a westie, but I didn't think it was fair to bring a westie to a home where there wasn't ample yard space to run around in. We talked, and decided that we wanted either a Boston or a Frenchie. We had fallen in love with a church member's Bostons, so we settled on a Boston.
We thought about a puppy, but that really wasn't for us at the time. Rescue suited us much better. I began looking into rescues, and I stumbled across the Northeast Boston Terrier Rescue. We saw some of their fosters on Petfinder, and knew we had to fill out the adoption application. We had a phone interview, and a couple days later we got another phone call: they wanted to know if we would be willing to take 2 dogs. I remember John hesitated, and after a bit of discussion we said yes.
During this time, Buster & Lady were surrendered to a shelter. They were and are incredibly bonded, and the shelter knew they had to be placed together. If my memory serves me correctly, the shelter knew that this may not be possible, so they contacted the rescue to see if they could help. Enter Buster & Lady's wonderful foster family - they got them into the rescue through agreeing to foster them!
We were able to talk to Buster & Lady's foster mommy over the phone, and she told us all about them. We knew that Buster has a sensitive personality, and he was very sad in the shelter. We also learned that Lady is very dominant and protective of Buster (oh, and we also found out that she's ball crazy). We began making arrangements to pick the 2 of them up once everyone got word that our home inspection went well. The date was set, and we began preparing for our new additions!
July 19 rolled around, and John & I waited anxiously in a parking lot in New Jersey. Before we knew it, Buster, Lady, their foster mommy, and 1 foster sister were rolling into the lot! Buster wasn't seen right away, but Lady was - she was in the driver's seat, on her foster mommy's lap! Buster was very unsure about what was happening, and seemed very sad overall. Lady definitely didn't care - she greeted us, and jumped into the back of the car pretty quickly, ready to head off to her next adventure. We spent some time together, going over instructions for their feedings and learning how to care for Lady's eye. John & I signed the official adoption papers, and were able to leave with our new furbabies! We packed them into the car and headed home.
Lady was comfortable with us after about 36 hours - the proof was waking up the second day they were here and finding her in the bed (surprise!). Buster took a bit longer to settle in, but he was up on the bed too the night after Lady decided to take the plunge. Overall, though, it took them about 3 months to really feel comfortable and begin to realize they wouldn't be moved suddenly again. The first couple of times they had to stay with my parents overnight for whatever reason were tricky, and once Buster realized he was coming home, he was fine (we're back to square one with that though after they had to spend a week with my parents while I was hospitalized from the preeclampsia and Judith's birth).
Buster & Lady, happy 2 years in your forever home! We can't wait for many, many more great years to come!
Here are some pics for you to enjoy!
I can't believe we've had them with us for 2 years already. They are more than comfortable here with us, and are having a blast. They love Judith and often use her as a salt lick, which is really ironic because the kid's tasting super salty right now with the heat (people with CF lose salt very quickly, especially through sweat). Both dogs are patient with her exploration of them, especially Lady because Judith is favoring her right now during her CPT time - she likes to reach out and touch her jowls and neck, and feel her soft fur. Buster's not too fond of Judith when she gets super loud because she disturbs his beauty, or "boo"ty sleep (see what I did there?) as I like to call it! Lady still follows me to the nursery whenever I change Judith's diaper (Buster follows most of the time too, but if he's sleeping under his blankets he won't follow) to make sure that everything is fine. Lunchtime is their new favorite time of day, because they know they'll get to clean up and finish whatever solid is left in Judith's bowl.
Most of you don't know their story, so I would like to share it with you!
A little more than 2 years ago, John & I decided that we wanted to get a dog. We were in the middle of TTC, and still having a rough time with it. The economy was stinking, and I couldn't find temp work to fill in the gaps - things were pretty darn lonely here, so we decided since having a baby more than likely wasn't in the very near future, we would get a dog. The timing was perfect because I was home and would be able to train a puppy if necessary.
We had to decide on what type of dog to get. John grew up with boxers, I grew up with terriers (an airedale when I was a baby, and a westie through my school and college years). We didn't want anything too big because we didn't have the space, so a boxer was eliminated from the list. We thought about a westie, but I didn't think it was fair to bring a westie to a home where there wasn't ample yard space to run around in. We talked, and decided that we wanted either a Boston or a Frenchie. We had fallen in love with a church member's Bostons, so we settled on a Boston.
We thought about a puppy, but that really wasn't for us at the time. Rescue suited us much better. I began looking into rescues, and I stumbled across the Northeast Boston Terrier Rescue. We saw some of their fosters on Petfinder, and knew we had to fill out the adoption application. We had a phone interview, and a couple days later we got another phone call: they wanted to know if we would be willing to take 2 dogs. I remember John hesitated, and after a bit of discussion we said yes.
During this time, Buster & Lady were surrendered to a shelter. They were and are incredibly bonded, and the shelter knew they had to be placed together. If my memory serves me correctly, the shelter knew that this may not be possible, so they contacted the rescue to see if they could help. Enter Buster & Lady's wonderful foster family - they got them into the rescue through agreeing to foster them!
We were able to talk to Buster & Lady's foster mommy over the phone, and she told us all about them. We knew that Buster has a sensitive personality, and he was very sad in the shelter. We also learned that Lady is very dominant and protective of Buster (oh, and we also found out that she's ball crazy). We began making arrangements to pick the 2 of them up once everyone got word that our home inspection went well. The date was set, and we began preparing for our new additions!
July 19 rolled around, and John & I waited anxiously in a parking lot in New Jersey. Before we knew it, Buster, Lady, their foster mommy, and 1 foster sister were rolling into the lot! Buster wasn't seen right away, but Lady was - she was in the driver's seat, on her foster mommy's lap! Buster was very unsure about what was happening, and seemed very sad overall. Lady definitely didn't care - she greeted us, and jumped into the back of the car pretty quickly, ready to head off to her next adventure. We spent some time together, going over instructions for their feedings and learning how to care for Lady's eye. John & I signed the official adoption papers, and were able to leave with our new furbabies! We packed them into the car and headed home.
Lady was comfortable with us after about 36 hours - the proof was waking up the second day they were here and finding her in the bed (surprise!). Buster took a bit longer to settle in, but he was up on the bed too the night after Lady decided to take the plunge. Overall, though, it took them about 3 months to really feel comfortable and begin to realize they wouldn't be moved suddenly again. The first couple of times they had to stay with my parents overnight for whatever reason were tricky, and once Buster realized he was coming home, he was fine (we're back to square one with that though after they had to spend a week with my parents while I was hospitalized from the preeclampsia and Judith's birth).
Buster & Lady, happy 2 years in your forever home! We can't wait for many, many more great years to come!
Here are some pics for you to enjoy!
Lady a.k.a. Love
L to R: John's hands, Buster, cranky pants Judith, Lady
Buster a.k.a. Boo
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