Goodbye Gus

Today we had to say goodbye to Gus. He came into our lives just a short 5 1/2 years ago.

First came Reggie, who Mitchell and I got as a puppy after dating for less than 4 months. My neighbors next door to my townhouse got a Boston Terrier puppy named "Bruiser" (still my favorite Boston name) and I always made Mitchell look at it out the window when they took it out to go to the bathroom. They quickly became my favorite breed of dog.

It took awhile to convince myself that I was indeed ready for the commitment of a dog, not to mention a puppy. But with some convincing from Mitchell, and promise to help with the vet bills, we picked up Reggie from a breeder. And then we were a family of three.

Once we moved in together and lived in a house, we decided it would be a good idea to get Reggie a buddy. Terrier puppies have a LOT of energy and they a bit exhausting. Our previous breeder had a litter of roly-poly butterball puppies, and we picked out Gus from the batch one year after getting Reggie. His name was inspired by the chubby mouse from Cinderella, with the t-shirt that was always a bit too small. Gus became "Mitchell's." Or shall I say, they were both "your dog" when they were misbehaving. :)

Gus fit into our family perfectly. Reggie was still in charge, despite the fact that Gus could eventually kick Reg' butt. When lucky enough to get into bed with us, Gus slept at our feet, while Reggie stuck his legs out and hogged the top of the bed. Gus loved to cuddle, but often underestimated the value of "personal space" and smothering your face. While Reggie was content acting like a cat, Gus was a real dog. He swam in the water the one chance he got. He would fetch a ball. He loved to follow commands once he learned them.

He had a very cute snaggletooth that would stick out of his lip sometimes. He had a crooked tail nub, which he would wag when happy. He loved to have his head resting on things - I held his chin the entire ride home from picking him up from the breeder, which kept him content. He loved to nest into a blanket, sunbathe in sunspots and sleep with his head on the pillow like his dad.

He did have one unfortunate habit of biting fingers of strangers and those that made him nervous. It made him (obviously) a bit untrustworthy, but also misunderstood. He was very much the lover when he wasn't too anxious to sit in one spot for awhile. Once you were in his circle, you were good, and loved.

We were a bit nervous about bringing Oliver home to the dogs. But "the boys" did great. Gus would sit on the sheepskin in Oliver's room when I would rock him to sleep at night. And he would just hop away when Oliver would get too grabby around skin and ears.

He also loved riding in the car. Our last trip was down to Eugene to visit Grandma (loved it there) and then out to Sunriver (which meant extra walks). We arrived Monday, and then on Wednesday morning, we came back from an outing and he was acting strange. We assumed he had peed somewhere in the house, because he always busted himself with that guilty head and ears down look. But when Mitchell went to put his collar on later, he yelped. We thought it was weird, but thought maybe he was just stung by a bee or something. Over the next couple of days he got more and more sluggish, and soon couldn't get onto the couch by himself. So, Friday we took him into the vet. She did an xray and sent him home with painkillers, antibiotics and anti-inflammatory drugs. He showed signs of a degenerative issue with his neck and he had 104 temperature, so we were to follow up with our usual vet and get an MRI when we got home.

Monday, we called our vet and made an appointment for 3:00 the next day and they got the info from the vet in Sunriver. By Monday evening, Gus couldn't even lay down, he was in so much pain, and it seemed like his leg was now causing him pain. We went in early the next day to the vet, got him some stronger painkillers, and they referred us to a specialize in Clackamas, OR, at VCA Northwest Veterinary Specialists. We got an MRI done, but they were assuming that it was a ruptured disc in his neck and needed surgery. But the MRI showed that it wasn't that. The next guess was Meningitis or cancer. We biopsied things. His lymph nodes were swollen. They had to give him a temporary tracheotomy to help him breathe in order to come out of sedation. They even removed his tonsils and took a biopsy.

After being in the hospital since Tuesday and not improving and having exhausted all reasonable tests and guesses as to what was wrong, we decided that was enough for Gus. He wasn't eating and did not have a good quality of life. So I went and said goodbye one last time for the family, and he went night-night one last time.

He is loved and missed. Bye-Bye Gus-Gus

Room for Kids

First room in the cabin I feel like could be complete for awhile - the Kids' room. Of course, the room that's the least used at this point - but I'll take it!

It originally came with two twin beds and trundles. Great in theory, but there wasn't even enough room to pull the trundles out, and no grown adult really wanted to crash on those beds, no matter how drunk they were.

So, first thing was to order a bunk bed. We decided on a double bed on the bottom so a grownup could comfortably sleep on it. And then we found this sweet bunk bed with stairs to climb up instead of a ladder. The stairs have drawers in them - even better. Although I don't want to imagine the candy wrappers and bugs (if I'm lucky) will be stashed in those some day. There is also a trundle bed - which will be great to pack the kids in. But the mattress is basically a sheet of plywood with foam and covered in fabric. So no full-grown anyone on the trundle. 

We installed ceiling fans in all of the bedrooms, including this one. To keep things bearable in the few really warm weeks of the summer. Of course, everything I've put in the room, I imagine being abused and utilized for something physical and dangerous some day - the stairs to jump from, the double bed catching jumpers from the top bunk. Is this because I have a son? I'm imagining what might be thrown from the top bunk into the spinning blades of the fan.

I found the perfect place for the auttoman I bought for the living room that left no room to walk around. It now makes up a cozy reading nook with the pillows from all the former twin beds. 

We hooked up the DVD/VCR to the TV, so now we can finally use all of the Disney VHS tapes that my mom saved. Now if we can just keep Oliver's fingers and toys out of the VCR slot...

We also kept one of the big pictures and a desk that were left with the cabin. And we put up a few cute Baby Oliver photos, as well as the now infamous Costco Moose. 

It's actually one of the most comfortable rooms in the cabin now. Bring on the kids! 

11 Months of Trouble

Oliver turned 11 months old last week. It feels like he aged a lot in just a few weeks!

He's now officially crawling. And getting in to anything he can get his hands on. He started crawling backwards, which was highly inefficient, and he was always getting stuck places. Then one day I was ignoring him while he lay on his belly in hopes that he would fall asleep. When I looked back, he was sitting up! So he finally learned how to push himself from his stomach back to sitting. Then he figured out how to move himself forward. Strangely enough, it was after all of this that he mastered rolling from his back to his front. Over the past week, he has gone from crawling just a bit to crawling out of the room quickly. It's on!

He does wake himself up in the night rolling onto his tummy or sitting up. It was a bit unnerving going into his room at night and have him sitting there. But now those wake-ups are already less frequent. And he's pulling himself up onto furniture. I'm sure cruising and walking is not too far behind. While I already miss the ability to leave him in one content spot, I know that eventually they must learn to move. I am just counting my lucky stars that he wasn't crawling at 6 months or already walking or something - I have had it easy!

The other thing he's accomplished a lot of recently is talking. He can say Owl, Hoot-Hoot, Mom, Daddy, Doggie, Up, and a variety only somewhat intelligible words. Lots of babbling going on here.

He is having fun playing with his toys and makeshift toys. He likes to put things in and on and take things out of boxes and bags. He's also learning to throw a ball - and any other sharp, pointy, dangerous object. Books are also fun, which include his favorite Dog pop-up book and the small Sesame Street books I snagged for $1 each. He pushes his little cars around and he continues to be musical - shaking things, beating his tambourine and dancing to music.

He continues to amaze when it comes to eating. He eats nearly anything, and usually in adult quantities. And don't you dare eat in front of him without bringing him his own snack, or sharing. He has been known to yell at the farmers' market berry stand or the deli display case.

A bonus has been Oliver getting to spend more time with his Dad, who is currently taking some time off after quitting his long-term job. This break has been fun and relaxing for us all. And Oliver especially enjoys his early morning dance parties with Dad. Oliver is also getting some last quality time with his Aunt Kerry before she moves off to Washington, DC, in September!

Nearly a year old. I can't believe it. And I suppose I have a little party to plan...