Fur Baby II

Bummer, the holidays are over. Mike has to get back to work and I’m on my own again. Of course, I’m not totally alone, I have my mom and sometimes my dad helping out. Unfortunately, it’s not the same as having someone your own age hang out. I get along with my folks, but there have been times when we’ve grated each other’s nerves. I supposed that would happen with anyone, but I feel so bad when I don’t get along with my own parents. There is a notable difference, though, with my parents vs Mike. I gain weight with my folks around, I tend to lose a little when it’s just me and Mike. Not that I’m blaming him, if anything I’m the one to blame. When the weekend rolls around, I’ve got a list longer than Santa’s with things to do. Most of the weekend, he’s doing errands or taking Oliver to the dog park. So usually, I eat 2 meals/day on the weekends compared to my 5 meals/day during the week.

Oh and no more mister nice guy, or super-hero Mike or saintly Mike. I’ve recently found out I can bag on Mike all I want because he doesn’t read the blog! Of course he can spend hours perusing Ebay looking at either Mustang parts or Stickley furniture rather than read the family blog!

As for the other important male in my life – our beloved puppy Oliver. My heart has been breaking for Oliver. Poor thing doesn’t realize his life is about to change drastically (again). First we moved him from Sacramento where he had a really good life. Every evening, Mike would take him to the park at the end of our block. Even though it wasn’t an actual designated dog park, all the neighbors brought their dogs around in the evening. There, Oliver had many friends whom he loved to chase and would chase him back or wrestle and play.

In OC, he doesn’t have his friends nor does he get to go out every night. Instead, Mike tries to take him to the dog park once a week. He’s our fur-baby and Mike plays him when he gets home. I can’t play with him much since it’s hard for me to bend over or squat. He’s also 20 lbs now so I can’t lift him up either. Here are some recent pics of Oliver with his favorite Christmas present.
I’m also concerned how he’s going to react to the new additions. He’s a male puppy so I don’t think he knows about babies. Our nieces have come over and he gets so excited because they’re closer to his size than adults. We’re trying to get him used to little people. Thanks to Maggie and Audrey for helping Oliver adjust. Right now, both nieces are initially a little afraid of the pup. Oliver overwhelms them because he’s a licker and a jumper. He loves to shower you with kisses which don’t bode well with Maggie and Audrey. After a little while, they gain a little more confidence and realize how cute Oliver is. And once they realize how harmless he is, both girls love to play with him (sort of). Maggie loves to throw toys and have Oliver chase after them, Audrey loves to pet him. She even loved to feel his fur against her cheek.

So I’ve been reading up on how to best prepare Oliver. Since I have friends (that means you – Dana, Leslie and Monica) that are TTC (trying to conceive) and who have fur-babies of their own, I thought I would share what I’ve found out.

This is from Babycenter.com -
“It’s all right to allow your pet near your new baby, as long as the pet is well behaved. It's common for a pet, who has until recently been the focus of the family's attention, to act jealous toward a new baby. You should allow your pet to become accustomed to the new baby while in your presence. Also, continue to give your pet plenty of attention, both when the baby is present and when you have time alone with your pet. This will keep the jealous behavior at a minimum. If your pet shows any aggressive or hostile behavior toward the new infant, you should quickly reprimand him. He will learn fast what behavior is allowed near the baby. When the baby is very young, I would recommend not allowing the family dog or cat to lick the baby's face. This could possibly transmit infectious material (such as feces) into the baby's mouth or eyes. As your baby grows older, her immune system will get much stronger and she can play with and even be licked by your pet without any consequences.”

And here are suggestions from a Babycenter thread I came across recently -
“play a CD of baby sounds-crying, etc. Also to bring something home from the hospital that smells like baby (blanket, diaper, etc). We have also been using a stuffed animal and putting it into the Baby Bjorn and moses basket and carrying it around and cooing at it.”

“After the baby is born, have your husband or someone else bring home a blanket that the baby was in while you’re still in the hospital and put it in the middle of the floor while you are still there (in the middle of the floor at home) and that way the dog/cat can get adjusted to the "smell" of the baby. Then, when you come home, just put the infant carrier on the floor and let the dog/cat do their dance/walk around it and smell it - just supervise while they investigate. It won't be a big deal at all.”

“There is a CD out there called "Preparing Fido" that has all types of baby noises on it so you can get the dog used to some new sounds. We got one of the baby dolls who makes cooing and crying sounds, we would hold it and put it in the bouncy seat to get the dog aware of the new arrival coming. I think most of all just strengthening some of your basic commands (sit, leave it, lay down, stay) was also helpful because you will use them with the baby.

Now we say "baby's toy" and "leave it" so she knows not to touch the toys. My dog is super gentle with the baby and actually knows when to let a toy go if the baby goes to take it from her etc. She totally takes so much abuse from our daughter and just sits there. We do not allow the baby to hit her or torture her in any way--we stop it as much as possible. And we never let the baby go in the dog's bed, that's her safe place that she can go when she doesn't want to be bothered.”

“The most common thing is to have someone take a baby blanket home for the dog to get used to the scent before the baby comes home and I went in the house first and played with her for a few minutes before my husband brought the baby in, because I hadn't seen her for a few days. Overall as much as you are nervous about it try and give the dog some attention too, have a new toy to give her from the baby and allow her to sniff around, dogs can become jealous just like siblings if you don't include them. Don't be surprised if the dog is overprotective of the baby as well, my dog didn't like it when my daughter cried in someone else's arms other than husband’s or mine. She would sit at their feet at attention like "what are you doing to my sister."

Hopefully, we won't have any problems finding a solution for us all. I'm sure Oliver will be fine and once the kids get big enough, he'll have playmates. It won't be like the episode of Brady Bunch where the family had to get rid of Tiger because of Jan. Oliver is a member of the family and here to stay.

Stir crazy

Yesterday was rough. I know my posting sounded upbeat and that’s because I was at the time. However, as the day wore on I got really aggro & stir crazy.

It started with our house. Since we don’t know OC at all, we’re renting. It didn’t make sense to buy; we don’t know any of the cities, much less neighborhoods. Not to mention with the market slowing down (and our house not selling), we didn’t want to jump into owning 2 houses at the same time. So we’re renting. Our major criteria was to be near the doctor my Sac peri recommended. We didn’t want to be more than 20 minutes away in case something happened.

We found a pretty nice house that would be able to accommodate all of us (including my parents and the babies). However, when we moved in the house wasn’t ready. The landlord had promised to paint and replace the carpet of the downstairs bedroom that was their work-out room. Since I can’t go upstairs, this downstairs room is my bedroom until the babies arrive. Those who know me (well), know that I’m a clean freak. But really, this room was nasty. Stains all over the carpet and walls. Do sweat drops stain yellow? Ugh, the thought makes me shudder. But I soldiered on and lived in this room for the past several weeks (barefeet never touching the carpet). 5 ½ weeks later, we moved the bed into the living room and the bedroom was finally painted. 4 days after that, the carpet was finally replaced. (We slept in the living room for a week.) Even though I was happy the carpet was being replaced, I got really aggravated. We were told it would be quick (an hour or less), afterall it was only one small bedroom. However, it took five hours! It seemed neverending. Part of the reason I was so anxious is because there’s only one bathroom downstairs and it’s joined to the bedroom. Did I mention it feels like I have to go all the time?

In the end, it finally got done and the installer did a good job. But my mood had already gone downhill. This is what was going through my mind -

• My ever patient mom, who feeds me and waits on me, was really getting on my nerves.
  I was tired of eating Korean food, twice a day, every day.
• All my prime time shows are on hiatus and there’s nothing good saved on Tivo.
• Oliver, who had spent the past 2 hours outside, needed to be let out as soon as he was brought in (paws wiped already).
• I really wanted donuts.
• I was completely bored out of my mind. I wanted to scream.

Today is better. I felt bad for being a spoiled brat yesterday so I’m very nice to my mom who’s helping us out so much. Plus it’s Friday and I’ll be able to spend some time with Mike (provided he gets everything done on the list in time). I am bummed, though, because tonight is Mike’s company Christmas Party at The Fairmont Hotel. I’ve stayed at the Fairmont in San Francisco and Washington DC and it’s a very nice. I suggested renting a wheel chair to I can attend, but he shot it down. I can only imagine what type of food and dessert they’re going to have tonight. I’ve threatened Mike not to bother coming home unless he brings me home some sweet stuff. I guess he’s taking it seriously, he just IM’d me that he’s enlisted some help to accomplish his mission!

Fur Baby

I couldn’t go much longer without mentioning another very important member of our family, Oliver. O-dog is pretty great. If you’ve met him, you know he’s super affectionate and friendly. He’s a licker, not a fighter. He can tame the scariest Pit Bulls or hang out with the biggest Great Danes. He goes right up to them and says, “Hi, I’m Oliver. Wanna play? Wanna play?”

Oliver came into our lives when we were pretty fragile. He’s a rescue dog from the animal shelter, although I’m not sure who rescued who. We were lucky he had been brought in within the past hour. If you’re not familiar with pound procedure, you put your name on a waiting list. There’s a one week waiting period for the owner to claim the dog if he’s a runaway. You have to show up promptly on the day they become available. If you’re not there, the opportunity to adopt the dog goes to the next person on the list. Fortunately, we were the first ones on the list. Fortunately for Oliver, there were 5 other people that showed up hoping to get Oliver as well. Oliver came home with us on November 4, 2005. One day after the original due date of Matthew & Isabel.

We estimate Oliver was born July 05. We still call him ‘puppy’ due to his size. He’s definitely a mutt. If we had to guess, he’s got some Dachshund (he’s long like a hot dog), maybe some American Staffordshire Terrier (broad shoulders and a white chest), possibly Pug (he’s got an impossibly cute wrinkly face and semi curled tail) and most likely some Chihuahua (his smallness). Initially I wanted a Pug or a Puggle (Pug and Beagle mix), but I’m so glad we went to the pound. There are so many dogs and cats in need of a home, it broke my heart not to be able to take them all.

The move has been an adjustment for Oliver. In Sac, he had lot of friends and was taken to the park almost every night (it was literally at the end of the cul de sac from where lived). We met good friends through Oliver. Here’s one of my favorite pictures of Oliver and his best friend, Poquita. Her parents, Monica & Alvarro, had some amazing bbq’s. Mmmmm, I could go for Alvarro’s short ribs right now.

But in O.C., it’s a different story. No one walks their dogs at night. There's not even any sidewalks! The dog park isn’t all that, there’s hardly any grass. And sadly, we’ve (or Mike has) been so busy Oliver hasn’t been able to go out very much. Hopefully soon once all the boxes are unpacked, we’ll be able to give him more attention, especially before the babies arrive.

Lastly, here’s a picture of my belly from this weekend. Every Saturday, we take pictures. It’s really cool to see how much my belly has grown. I remember thinking I was initially out of shape, but compared to now I was positively fit back then!