The Small Family     

I’m pleased to report that our new addition, Zoe, has settled in quite nicely. There were a few of the usual “where’s my place in the pecking order” skirmishes the first couple days, but she and Luna have now settled into a pretty comfortable existence, with Luna occasionally exasperated by Zoe’s younger-dog exuberance. The two snuggle together on my lap at night, which is really very sweet. And Zoe has also made a friend in Theo, who likes to sit next to her and pet her while he watches a TV program.

But Zoe is not without her drama. I took her to the vet on Tuesday for a checkup, and it turns out that she is in the middle of a false pregnancy! What’s that, you might ask…for I asked the very same thing! In short, poor Zoe’s body thinks it’s pregnant, so she is experiencing the physical symptoms of a pregnancy, including all the hormone changes--she is even producing milk. Apparently this is not entirely uncommon in dogs who haven’t been spayed, although it’s certainly the first we’ve heard of it. It’s sad, though--apparently some dogs experience this so profoundly that when it comes time to “deliver” their litter, they actually experience labor pains and then carry around invisible “puppies” and try to care for them after they think they’ve delivered. I feel so sorry for her! The vet said there’s a very, very tiny chance that she’s actually pregnant, but he very much doubts it, as he can’t feel any puppies in her uterus (and she’s thin, so it’d be hard for her to hide them). If she is, he said she’ll deliver in the next two weeks. I certainly HOPE she isn’t, as we’ll be in Seattle in two weeks!

This supports my theory that her previous owners got her to breed her and then decided to offload her when she couldn’t produce a litter for them. Which I think is so sad! I mean, I know that breeding is a business, but come on--at least get the poor girl through her false pregnancy before uprooting her whole life and sending her to a new home. Have a heart!

But in the long run, it’s for the best that they got rid of her, because now she’s in a home with people who love her for her--not as some sort of puppy mill. We’ll be getting her spayed next month, and she will be loved as a pet, as she should’ve been in the first place. On the plus side, the vet said she appeared to be very well cared for, and he saw no cause at all for concern about her as a pet. She seems to be in excellent health, and the false pregnancy will pass.  I was very close on my guess about her weight--she is 15 lbs 6 oz, compared to Luna's 20 lbs. She’s a funny, sweet little thing! I posted a short video of her chasing a light on the ceiling and floor (it was bouncing off Chris’s iPhone) if you go to the More Videos page and scroll to the bottom.

In non-Zoe news, let me be the first to report that Chris got an A+ on his first accounting test! I’m very proud of him!! He did all his homework and did spend some time studying for the test, but he said he felt like he had a pretty good handle on the material just from going to class and doing the homework. And I guess he did, since he aced the test!

And a bit of news I forgot to post last week. I have our two-week vacation to thank for a milestone in Theo’s life--the bottle is gone! For quite a long time, Theo has gotten one bottle a day--at naptime. The rest of the day he drinks out of a sippy cup, but we kept the one naptime bottle because it helped him go to sleep, and frankly, we weren’t willing to risk his naps just for the sake of following the American Academy of Pediatrics’ guideline that children shouldn’t have bottles past the age of one. I know the negatives to using bottles, but heck…it boiled down to a choice for us. Do we take away the bottle and risk disrupting the naps that it took us a YEAR to establish, or do we just let the kid have one bottle a day? We opted for the latter, as we felt Theo needed the sleep during the day and we weren't willing to mess with it.

But on vacation, he didn’t have any bottles. His naps were all in the car, so no bottle was needed. So when we got home, I told Chris I was going to try telling him that we don’t use bottles anymore. And I did, and it worked! He cried for a minute or two the first day, but then he hasn’t asked for one since. I just give him a cup of milk instead, and he’s content. (And yes, I do know the negatives to giving a child a cup of milk in bed. But I’m okay with them.) And so, we are now a bottle-free house! Though I do admit I will miss the way he would over-enunciate when asking for bop-ahhhhh!

A funny Theo story from this week: My Mom came over to babysit Theo for an hour while I took Zoe to the vet, and at one point she and Theo were looking at a book. Theo pointed out a number six and said, “Nine!” My Mom said, “Oh, that’s a six, honey,” and Theo looked at her, turned the book over 180 degrees, pointed to the number again, and said, “Nine!” Ummm…indeed. A six turned over is indeed a nine. My Mom was rather amused to be outsmarted by a 2-1/2-year-old!

Our big event for the week was going to San Jose to visit Grandma Kathy and Grandpa Tom. Theo was actually sick on Friday, but he seemed much improved by Saturday morning, so we went ahead with our plans. I’m glad we did, as Theo had a lot of fun at Grandma and Grandpa’s house, and his fever stayed very, very low, if he even had one at all. It’s hard to tell when the kid is sick because he really never slows down much. On Saturday he was relatively calm and mellow, so we knew he wasn’t feeling 100%, but he was feeling well enough that he was in a good mood all day.

Unfortunately, he didn’t get to see cousin Nik, as we had promised, because Nik, too, was sick, and he stayed home. But he did get to see Aunt Tanya, Aunt Linda, Uncle Bill, and Great Grandma Norma, so it was a good day.

The only other real news from here is that we’re very amused by Theo’s ever-growing language skills. He’s putting together more and more words, and at times he will talk nonstop for so long that our ears are almost tired! He’s also learning the great art of negotiation, although it doesn’t often get him very far. It’s usually in reference to wanting to watch a show (he’s allowed two 20-minute shows per day, but he always tries to get more), and he will pull out every trick in the book to try to convince us of why he should get to watch one. This morning’s went something like this:

Theo: “Guess what?”

Mom and Dad: “What, Theo?”

Theo: “Guess what? SHOW! Mickey show! Little Einsteins! After nap, show!”

Mom and Dad: “Nice try, buddy. You already had your show this morning.”

Hey, you gotta give the guy credit for trying! I shall wrap up this relatively short post, as we haven’t had an overly notable week. Hope you’re all enjoying fall!