Clearly a Goofball!

Babies change so fast! Everyone knows that. For the first 6 months of their lives they are pretty much impossible to figure out. One minute you know EXACTLY what they need, how to read them and when to do whatever they want you to do....and you do it perfectly for a day. Then in the middle of the night they change and you have no clue anymore. This is frustrating but time flies so fast you don't remember the past few days...instead you focus on the moment.

Well, right now I feel like things have slowed a little bit. Avery has been the "same" for about 3 weeks now. She gets up before the sun (this varies between 3:30-6:30am), plays for a few hours and MAYBE takes a nap once a day. She goes to sleep between 7 and 7:30pm. This isn't an absolutely concrete schedule...but it is the closest to perfect that she has ever created for me. Man- when you aren't spending time figuring out what to do for your baby- you get to know their personality so much more. Avery is an absolute goofball! She does things on purpose to be funny...I didn't even think at 8 months a baby had that type of intelligence. She sure does! When you tell her "no" or try to stop her from doing something (usually very dangerous stuff she is attempting) she lifts her chin really high, raises her eyebrows and goes "huh?" I swear in her head she is saying "what are you doing to do about it?" Then she laughs at you and stops. My favorite thing is when the neighbors dog barks (which it does CONSTANTLY). Avery crawls to the front door and looks out. She usually says "uhh" whenever the dog pauses. She squeals like a maniac on our walks when she sees a dog (and she can see a dog coming before I can).

I hope these type of days last....I know eventually she will start some new phase and the "slowness" will be gone. For now I'm recording every second of it on film, paper and photos. This is the start of her personality...I feel as if I am learning all about this new little human every day. It is absolutely amazing to watch a baby develop literally over night!

Poor Brock

Hello,

It is so sad for me to write this but it truly is time for Brock, our French Bulldog, to hopefully find a new home. After many many nights and days of pondering, arguing and stressing we have decided that we really cannot keep him with us. As many of you know, he has severe allergies. The good shelters are full and I honestly can't bear to just drop him off. Please let me know if you know of anyone that understands Brock's cost and is interested in taking him in. We do not know what else to do at this point. He is as healthy as he is ever going to get. With a new baby and plans for another one in the future he is not getting the care he deserves and in the past two months we have spent a total of $1000. While these were one time charges to help get him fixed up we just can't have a dog that requires so much special treatment while our daughter is beginning to get around the house on her own. Even though the past 3 months have been complete hell for our family in trying to give him medication and deal with all of the symptoms of his allergies, he is doing extremely well. We have been tempted to keep him but we feel we have decided as a family that if he were to incur more costs in the future that we could not justify them with a new baby to provide for as well. We do realize we are one of "those" selfish dog owners that got themselves into a mess. We have tried to go after Petland for forging Brock's pedigree but we have not gotten anywhere with that. He most likely is the result of inbreeding and may have future health problems that no one can predict.

His allergy medicine is $98 per 30 days
His food is $57 for about 3-5 weeks depending
Shampoo for minimizing his bacteria/yeast from itching is $37 every 3 months or so...

He also has folliculitis right now and requires antibiotics and a steroid (these are about $25 for the dosage).
At his next birthday he can have an allergy test done ($250) to determine exactly (hopefully) what he is allergic to.
His allergies may be under control with Atopica/$98 med but we can't tell due to the folliculitis.
There may be cheaper medications to try that will help but we were just trying to get him stabilized before switching medications again.

I know this is a total shot in the dark because of his cost and problems. I can happily report that the only true signs he has now are constant scratching and he is losing quite a bit of hair every day....but he doesn't have any bald patches anymore. He is able to eat the prescription diet now and hasn't had any problems with it. He is an extremely social dog that gets along with all sizes of kids and animals. He does need a refresher course in obedience as he has gotten a little more rambunctious these days.

He is an INDOOR dog, neutered and has a great relationship with the Jordan Creek Animal Hospital vet, Pam Erdman. Here are a few photos below.
I'm sorry for rambling. I have wanted to stop writing and delete the email so many times but his expense and time requirements are causing too much conflict in our home. Thank you for your time,


The Harding Family