Best Friends

Ten and half years ago, I, Scruff Dad's wife, got my first daughter. She came in the form of a four-legged black dog-- half lab, half German short-hair pointer. I called her my Montana Squirrel hound. She taught me a lot about responsibility, loyalty, and the importance of animals in ones life. She was really the best friend a single, independent woman could have asked for....... she ran, skied, biked, hiked, and traveled almost everywhere that I went. She lived in Montana with me for two years and moved to Vermont in 2000. She was dignified, mature, but fun and adventuresome. Anyone who met her, held a soft spot in their hearts for her. I was really, really proud to call her my dog.

John was never a "dog person", he didn't grow up with dogs and had never had a dog of his own. When he started courting me, he knew Zola and I came as a package. Like most people, he quickly warmed up to her and couldn't believe that he had lived so long without the joys of owning a dog. We were both really proud to have her as our ring bearer in our wedding. Here's a picture of her being walked down the "aisle" with my good friend Mic, who had known her since she was a puppy in Missoula:

We thought she would be a part of the "happily ever after" with us
When John and I found out we were pregnant, I knew Zola would be the best "big sister"/first dog that any child could ask for.

Last June, Zola suddenly came up lame. John was in Peru, I was in the middle of the mayhem of school ending and I was just finishing up my first trimester of being pregnant. Within days, she went from being my running side kick to a very sick dog. No one could figure out what was going on, but she was clearly having some sort of autoimmune response (swelling, low red blood cell count, etc.). She managed to have a short remission and get well enough to travel to my parents in Connecticut where we were reunited with John and celebrating my sister and Rob's engagement/shower. Sadly, she died days after our return.

We were heart broken. Not only had I lost the most amazing dog who had been through so many major life changing events with me, but we lost the dream of having our old black friend there for our child. Without much deliberation, we decided to visit a litter of puppies that our builder's dog had sired. Here's what we found:


We named her Izzy. She was half lab/half border collie. She was an amazing puppy. I figured I'd have the time to raise a puppy over the summer and she'd be fairly well trained by the time a baby came along. This way our child would have a dog in her life.

Unfortunately, when Izzy was about four months old, she disappeared from our house with her sister. We have no idea what happened to her. With the help of our amazing friends, we looked everywhere for her. We left no stone unturned-- offered rewards, posted notices in the papers, on Craigslist, etc. We were devastated. For months, calls came in about possible sitings, our hopes would get high, and then nothing would become of any of them.........

Still not willing to give up the idea of having a four-legged sibling for our child, I convinced John to agree to getting yet another puppy. This one I found on Craigslist. The ad said something about an 8-week old "pure breed lab needing to be re-homed b/c of allergies". I e-mailed the woman, we exchanged a few calls and agreed to meet at the Kohl's parking lot in West Leb, NH. So, on a dark night in November, John and I got Zephy:

You can't really see her very well in those pictures, but she's definitely NOT a purebred lab. The first real sign that she isn't, was the beard that she has-- very terrier-like. Then there ss the fact that she was completely neurotic and jumpy........ So, weeks before I was due to have the baby and still not in our own house, we got a very tiny puppy. Three dogs in less than six months! Some thought us insane. And we really, sort of, were.

Zephy, has been a bit of a challenge. She's not as trainable or easy going as either of the aforementioned black dogs. However, she's a huge lover and absolutely wonderful with Cally. She has given Cally so much to laugh and smile about. They love each other:



Words cannot describe how much we miss Zola and Izzy. I have a feeling Zephy will be a lot like a good wine-- she'll get better with age. In the mean time, she's getting better everyday and Cally is going to be a better kid for having had a four-legged sibling in her life.

Green Boogers & Eggs Benedict

Today is Mother's Day and Cally and I have been working hard to let Katy know she is the best mother in Vermont...the world for that matter. Our day started early as Cal and I hustled out to the Jericho General Store to pick up the NY Times for Katy, letting her sleep in without having to worry about feeding Cally or listening to me snore obliviously in the first morning light. It's been a grey rainy day here in Jericho, the kind where you want to go no where fast and the next section of the paper seems like a fine next objective...or possibly attempt to make hollandaise sauce for eggs benedict for Katy, emphasis on "attempt".

Cally's week has been remarkable, filled both with victories and defeats...I guess a reasonable metaphor for all that will come later in her young little life. First the victories. In the last 24 hours Cally successfully rolled completely from her back onto her stomach. While we've been reveling in her new show of coordination and independence, the writing is clearly on the wall. Next Cally will be crawling, then running, then driving, dating and well...you get the picture of the already over nostalgic parents:)


In other victory news, Cally had her 4 month check up with her pediatrician on Wednesday and the word was all good. Tipping the scales at a whopping 13 pounds, she's ascended to the 50 percentile for kids her age in weight (all that milk seems to be working) and is still a giant among her peers at a whopping 25 1/2 inches, 90 percent taller than all of her peers. Now we realize of course there's a long road ahead, but I'd be lying to say we haven't considered the possibility of fishing around for a WNBA futures contract or at least a meeting with Geno Auriemma down at UConn. He's usually combing around for some tall and upstanding women.
Most importantly, Cally's super healthy, happy and blows our minds daily...


Now for the big loss of the week...Cally' previously unchinked armor of health finally took a hit. The fever, the lacking strength and the sure sign of sinus infection, the green boogers. I've been wondering when her number would come up given how many kids she comes into contact with and how much they all love to hold and touch her. When I have the flu or colds I'm pretty much irrascible and out of sorts. Not our Cally, the poor dear. No matter how mucousy (sp?) Cally was last week, you just can't keep a good woman down! She still had such a great disposition, always smiling...even when coughing and with glassy little eyes. Heck I'd go to bring her to Katy to feed at 5:30am (retrieved from her crib) and through the crusty yellow gunk in her beautiful little blue eyes and the green gunk cemented to her little nostrils, came the trademark ear to ear Cally smile indicating she was ready to rage on with the day! I mean she was obviously happy here, even after a mid day barf in my hair:


To all the other special mothers out there (and those soon to be in our family) Peg, Mary Lou, Lynnie, Paula & Nif...Happy Mother's Day! You all have lots to be proud of...