Just Us Girls

Adler and I had a date on Saturday. Who cares if it was to the vet. We got to spend some quality time together (not that we don't after Austen goes to bed but Adler is usually passed out too at that point - what does she do all day?).

It was nice to take her out and give her all the attention yesterday. We entered the vet's office. Adler sat on the scale. (She weighed in at 81.2. Last year she was 81.4 so we're moving in the right direction.) She was having a great time sitting on her back legs and begging for all the free treats in the office and then being petted by all the admiring clients whose own pets weren't quite as pretty although there was an adorable little Labradoodle. Its owner said that breed doesn't shed...how great is that? Cute and they don't shed.

As soon as we were escorted to a room and the door closed, Adler began to pace and pant trying to figure out how she could get out of the room. When the vet came in, Adler hid behind me. It was almost as if she knew that doctors offices mean shots because all she wanted to do was get out of there except when the vet was appeasing her with treats. Our new vet (the old one moved)has a Berner herself so we spent a long time talking about the breed and common problems associated with it - cancer, bloat, hip dysplasia, short lifespan, etc. She mentioned that we want to do everything we can to prolong her life - well, at least what we can control - so she recommended Adler drop five pounds. Now, she didn't mention underwater treadmill walking like our previous vet, but she did ask us to reduce her kibble and start supplementing with more vegetables like carrots and frozen green beans.

Of course most of you know how much I love my dog and have been dreading the day I have to say goodbye since I got her so from now on it's only carrots and green beans for her - treats too!

It's the "R" Viruses That Get Us

Last year it was Rotavirus. This year it was Rosceola.

Last Monday, I got called to pick Austen up from 'school' because he had a temperature close to 102. Really strange since he slept twelve hours the night before, was happy and seemed perfectly normal when Tom dropped him off that morning.

The next day his temperature continued to rise but Austen was still eating and acting perfectly normal. By Wednesday afternoon, Austen started to show us some outward signs of sickness including being crabby and just not as energetic as usual. His temperature was over 103 and Tom and I were trying to keep it under control with cold wash cloths and Tylenol and Motrin. I called the doctor who said to bring him in on Thursday if the fever hadn't broken. Thursday morning, after a rough night, we were at the doctor. They initially diagnosed him with strep. We went home, got his medicine (the really good pink stuff we had as kids) and tried to get him to take it. Usually he's really good with medicine but for some reason he didn't want to drink this pink stuff. I had to resort to holding him down for the first two doses. By the third dose, he actually was asking for more medicine. Anyway, Thursday night, Austen woke up screaming in a pool of sweat. His fever finally broke.

On Friday we saw what his fever was replaced with - a nice, bumpy, red rash all over his body. I thought he was having an allergic reaction to his medicine so I took him back to the doctor on Friday. They told me that his lab strep test had come back negative and that he had Rosceola - several days of high fever followed by a few days of a rash when the fever breaks.

Like last year's Rotavirus, this illness kept Austen home all week. At least this year, Tom and I didn't catch it.

He's back to 'school' tomorrow (they had President's Day off) and I'm sure ready to trade the faces of his mom and dad for those of his teachers and friends. And, Adler's ready to trade having us around all day for her daily dose of peace and quiet so she can catch up on her sleep.

And I Thought Adler was Smart!

For Xmas, Austen got a play kitchen and various plastic food and fruit that he can cut with a plastic knife. He loves it, especially the cutting and he's pretty good at it too. Tom told me he even whipped him up some breakfast the other day. Well, this morning as I was playing downstairs with Adler and Austen, Austen began playing in his kitchen with his plastic food and Adler went nuts. You would've thought it was a real kitchen the way she was reacting, smelling the plastic food and following Austen around, begging him with her eyes to give her just a little taste. Good thing Austen isn't as big of a sucker as I am because Adler probably would've downed some of that plastic food. Actually she did manage to get a hold of a piece of plastic chicken and had fun licking it to death and gnawing on it a little bit. I think she must've figured out that she couldn't make it real no matter how hard she tried because she eventually gave up without so much as putting an indentation in the chicken! Somehow this dog knows not to mess with Austen's toys even when given permission, which I clearly did with the chicken because I wanted to see what she would do. I bet I could leave that plastic food all over the floor when I go to work and I'd come home and it'd be in the same exact spot. It was nice to see Adler be a little mischievous though by trying to steal Austen's play food and acting a bit like a puppy. Sometimes she's just too good.

I Wonder...

...what Austen's going to be when he grows up? He likes to figure out how stuff works whether it's his choo choos (as he refers to them) or how he can insert each of his magic markers into the cap of the next one to create a large wand.

Well, one Saturday over the holidays, Tom had to put in a new gate to our stairs and Austen was so excited to help. Maybe a little too excited as he kept wanting to get in there and play with all the screws that were much too little for him. But, it was cute watching him and his dad at work. I overhead Tom telling Austen, "In a couple more years, you're going to be my "gopher" when I have to fix things around the house because I'll ask you to "go for" this and to "go for" that!"