One of Those Moms

my mom and step-dad use to have this running joke:

m: do we need “fill-in-the-blank with random grocery item”

sd: no, i think they have some in the refrigerator

m: who is “they”?

sd: you know – them people in the refrigerator

we always gave him a hard time about that and said it was because he was from Louisiana – but the truth is, everyone talks about “they/them” but no one really knows who “they” are

i love my girl-child with every fiber in my body, but that girl is EXHAUSTING!  i know what you’re thinking – she get’s it from her mama – and while that may be true, i can promise you that i was never this bad – if for no other reason than my mom wasn’t having it – she did not sit back while i threw tantrums – she did not tolerate endless whining – and she certainly didn’t put up with attitude – i’m not exactly sure what she did to put the kibosh on it because i was so young when she implemented it, that i don’t remember – but by the time i was old enough to remember, i knew better than to go there – Sydney on the other hand …

we have a rule in our house – you are allowed to disagree, you’re allowed to be mad and you’re even allowed to voice displeasure – but you must do it with respect – somehow, we need to work in “and without whining” – i guess i’m a moron, because i thought that kids outgrew whining around 2-3 years old – well we’re going STRONG at 4 years old and i see NO end in sight – now, “they” said you’re supposed to tell your kids that you can’t understand them when they whine and that when they can talk in regular voice, you’ll be happy to talk to them – well we have tried this – multiple times – in fact, every.single.time. that she whines – and you know what happens?  MORE WHINING??  and if i walk away, then she follows me and whines, “buuuut Moooommmmyyyy – i just wanna ask you a quuueeessstiiioooonnn …” – and if i shut her down, she whines some more and then begins to cry – have i mentioned that my daughter can cry on demand?  she can.  and she’s good.  someone call the Academy.  seriously.

this morning, we had a birthday party to go to – and all the girls were supposed to dress up in pink – i bought Sydney a huge pink pettiskirt to wear but because it was so big, she couldn’t wear it in the car seat – yes, i’m that mom – so, i laid out the shirt (which was white with pink trim) and some white short leggings – that’s when the whining began – she didn’t want to wear white because white isn’t her favorite color – i tried to explain why she was wearing the white outfit and that we would put on the skirt later – but she wasn’t interested – that was the first time i threatened to skip the party – and the whining continued – “no, mommy – i want to go to the party – i’m gonna be a good listener – blah-blah-blah” – “ok, please go get dressed” – and she did – except for shoes

i just bought her a new pair of silver sparkle sandals so i asked her to put them on – more whining “i can’t fiiind them” – “well then i guess you won’t be wearing shoes” – “but i need you to help meeeeeee” – “no Sydney, Mommy needs to get dressed so if you’re going with me, you need to find your shoes” – this went on for a while – me periodically fussing at her while she wandered aimlessly through the house looking everywhere but in her closet which is where the shoes were – i had to threaten skipping the party again before she decided to look in the closet – which is of course, where they were - after too damn long i don’t know how long, she was finally dressed and it was time to do her hair

i asked her how she wanted to wear her hair and she said she wanted to wear a bow – perfect – just as i pulled out a pink bow, she pulled out a red one – uh, no.  now normally, this would not be a battle i’d be willing to fight – if you’ve seen my Facebook, you know i’m all about letting my kids dress themselves even if they look like vagabonds – but we were having professional pictures taken at the party and i wasn’t going to let her look crazy – cue whining set #3 – “BUT MOOOOMMMMYYYY – I DON’T WAAAAANNNA WEAR THE PINK OOOOONNNNEEE – YOU NEEEEEVER LET ME WEAR REEEEEDDDDD” *deep sigh* “Sydney, first of all, i don’t ‘never’ not let you do anything – you can wear the red bow to school this week if you’d like – you can even wear the red bow this afternoon when we get home – but right now, you need to wear the pink bow” – and more whining – this went on for several more minutes – until i’d had enough – “FINE.  we just won’t go.”  i walked out of her bathroom and down the hall to my room – she followed me crying and whining about how she wanted to go to the party and how was ready to listen – i was about to give myself a well-deserved time out but she followed me into the bedroom – i turned around and told her “absolutely not” and walked her out of my room and shut the door – oh.the.drama.

then she REALLY turned it on – crying and wailing like i’d left her alone in the evil forest – “NOOOO MOOOOMMMMYYYY – I WANT TO LIIIIISTEEEEEN – MOOOOMMY PLEEEEEAAAAASSSEEEE …” – i sat in my bathroom and contemplated my next move – normally, i wouldn’t have hesitated to skip the party – it wouldn’t have been the first time – but we had to go to this party – our friend had hired a photographer to take pictures of all the girls and it’s something that we’ve been wanting to do for a long time, so Sydney wouldn’t be the only one affected if we didn’t go – but on the other hand, i was NOT looking forward to dealing with her bad attitude

she continued to wail outside my door and then after a couple of minutes, she calmed down enough to open the door – she walked in quietly and in a soft voice said, “Mommy – can i ask you something?” – “yes?” i asked tersely – “i’m ready to listen” she said – *sigh*

i got down on her level, took her arm and looked straight in her eyes – “i don’t know what the problem is today, but i am telling you right now – i am DONE with this attitude – when i tell you to do something, i expect you to do it – you DON’T tell me no, you DON’T complain and you DON’T question me – i am your mother and what i say goes – you do what Mommy says, when i say it and that’s the end of it – doyouunderstandme????” – she looked at me with her tear-stained eyes and nodded – “ok, let’s go do your hair” – “Mommy?” – “yes, Sydney?” – “can i wear my hair in a ponytail?” – AAARRRRGGGHHHHHH!!!!

it should NOT be this difficult – at least not this early – “they” always said it was the teen years that would be hell – if it’s going to get worse than this, i’m screwed.

i’ve always heard that Mondays are the worst days – the day that everything goes wrong – but around here, Mondays are usually awesome – it’s the one day where we don’t have anything scheduled – no school, no dance class – i don’t set the alarm and we get up when we get up – sometimes we run errands, sometimes we go to the library and sometimes we just hang around the house and do nothing – but this Monday that was not the case …

we had to put my truck in the shop for some routine maintenance and since it was going to take most of the day, i had to drop it early – 8am early – my only saving grace was that Kelley was still home when i left so i didn’t have to take the kids with me – starting off like that, the day was sure to go smoothly, right?  yeah, you know the answer

first off, they gave me a rental – now, i drive a fairly big SUV – and normal dealership protocol calls for them to replace your car with a newer, shinier model of your current car (or something even better!) so that you’ll want to run straight to the sales department and say, “i hate my old paid for car and must have the brand new high dollar vehicle i drove today” – but that didn’t happen – apparently all of the new, shiny SUVs were being driven by people luckier than me – instead, i ended up in a base model Toyota Corolla – now, no offense to Toyota or anyone who loves their Corolla – but after driving my monster SUV, the Corolla felt like a clown car – and it was in no way prepared to fit my 2 rear-facing convertible car seats – but i’ll get to that in a minute

since the kids weren’t with me, i decided to install the car seats at home – so i threw the seats in the back seat and headed back home – the plan for the day was library, home for lunch and then for me to work while the kids napped – Kelley was ready to leave when i got home, so i gave the kids a snack and set them up in front of the tv so i could go outside to install the car seats – now, i know what you’re thinking – what the hell kind of mother leaves a 2 year old and a 4 year old in the house unattended?   the kind that needs to install car seats and thinks they will be safer in the (somewhat) baby-proofed house than they will in the front yard where they can easily run into the street – so that being said, i left the front door open with only the storm door closed

once i pulled the car seats out, i realized how filthy dirty the seats were – i swear there was a sample of every single thing Myles has eaten in the past year under the padding of the seat – great.  so instead of just popping the seats in the car, i first spent 30 minutes on the floor of the foyer de-gunking them – ew.  now i see why people don’t let their kids eat in the car

after cleaning up the mess, i remembered that i needed to adjust the straps, which is a beating in and of itself – and then i realized that i needed a screwdriver to remove the rear-facing attachment – car seats should not be this difficult!!  finally, i was ready to install the seats – now here’s where Karma kicks me in the ass for mocking the Corolla and thinking that it will be easy to install the seats since they’ll be forward facing – the Corolla may have been a clown car but it still had the tether anchor in the back so i figured i’d use it – i am a safety girl, after all *rolls eyes* i installed the seat, attached the tether and then i thought to look at the manual – and of course the manual that says the tether is not necessary – seriously?  thinking i’d save myself some time later at the dealership, i figured i’d go ahead and skip the tether – good call, dianthe – because it ended up taking FOREVER to remove it – i was having such a hard time that i ended up going to get the pliers because i thought i was going to have to bend the thing to get it off!!  but i eventually figured it out,  though i was close to needing a wardrobe change since it was so warm that day

i headed back inside to check on the kids before i installed the second seat and they were exactly where i left them – on the couch watching Blues Clues – great.  i went back outside to finish up and just as i heard the last “click”, i heard the storm door open and Sydney yell. “MOMMY – HURRY, HURRY COME QUICK!!” – i jumped out of the car and moved faster than i’ve moved in years – as i ran to the door, i could see the panic stricken look on her face – then she said “there was a crash and they fell and it’s on the floor …”

i should probably preface this story with the fact that everything that could possibly fall down and seriously hurt my children is bolted to the wall – furniture, tvs. etc. – so i had no idea what she could have been talking about – but it didn’t matter because i’d already flown past her leaving her standing at the door

at first glance, everything seemed fine – Nick Jr. was going strong on the tv and Myles was standing in the middle of the living room (which is not uncommon since they’re usually singing and dancing to whatever show is on) –  i turned to Sydney, who was now standing beside me and said “what happened?  what’s wrong?” – she was still frantic and could hardly get the words out – instead, she was jumping up and down and pointing –  ”uh uh uh … the frogs … it dropped … the frogs …”

holy.shit.

some quick background – Kelley bought the kids African frogs for Christmas – i don’t know why.  out of all the interesting things for children in the Learning Express store, he decided that African frogs that are roughly an inch long and do nothing more than swim around in an 6×8 inch square tank would be the perfect gift for the kids  and now, 3 months later, the plastic aquarium was on the floor in a puddle of water – and the frogs …

upon closer inspection, there was water everywhere … but no frogs – i told Sydney to take Myles into their room so I could clean up – that’s when Myles started to cry … great.  because if dead frogs weren’t enough, i also needed a crying kid?  i ran to get some towels to clean up the water and when i went to pick up the aquarium (if you can call it that), i realized the frogs were still inside – for the record, i know nothing about the stupid frogs other than they get fed twice a week and they’re not supposed to get big – but in the midst of my crash course in frog training, i realized that these stupid amphibians don’t do well outside of water :/

i carried the tank into the kitchen and prayed that tap water wouldn’t kill them – it was then that i realized that the lid just hadn’t come off of the aquarium, the bottom was also cracked – and as quickly as i was pouring water in, it was seeping out of the bottom – i put the aquarium on a towel hoping that would slow the flow and went back to finish cleaning the living room – i finally got the water sopped up (who would have thought that a container that small would hold that much water?) and told the kids to get their shoes on – we were going to need a new aquarium

as Sydney ran around the house trying to find her shoes, i stood in the kitchen trying to figure out what i could put the frogs in – even with the towel, the water was still seeping out of the bottom and i knew there was no way they were going to survive the 20 minute ride to the store like that – i settled on a clear animal cracker container that i keep for miscellaneous use (thanks Costco!) – i poured a ton of water in it, carefully poured the frogs in and headed for the car

by the time we got to the Learning Express, i knew my day was shot – it was already 11:30am and there was no way i had the energy for the library so i decided to head to Central Market (which is right next door to the Learning Express) for lunch and then let the kids play on the playground before we headed home for naps

as we walked into the Learning Express, i walked up to the counter, animal cracker jug in hand and announced that we’d had an African frog crisis and needed a new container – the look on the woman’s face said it all – “we don’t sell just aquariums – they come in a complete set”, she said – kill.me.now.  NOW what?? she suggested i try the pet store or even The Container Store for an aquarium, but that didn’t solve the “self containing eco-system” problem – apparently the frogs have to have special rocks that control the oxygen or ammonia or some such along with a piece of live bamboo – have i mentioned that i’m a dog person? *sigh* i figured we’d head to the pet store next but mama needed a break so i left the frogs in the capable hands of the Learning Express employees and took the kids to Central Market for lunch – oh, and it’s important to remember that the Learning Express lady loosened the lid that i had put on to keep the water from splashing out in the car

an hour later, we headed back to the Learning Express to pick up the frogs and we were off to the pet store – here’s a hint – if you ever find yourself needing help with frogs, don’t go  to a traditional pet store – they have no clue – i spent the next 15 or so minutes dealing with a teenager trying to sell me a 5 gallon fish tank – uh, no.  she had no idea what kind of rocks i needed and i ended up having to call the Learning Express to find out that i needed “living gravel” which of course, the pet store didn’t carry – but i didn’t figure that out for another 10 minutes because by the time i got off the phone, Pet Store Teenager was now talking fish with another customer and employee – and me?  well, while the kids talked to a woman and her two dogs, i stood there like an idiot holding an animal cracker container with African frogs in it

i was finally able to talk to Pet Store Teenager again only to find out that they didn’t have the gravel – but she recommended a nearby specialty store that might have them – seriously?

i rounded up Sydney and Myles (who was seconds away from making out with yet another dog – what is it with this kid??) and headed back to the car – i finally got them situated and was about to look up the pet store on my phone when i glanced down at the animal cracker container … one of the frogs was belly up … and the other was floating but not moving – are.you.freaking.kidding.me.?????  after all of that, the damn frogs were dead – i had forgotten to reopen the lid after the 2 minute ride from Learning Express to the pet store – nice.  and can someone please explain how frogs that remain under water 24/7 and only have a hole the size of a pinhead to let air in and out of, suffocate in a container 5 times the size of their original aquarium – i guess those containers are air airtight :/  - i don’t recall exactly, but i’m pretty sure i let out an audible 4-letter word since i heard both kids say, “what’s wrong?” – “oh, nothing – Mommy just needs to make another stop …”

now, if common sense had prevailed, i would have explained to Sydney that the frogs were dead from the moment Myles dropped them on the living room floor – but since i have to deal with Sydney crying “i miss Lexie” every time she gets upset, the last thing i wanted was to add Kelley and Kelley (you can thank Evilina for helping Sydney name both frogs after her daddy!) to the list – so instead, i headed back to Learning Express …

i left the kids in the car (they were on the front row in front of the store, i could see them the whole time and the windows were down – deal with it.) and took the dead frogs back in the store explaining that i needed replacement frogs – i knew Sydney was going to know the difference – why?  because she’s my child.  but i took the new frogs anyway and we hightailed it home

by the time we got home, it was past time for a nap – but i ushered the kids inside and sat them in front of the tv while i figured out how to handle the switch – as luck would have it, the trash hadn’t been picked up, so i tossed the dead frogs (animal cracker container and all) in the trash can on the curb and brought the new frogs inside – as i set the aquarium on the table, Sydney said “these frogs are different Mommy – they’re not big like the old frogs – where are the old frogs?” – told you.  i quickly explained that the old frogs had gotten too big for their aquarium so we left them at the store so they could live in a bigger house and the new frogs could come home with us – that seemed to satisfy her and good thing – because i didn’t know how i was going to explain that her mother is a frog killer

YAY Monday!  and that, Kobe, is why i deserve half!

at this moment, 4 years ago, i was well into active labor and roughly 12 hours away from meeting the child that would completely change my life

4 years later, i couldn’t have predicted that i’d be putting her back to bed at 1am because she “couldn’t sleep” which is code for “i woke up” – i’m not sure why, but she’s been waking up around this time for a couple of weeks and while most people would be annoyed by their child coming into their room at 1am – i’m kind of digging it

the older the kids get, the more chaotic our lives get – we’re constantly on the go – even when we’re at home – it’s constant madness – and i love every minute of it – ok, maybe not the minutes the kids are screeching at such a high decibel, every dog in a 5 mile radius can hear them – but i love about 99% of it – but make no mistake, it’s complete craziness – and as much as i hate it, the quiet times where it’s just me and Sydney are becoming fewer and fewer – Myles is still nursing (yes, still.) so i get plenty of quiet one-on-one time with him – but the special moments with my girl seem to be disappearing – so instead of being pissed that she’s waking me up interrupting my Facebook/Twitter/working/”me” time, i try to enjoy those minutes because i know it won’t be long before they’re gone

we walked back to her room, holding hands and as we climbed into her bed and snuggled under the covers, i remembered where we were 4 years ago …

m: Sydney, did you know that 4 years ago Mommy and Daddy were at the hospital waiting for you to be born?

S: mm hmm - and then you called Dr. Julia to help get me out of your belly and then i was born and you had a beautiful, perfect baby girl and then i had lots of toys

uhhh, i’m pretty sure that is NOT how i’ve described her birth story to her but she clearly inherited her mother’s high self esteem!  we laid there for a few more minutes and i said a Hail Mary for her (we’re learning prayers) and then contemplated telling her that it was technically already her birthday – but i didn’t have time because she reached over, gave me a tight hug and said “you’re the best, Mommy” – then she rolled over and dozed off – i held onto her for a few more minutes, gave her a kiss and then tried to sneak out of her bed – as my feet hit the floor i heard a sleepy voice say “Mama, can you get me some more water?”  ”Yes, baby girl” – but when i got back to her room a minute later, she was knocked out – and just like that, my moment was gone

years from now she’ll really be gone – off to college, living in her first apartment, married, tucking in babies of her own … i hope she’ll remember these moments – maybe she’ll only remember the snuggles or the Hail Mary – maybe she’ll remember the water or how she asked me to tell her the Cinderella story – or maybe she won’t remember any of it – but i will – i won’t ever forget

happy birthday Sydney Jane!

if you believe the tabloids, Vanessa Bryant aka Kobe Bryant’s ex-wife is now the proud owner of 3 mansions homes and roughly $75 million – when i shared that info with my husband (i usually have to keep him updated on the gossip of the day), he immediately let me know he didn’t think that was fair – i, on the other hand, think Vanessa earned every penny

to start, let’s go ahead and forget about how Kobe cheated on her multiple times – or how he publicly embarrassed her when he was accused of sexual assault – so what if she got a $4 million dollar ring out of it – do you really think that ring made it easier for her to explain to her girls why Daddy was arrested?  do you think a ring made it easier for her to ignore the moms at her kids’ school whispering behind her back?  please.  but again, let’s put all that aside.

instead, let’s focus on the day to day – Kelley doesn’t think that she deserves half because she didn’t go to work to earn the money – i disagree – because as a mother, i know that whether Vanessa goes to a 9 to 5 job or stays at home, she works 24-7 because she’s a mom – Kelley thinks there should be some sort of “formula” that assigns a monetary value – my opinion is that there is a “formula” – it’s 50% – after all, marriage is a partnership – 50/50, right??  he may leave the house to go to work every day but she’s the one that keeps the ship running – at least that’s how it is over here and i’m willing to bet in the majority of households in the country, most moms put in at *least* 50%

it’s Thursday – here’s a highlight of the things i’ve done this week -

listed and sold the crib on Craigslist

at least 5 loads of laundry – towel laundry, to be specific – because thanks to this week’s rainstorm, part of our living room is flooded – do you think my husband noticed it before he left for work?  that would be no – so guess who got to clean up the water and deal with the insurance company

cleaned up endless amounts of pee and poop because the dog won’t go outside in the rain – i also had to bathe him after he rolled in the mud – and clean the tub after i bathed him – to be fair, Kelley has cleaned pee/poop at least twice

i missed lunch with the girls because i was too tired to drive to Dallas – why was i too tired?  because i was up with Myles half the night and was falling asleep at the wheel driving Sydney to school :/  - i have no idea why Myles was up crying and fussing – i don’t know why he was up crying and fussing last night either – but i do know that he was awake from about 1:30-4am – and so was i …

dealt with multiple meltdowns by a dramatic 3 year old – the most recent, this morning – because the outfit that she chose to wear was  ”itchy” and she wanted to wear her shirt under the outfit instead of over

laid in the bed with Sydney til she fell back asleep – at midnight.  every night.

brushed the teeth and washed the hands of an almost 2 year old boy 5-10 times a day – for no other reason than he likes it

unclogged the toilet – YAY! :/

and those are just the highlights – that doesn’t include the day-to-day stuff like cooking, cleaning, grocery shopping, carpooling, bathing, feeding, entertaining kids, etc. – those things are givens – all the other stuff are extras

you know what my husband did this week?  went to work, the gym, school and to the basketball game to see the Dallas Mavericks get their championship rings – oh, and he took out the trash and one load of laundry

now don’t get me wrong – i’m not complaining – i willingly do all of these things (even dealing with the emotional tantrums of a 3 year old) – this is the life i wanted and i’m very happy to have it – but it is not easy – ever.  it takes a lot of time and effort and sometimes i fail miserably and some days i kick ass – and just because i don’t go to an office and don’t collect a paycheck doesn’t mean i don’t put in work – and a lot of it

i don’t pretend to know Kobe and Vanessa or what their day-to-day life was like – maybe Vanessa had a household of hired help and literally did nothing more every day than sit on her couch, watching soaps and eating bon-bons – but i’m willing to bet that’s not the case – if she did nothing more than take care of her girls, that in itself is a full-time job

is what she does every day worth $75 million?  is throwing a basketball through a hoop worth $75 million?  it depends on who you ask – Kobe’s great at what he does, but in the grand scheme of things – the “work” he does is WAY overvalued – there’s no way you can convince me that playing sports is more valuable than teaching children – it’s certainly not more valuable than raising children – yet, he’s paid millions – and teachers are paid paltry salaries and moms are paid nothing

Vanessa walked away with half Kobe’s fortune – did she deserve it?  i don’t know – but i know one thing – she earned it – every.single.penny.

last week, my friend Amie posted a picture of the sweetest Labrador puppy you’ve ever seen – he was black with the most beautiful puppy dog eyes you’ve every seen – she said that a friend was trying to find him a home and to contact her if anyone knew of someone who could take him – i thought to myself, “what an adorable puppy” and then scrolled down to the next status – only for some reason, that puppy’s face stayed with me – i showed it to Kelley and then told him i wanted the dog – and then i went on to list the many reasons we couldn’t take him – we don’t need a dog right now, we don’t have the room for a dog (and certainly not what would soon be a big dog), i have too much on my plate right now, etc. – but i couldn’t stop thinking about him – an hour or so later, i told Kelley that i wanted the dog – he looked me dead in the eye and said, “get him” – yeah, he was a lot of help.

i planned to go run a few errands thinking i could talk myself out of the idea of a dog while i was out – but i still couldn’t get that face out of my head and as i walked aimlessly around the house, Kelley said, “you’ve already made up your mind – just get him” – sigh.  i texted Amie and asked if the dog was still available – she immediately responded yes and asked if i knew someone who wanted him – i hesitated again before i responded that it was me … to make a long, convoluted story short, a series of events led us to the SPCA on January 2, 2012 to meet the newest member of our family – Rocco

he’s absolutely the sweetest puppy ever – super smart, well on his way to being completely potty trained and just a perfect dog – but i was a little concerned about the kids – it’s been a year since Lexie died and while Sydney asks about her almost every day, Myles doesn’t remember Lexie at all – and despite us having had a dog, both of them still go through an initial stage of panic when we visit friends with dogs – but they took to Rocco like we’d had him for years – Sydney was talking baby talk to him and Myles couldn’t stop kissing him (on the mouth, much to Kelley’s dismay!) – there was an immediate bond so i knew he would be a perfect fit – until 2 days later …

all of a sudden, Sydney started freaking out whenever Rocco would come close to her – and i mean freaking.the.freak.out.   screaming, running away, tears – a full on break down – and of course Rocco thinks she’s playing so he continues to chase after her – more screaming and running from Sydney which of course elicits more chasing from Rocco – seriously?  and then there’s Myles – a boy and his dog – he could not love Rocco more – even with Rocco constantly climbing on top of him and that one small gnawing incident where Rocco mistook Myles leg for a chew toy – Myles still loves him and they’re on their way to becoming best buds

but not Sydney *sigh*  she’s hopping on furniture and running into rooms screaming like she’s being attacked by zombies – and that’s when Rocco just looks in her general direction – God forbid he start to walk toward her – and me?  well i’m getting pretty close to the end of my rope – we’ve had countless talks about how Rocco is just playing – i have told her that the rule is to “stop, so that Rocco will stop” – i have held her hand as we’ve walked past Rocco without him even glancing at us – we’ve given him treats and hugs and belly rubs – i’ve told her more times than i can count that Mommy will always protect her and never, ever, ever, let Rocco (or anything) hurt her – she’ll be okay for a few minutes and then someone will leave the door to her bedroom open – Rocco will wander in and all of a sudden, she’s standing on her bed screaming while Rocco looks at her like she’s crazy

yesterday, we took Rocco to be neutered (poor baby ) – that girl turned on the charm like she was starring in a dog food commercial – rubbing and petting Rocco – telling the office staff Rocco’s name and how much she loves him – the entire time Rocco was at the vet, Sydney kept asking where he was and when could we go pick him up – then we got home and she turned into a whining, fraidy-cat, cry baby again -

Sydney’s mentioned a couple of times that she really misses Lexie and that she can’t wait for her to come back – in our book, Dog Heaven, they talk about the angels bringing the dogs back to visit but she doesn’t quite grasp the concept that we can’t actually see the angels – so, i don’t know if that has something to do with these meltdowns or what – but here’s what i do know – if we don’t figure something out soon, someone will be looking for a new home … super cute, potty trained and sleeps through the night (for the most part), WAY freaking smart but starting to get kind of mouthy – so let me know if you might be interested – i’ll miss my baby girl and i’ll definitely come to visit … but there’s no way i’m giving up my puppy!  ;)