Miracle

Anyone who reads this blog or knows me, knows about Lulu. She is our 3 1/2 year old English Bulldog. And she is a terror. We adopted her when CityCrab was insistent that Reuben needed a friend. I was against it and yet from the moment this little terror showed up at our door I have grown to love her. She is our Marley. On more than one occasion, CityCrab has suggested getting rid of her. Explaining that we will find her a good home, and a family who loves her, blah, blah, blah. Through crocodile tears, I madly pleaded to keep her and retorted that everyone in her life has dumped her on the side of the road, do you want to be the same???? She is extremely sweet and lovable and is it easy to tell she has suffered some kind of abuse in her life because she yearns for attention & love. She is a horrible snorer and has some bathroom confusion (is hardwood grass? this always confuses me.....) Well, a few weeks ago we returned from a weekend away to a vomit fest. She pretty much threw up for 3 days straight. On the third day, I called CityCrab at work and told him he had to come home, get her and bring her to the vet. I felt so badly. She ended up spending 3 days in the hospital (cha-ching, cha-ching). We received a call from our vet on the last day of her visit with a list of medications and instructions. We reconciled that the end was near and that we would take her home for 1 night, be together then make the decision the next day. We prepared our friends and family, we took tons of pictures & video. We tried to explain the whole thing to our 9 month old CityBaby We were gripped with fear & sadness. We diligently administered fluids & various medications and promised that we would do everything we could to save her. The first few days, she was tired and lazy. Then she slowly rebounded. I received a call yesterday from the vet after some bloodwork earlier this week. Her numbers are no worse than before and in some cases have improved. She has survived a collapsed lung and worms (both of which she had the day we adopted her), a bout with pneumonia and, even though she has kidney disease, she seems to have avoided it, for now. We know that this disease will eventually kill her. We also know that the time she has spent with us has been the best in her life. We have given her love, comfort, and most importantly, unlimited tennis balls. So, this is a living tribute to her. I'm sure one day I will be writing the other kind but for now it's a celebration.

Busted!

I got busted. Well, I did have an accomplice but I was the ringleader. About 2 weeks ago, I sent CityCrab off with CityBaby to get him some shoes. For a 9 month old, he's got some big old feet. The challenge we have is that we have a hard time getting the shoes on his feet. So, CityCrab comes back with size 6 navy blue Converse Chucks. Super cute. But size 6? CityCrab swears he tried them on in the store with a sock. These things were boats. In fact, as soon as I put him on the ground, CityBaby walked right out of them. We participate in collaborative parenting in our house, which consists of me, CityCrab & our nanny. She is our go to source for opinions and advice. So, one morning in the nursery we engaged in a conversation about the shoes. I was pointing the obvious (to me) that the shoes were huge. The nanny, riding the neutral line, kind of agreed with me. CityCrab stood firm. CityCrab then went downstairs on his way out the door while we continued to discuss the shoes. I can't remember verbatim but I might have said something like, "These are ridiculous, right? And now I have to go back to the store and return them. Ugh." But I can't be sure. Just as I was finishing up my rant, from downstairs came a resounding, "I can hear you..." Damn baby monitor! Ooops. The nanny and I collapsed into laughter. Note to self: turn off baby monitor before engaging in defamatory conversation. Much easier than having to abstain from defamatory conversation at all.