Monthly Archives: September 2009

Griffin update

Griffin 5 1/2 months

Griffin 5 1/2 months

We’ve had Griffin for 6 weeks or so and we’re still all adjusting to this addition to our family. Right now I’ve got a bit of a love/hate relationship with him. But that probably has something to do with him pooping on the carpet this morning. Not something he normally does, thankfully.

I’m really not sure just how much he weighs right now, but I’m guessing between 50 and 60 pounds. Of course he still thinks he’s a lap dog and has all but taken over my recliner. Zale had to bribe him with a bone to get him out of it tonight. He still prefers to sleep on me, which is getting increasingly more uncomfortable as he seems to get noticibly bigger every day.

I have to admit, he’s really good with the kids. (Other than accidently knocking them down every now and then.) Reagan has even climbed in the recliner with him and sat on top of him. Not once did he even growl. Griffin and Noah (the little boy that I watch during the day) have become really good buddies. I think Hannah just tolerates him and Anthony still isn’t too thrilled about having him around. But he is a sweet and lovable dog. I still look forward to him getting bigger and out of the puppy stage.

Griffin and the other animals are getting along better. Earlier today I was sitting in the recliner, Gracie (our 40 pound boxer) was beside me sleeping, and somehow Griffin found enough room to get in the recliner with us (on top of me) and take a nap himself. They still have their moments, and Griffin still prefers to think of the cats as his personal play things, but we’re getting there.

“conversation” with Reagan

I walked into the girls room to get some clothes for Hannah and noticed how impossibly messy it was. I couldn’t even get into the closet because Reagan was sitting in the doorway of the closet playing. This was the very short exchange that followed:

Me: Wow, this room is a disaster again.

Reagan: Yeah (without even bothering to look up from playing)

Me: Should I even bother to clean it now?

Reagan: Nooooooo (still couldn’t be bothered to look up and didn’t even notice when I left the room)

he broke her

One of Zale’s clients owns a company that makes sauces. Hot sauces, BBQ sauces, syrup, seasonings, etc. They gave Zale a few samples as we are big fans of BBQ sauce and Zale loves all kinds of hot sauces. Since Reagan has such a mature pallet and has been known to enjoy spicy hot things in the past, Zale shared some soup he had doctored up with one of the hot sauces (just one drop).

Now this was after he tried some himself and was actually laughing with surprise at this hot sauce. I am not a big fan of hot sauce, so I’ll have to trust his judgement in this. But he said that the sauce was so good that he kept feeling the “heat” coming in waves, even after having something to drink. And a couple of hours later he commented that he still felt the heat of the sauce in his stomach.

Anyway, after taking a bite of the soup, the expression on Reagan’s face was priceless. I wish I had taken some pictures. It was a thoughtful expression, as if she was thinking “I’m not sure what the heck is in that soup, and I’m not sure if I like it or not.” And yet, she had another bite. After the second or third bite, she just stared at the soup as if she was concerned it was going to jump out of the bowl and bite her. Then she started moving her tongue all around her mouth, inside and out. I’m not sure if she was trying to feel and make sure her mouth was still there, or if everything had just gone numb. I began to wonder if she hadn’t gone into shock because she was just staring and moving her tongue around. We were finally able to get her to drink some milk in hopes of putting out what I can only assume was a fire in her mouth. I think it was a full hour before she spoke again.

Shortly after all that, she got a burst of energy that you wouldn’t believe. She was all over the place, running around the house, getting the dogs all excited (which is always fun for us since Griffin is probably about 60 pounds now and is like having a miniature pony living in the house with us), and trying to climb me as if I was a jungle gym. I looked at Zale and calmly said, “I think you broke her.

I’m happy to report there aren’t any lasting side affects and she’s gone back to normal. I have to add that last night Zale made the girls pancakes and used some of the syrup they gave us. I’m guessing it has a higher content of sugar than the sugar free syrup we normally use (ha ha), because both the girls were bouncing off the walls for quite some time. I told Zale theses sauces need to come with a warning label that they aren’t suitable for children. (I’m kidding of course, and I have to admit, watching the kids and their reactions had me laughing so hard I had tears rolling down my face)