Portrait of a three month old.

My Boy Genius

Another day, another novelty onesie!

Hi ho, hi ho, it's off to work I go.

So I head back to work a week from today. I'm truly not doing very well with it. Thankfully I'm leaving Elias in the arms of our parents, which does relieve a lot of anxiety but it still hurts. I know we all have to do it sometime. All my friends have gone through it and are still alive. Their children are thriving and wonderful to be around so I know it's not hard on the kids. I think it is actually harder on the Mom's than anyone else. Being a working mother you have this feeling of guilt of leaving your child. You go to college, law school, etc. then get pregnant, have a precious little one and realize you have to go back to work. Whether it's for financial reasons, the fact you spent umpteen years in school, or both. However, you can't shake that feeling of guilt associated with leaving your child. It really tears you in two. It's definitely different today than when our parents were children. Their mothers wouldn't dream of working but of course women had no opportunities back then.

With modernization and women's lib we gain equality but is it at the cost of our children. I don't think so. My mom worked and I'm fine (if not great, ha ha) but I can't help but be depressed, emotional and hesitant about returning to work. You have all these grand ideas before you have kids, "I could never be a stay at home mom", "I'll be able to return to work early", "I'll never take my kid into our bed (heard that one before from me right ;)" but once you become a parent that all goes out the window. The kids decide your fate. Elias is an outgoing, happy, smart kid and I know he'll do fine. It's me I'm worried about. Anyone have any sage advice or tips on how to deal?

Carly

Dog day afternoon (well, morning actually)

So after mom's post about my doggie Marbie last week, I thought I'd update everybody after his vet appointment this morning.

Our vet Dr. Hager at Hinsdale Animal Hospital examined Marbie and the good news first: he doesn't have hip dysplasia and everything else with him (his sight, hearing and overall well being is solid for a dog of 12+ years).

But Dr. Hager did believe Marbie's pooping problem - even though he hasn't gone inside the house for a week now since mom and dad seemed to figure out when he has to go every day - may be related to his arthritis in his back legs. Basically, the swelling and stiffness of his joints may be impinging some nerves, cutting some of the signals from his brain to his, well you know, and causing him to poop without warning.

If we can reduce the swelling with some arthritis meds, we may be able to eliminate these "accidents."

We'll keep you up to date - but encouraging news so far.

As for me, I turned on my crib waterfall soother with my feet last night - and then turned it on again twice more - to wake mom and dad up at 4 a.m. All this after doing a complete 180 in my crib earlier in the night. That was fun!

Peace out, Elias.

I am 3 months old (a little late)

I turned three months last Wednesday. I know, I know Mom should have let me post earlier but we had a busy weekend. We went to Green Bay to visit Grandpa Bill and Gramma Bette. It was really fun. I was a bit grumpy when we first arrived because my nap schedule was wonky but I warmed up quickly. I got a bath at both Grandparents' house and got to see my Great Grandpa and Grandma (these are old pictures because Mom's camera battery died, way to go Mom).

So anyway, here's what I've been doing at three months. I weigh almost 12 pounds, I'm over 24 inches long and still have lots of hair. I love my bouncy chair and my activity mat. I grab onto the monkey on both and tug away. I swat at the giraffe and the parrot. Taking walks with Marbs is very fun. We hit the jogging stroller and away we go. I'm starting to sleep in my crib, I actually prefer it because I can stretch out. Usually I sleep in there until about 3:30 a.m. then Mom gets too tired and brings me into bed. But I am taking naps in my crib. Mom and Dad got some new shades so it is nice and dark in there. I still wake up during the night (Mom says she loves that) but hey, I'm hungry.



Mom goes back to work in a week. I think she's more upset about it than I am. It will be cool to hang out with Dad, Grandpa Bill, and Grammas Sonny and Bette. I love them all very much. I know Mom is having a hard time leaving me. She will miss me very, very much. I'll miss her too but I'm going to be very busy growing and playing. When she gets home I'll be so excited to see her I may pee in my diaper. Wait, I do that anyway!



Peace out...Elias

You can teach and old dog new tricks.

So I had kind of a tough night last night. Marbie, right after letting him in from outside, pooped in the house again. At first I was really angry. I just let him out. How could he come inside and go to the bathroom in the house. I know he felt horrible but I just didn't get it. I called Brad and talked to him about how are our parents going to watch Elias and deal with a dog pooping the house. How are we ever going to go anywhere again? Noone can watch him.

After calming down I decided to do further research on the internet. I had done some before thinking it was behavioral and he was acting out because I was pregnant and then we had Elias but this time I found this:

Bowel Incontinence and spinal problems
Q: Hi! We have an 11 1/2 year old male lab mix. Over the last 3 months his back legs have become somewhat lame (he has great difficulty getting up of climbing stairs - some times he just falls down while walking) and he seems to be totally unaware of his bowel movements (at first I thought his legs simply hurt to much to get up but many times he is already standing or is walking along and doesn't seem to realize anything is happening). Is this just age or are there other possibilities?
Thank You. Lisa
A: Lisa- Age alone doesn't explain very many things in veterinary medicine, so I strongly suspect that there is something wrong with your Lab. Due to the combination of neurologic signs (inability to control bowel movements and falling down) and musculoskeletal signs I think it is likely that there may even be more than one thing wrong. In this age range progressive degenerative joint disease from a problem like hip dysplasia or cranial cruciate ligament instability is one likely problem. A problem in the lumbo-sacral area is also possible as well as a condition such as degenerative myelopathy (not that common in Labs but possible, I think). Disc disease, spinal tumors, other forms of cancer and many other conditions are also possible. It takes a pretty extensive workup to diagnose the cause of neuromuscular symptoms in some cases but it can be very helpful in determining the proper treatment and in assessing the prognosis for long term success in treating the symptoms.
Mike Richards, DVM

I basically lost it. In my heart I knew Marbie was getting older. We figure he has hip dysplasia. He has all the symptoms, bunny rabbit gait, pain, trouble getting up and down, and incontinence. I couldn't help it, I broke down. Marbie's age suddenly really hit me.

We made an appointment with his vet for Monday. His incontinence has been increasing (another one today). I just don't know what we're going to do. I can't imagine my life without him. Brad and I got Marbie when we were 20 and 21. We had him almost all of college. He's been through five moves, three cities, and one baby. Even though he was afraid of fans, the oven, the washer and drier and now the dishwasher, we still loved him. He is the best dog ever. One time we left the fence open and what did Marbie do he walked to the sidewalk, peed on the tree and then came up the front porch and cried at the door. He would never consider running away, just peeing on a neighbor's tree. You can walk him off the leash and he won't go anywhere. We used to take him to parties in Madison till all hours of the night. He went everywhere with us. The best part is, he is SO sweet to Elias. We thought he may be jealous and ignore him but I truly believe he loves him. He hardly even reacted when we brought Elias home. It was if he expected it.

I have to realize the inevitable. Marbie is going to be 13 in a few months. I still don't know how I'm going to live without him. I know he's had wonderful life and we now have a beautiful baby boy to look after, but Marbie will always be my first baby. I love you Fuzzy Monkey.

Carly