Monday, January 18, 2010

This dog is going to drive me nuts.


When my mother said we were nuts for getting a puppy the weekend before Christmas she hit the nail on the head. Bibi (Beatrix) is only three days younger than Elsie. She and Rudy are big buddies. They play all day. This was the whole idea. Get Rudy a new friend after we had to put our dear Riley dog to sleep. However, you forget how annoying training a new puppy can be, until you are in the midst of it.

Bibi is kind of "duh" as my Daddy says. Actually, he said he doesn't think she's stupid...just a puppy and learning. Gah, I hope so. At any rate, the first week we had her she ran full speed ahead into our pool. Like, she didn't notice the large body of water in our backyard? When she is ready to come back in the house from doing her business outside, she will run smack into the glass in our sliding glass door. If she is on the screened in porch for a little while and wants in the house and I cannot get there right that minute, she will launch herself into the glass sliding door. This is particularly hysterical because it makes a soft "thud" against the glass. To further my suspicion that she may be stupid, she doesn't even know her name yet. This is almost a month after using her name hundreds of times each day.

But the thing that grates on my nerves the most: bark. It is the most high pitched, shrill, loud bark. Such an assertive voice for a small dog. She uses her voice all the time. It is enough to drive a girl crazy couped up in a house with two dogs and a baby all day.

Let's hope she's not stupid, because as my Mother says "you can't fix stupid."

In other news: my family left on Saturday. They were so helpful while they were here. We have a freezer full of food my Mom cooked while she was here. She accompanied me to the Pediatric Opthamologist last Thursday. Elsie had been diagnosed with a mild case of Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP) while in the NICU, so we had our follow up last week. Elsie has no more signs of ROP and does not have to go back until July when she will be nine months. This is just to check that her eye alignment is correct. Here is a wikipedia link about ROP if you are interested:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retinopathy_of_prematurity

The appointment went well. We had the first appointment of the day, and the nurses let us wait in the examination room so we weren't in the waiting room with the other patients. This was the first time I used our stroller, the Bertini B5 and it was great. If you are looking for a single stroller, I recommend it. The way the car seat clicks into the stroller is so amazing. Both the canopies on the car seat and the stroller are generous. I put them both down, so no one could see Elsie and ask "oh can I see her?" No ma'm.

We have an appointment with Early Childhood Intervention on Thursday. They will weigh her. I am anxious to see how much weight she has gained. Part of me wants to buy a scale so I can weigh her regularly, but on the other hand I think it would just stress me out. I'm just going to do the best I can and see what the pediatrician says next week. She has an appointment next week to get her second Synagis shot and take her blood to check her Hematocrit.

Love Y'all,
Ellen

1 comment:

  1. Maybe the dog is ADHD. I've never heard of it in dogs, but dogs seem to have all kinds of things that humans have. Austin would run into a wall because he didn't pay attention to where he was going!

    ReplyDelete