The latest blog update begins with a new addition to the family. We had talked about dropping by a pet store so the boys could see some puppies one weekend and we finally decided to take them. Once in there, the place was filthy. The puppies were covered in all sorts of things not necessary to mention here. So we stayed for 5-10 minutes and then we left. Figuring we were just going to head home, Antoinette asked me if there was an Animal Shelter on the way home. Sure enough, there was.
When we arrived at the Shelter, we popped into the puppy area and pretty much 90% of the dogs were already tagged as having owners. So after a few minutes, we decided to head over to the older dogs just to walk the boys through the area. After a few minutes, I felt like we really need to get out of here. It was pretty much pit bull, pit bull, pit bull, dog with one eye, pit bull, pit bull, pit bull, 12 year old retriever, etc.
When we got around to the backside of the kennel, we only had a handful of kennels left to walk past when we came up to this one particular dog. She was quiet, calm, and happy (tail going a mile a minute), and she had very pretty markings. Clearly a mix of a number of breeds, we weren't sure what she was, but the tag said she may be a terrier/whippet mix. She had the head of a terrier, but the body shape of a whippet with spotted markings of a terrier. She also had crystal blue eyes and Antoinette loved the pink toenails, pink nose, pink ears, and random black spots.
So we inquired about her and they brought her out and allowed us to run around with her in the yard. She was a million miles an hour. Clearly there's some whippet or greyhound in there somewhere because the best way to describe her is explosive. She seems like despite being just 35 lbs, she could probably scale a 10 foot chain link fence. That kind of explosive. Definitely happy, definitely friendly, and definitely sweet.
So after talking about it a bit, Antoinette really wanted this dog. We had talked about a dog once Hunter passed away and the consensus we came to was that this time we would get a female dog (Antoinette is surrounded by males all day long) and that she needed to be a bit smaller than Hunter. Antoinette also was nervous about going with a puppy again and the breed we were looking at was pricing out at $1,500 for a pure bred puppy. This little one was exactly 30 lbs, was a year old, a female, and was such a happy dog. Well, we made the decision to go ahead and get her. Didn't think she would last very long in a kennel full of pit bulls. Sure enough when Antoinette went in and started filling out the paperwork, another family walked up asking if they could see her, but it was too late because she was already taken.
We had to wait a bit for her to recover from her surgery, but since then she has been fantastic. Super energetic dog, always trying to play with Hunter. She's working on her house breaking issues, but that was expected. We had to work her and Hunter through some issues that came from the kennel, but that was expected. We also gave her a perfect name. She's fast, she's explosive, she's awesome, she hates the Green Bay Packers, and she's the pet of a diehard Chicago Bears fan, so her new name is Payton.
Funny story with her was that when we brought her home, her and Hunter wanted to tear each other's heads off. We were a little nervous that this wasn't going to work out. We had a massive barrier up separating them with an ottoman at the bottom that we could move out of the way so we could get in by her so she wasn't alone and we were rotating in and out. Then AJ got involved. At some point, AJ just walked over and decided he had enough of this barrier nonsense. He pulled the ottoman out of the way and released Payton into the house with Hunter. Antoinette didn't realize this until she turned around and saw Payton standing by the kitchen. Despite hours and hours and hours of aggressive snapping at each other through the barrier, once she was released into the house and there was nothing separating them, they acted like they knew each other for years.
Over the course of the next week or two, there was the occasional aggressive feeling each other out and establishing position in the family type of fights that had to broken up, but before you know it they were fine. Today, they sleep together in the kennel and you'll often find them cuddled up next to each other laying in the sun or in random spots around the house. They go everywhere together and when Hunter gets a little testy (he's old and she wants to play more than he does), he gives a little growl and she gets the message and goes to find something else to do.
That brings us to Halloween. The boys (and their Mother) had a theme in mind this year. Somehow I was dragged into making this work and so the boys were Minions from Despicable Me, Antoinette was the character Vector, and of course, I get talked into being Gru, "the bad guy" or so AJ tells me. So Antoinette designs a costume for me to wear complete with a bald head, a very large pointed nose, bushy eyebrows, shoulder pad wide shoulders, etc. Complete down to the same scarf, pants, and jacket. Halloween was a blast and surprisingly most of the kids knew who I was supposed to be more than even the boys, so I guess Antoinette did a great job with the costumes.
We had a couple birthdays during this update window and one of them was Antoinette's. All the time we've been down in Florida and there was one experience I thought she would really enjoy that we had never tried before. So for her birthday, I packed the boys up and we dropped them off at their friend's house to play for the morning, and then I took Antoinette for her surprise......to swim with the dolphins. It was a pretty cool experience and there are quite a few pictures I'll add to the blog video once this is ready to go. The boys, meanwhile, had a blast. They got to hang out with their friend Shylee, play all kinds of games at their house, and watch football with her Dad, Jose.
The other birthday was just after Antoinette's. A.J. turned 3 years old and we threw a little family party for his birthday, complete with an Angry Birds cake (the boys are obsessed with Angry Birds). They got to open up presents and had a great time playing with all of their presents. We celebrated on his birthday during the week, but since I had to work, we truly celebrated the entire day the following weekend.
As part of turning 3 years old, A.J. went for his annual checkup. On the visit, the boys both got their flu vaccines, and A.J. went through a whole battery of new tests. He had his blood pressure checked for the first time (perfect), a color test (perfect), and a general physical (perfect). He also weighed in at the 50th percentile in weight and the 90th percentile in height. Both boys are tall and lean for their age.
While A.J. took a visit to the doctor, Billy took his first visit to the dentist. He passed with flying colors. No cavities and even the hygienist was asking Antoinette what she does to clean his teeth so that he has no cavities. Maybe I'm old, but I don't remember kids having a lot of cavities back when we were little, but maybe kids are eating more candy or something because both the dentist and the hygienist were acting like this was unusually good for a 4 year old.
Of course, we also had Ohio State/Michigan weekend which kicks off the holiday season in our household. In a series that isn't even a competition the past decade or so, the Buckeyes won yet again, solidifying another perfect regular season. During the Ohio State/Michigan game, family tradition is that we put up the Christmas tree and begin the holiday decorating during the Buckeye's win. Once again, the Buckeyes didn't disappoint and the boys were decked out in their Ohio State finest.
Finally, a quick note on A.J. Had to save it for last, but it is certainly not least. A.J. is about 99% potty trained. His accidents are very rare at this point (hasn't had one in weeks) and he's already advancing from the potty seat to the toilet and urinal as required. Once he figured it out, he was off and running. My expectation is that he'll be 100% potty trained to the point where we are comfortable taking him out of the house in underwear by my birthday in February.
Now we begin a wave of visitors. Each visit from relatives will be included in the future blog updates and the Super Bowl is coming too!!!
