Norte

 When Bela died, I thought it would be a long time before we were ready to have another dog in our family.  The pain was too raw, too fresh and she was and is irreplaceable, for sure.  Still, our routine was totally thrown off when suddenly we weren't going for our twice daily walks; and although not having a dog was (I am ashamed to even admit it in writing) liberating to some extent, all three of us were in need of canine company.

Toward the end of my Christmas vacation we began talking seriously about getting another dog.  At first we thought maybe we'd adopt an older dog to avoid the hassle of puppyhood...but the more I looked online and the more we thought about it, the more it felt as though getting a big dog, would actually feel like trying to replace Bela--it would be like putting a band-aid on a gaping wound.

We decided that a puppy would ultimately adjust better to our family because it would really be a part of the family rather than ours just being another home.  Don't get me wrong.  I am all for adopting animals and I know plenty of people who have adopted great pets.  I love the idea of giving abandoned animals a second chance in life, but it can be risky to a certain extent.  You don't know the animal's history or what might trigger agressive behaviour (towards humans or other animals), and with a small child, we decided that risk was too great.  Besides, getting a puppy would mean that it would grow up with Emily.  Bela was great with Emily, but she sort of treated her like a piece of furniture: she was totally indifferent to her presence.  A dog that grows up with Emily will ultimately be a better friend and companion for her.

So at the beginning of January the search for a puppy began...

We wanted another lab, but decided that we would get a completely different dog from Bela: a yellow male.  Little Norte (we vetoed Emily's name ideas: "Mari Paz", "Cocodrila", "Prince Tree") came home with us on January 11th.  He's almost three months old now, but it turns out that even though he'd had his first shot before we bought him, the breeder had given him such a bare bones vaccination that he may as well not have had it at all!  That means we still cannot take him out on walks where he'll be in contact with other dogs because he's highly suceptible to viruses that are common among grown dogs and can be fatal for puppies.  We gave him his first "real" shot on Wed, because he had a bout of diarrhea after we first brought him home and we didn't want to overload his little system.  As it is it'll be nearly March before we can take him on walks because his little body takes about 15 days to build up the immunity after the shot and he needs still another one before he's all covered!

Thankfully, he's a very agreeable and fairly calm little fellow.  Of course, as he gets older he's going to need to spend that puppy energy...so I think we'll be just very narrowly avoiding disaster with his vaccination schedule.  At four months we'll finally be able to wear him out among the olive trees. :)  For now, though he's happy to be inside and really spends most of his time sleeping on his bed.  He has a few toys and so far limits himself to playing/chewing them.  And after just two or three days of mopping up puppy pee in the house, he's learned to go outside in the patio.  I am only a little worried that because he needs to be quarantiened for so long that he'll develop the unbreakable habbit of taking care of his "business" in the patio--yuck! :(

Emily was a little luke warm about Norte at first because puppies are so different from adult dogs and he has very sharp teeth and claws. If he nipped at her or her things she'd begin to cry saying, "I want a big dog!  I don't want a puppy!"... but she's warming up to him now and learning to be patient and also assertive with him when he bites her ballet tutús. ;)  This will be a good experience for her, and I know that in the end Norte is going to be a really great buddy.  So there you have it.  We are officially, once again, a family of four. :)

Christmas Vacation

Emily was pretty into it.

I am pleased to say that I feel I've been doing a pretty good job of balancing things this vacation.  My time off is drawing to an end...Monday I'll be back at work, but I've got some good work done (nearly all caught up) and also managed to have lots of play time.

 The Thursday after Christmas I finally got the gingerbread made. :)  I had really been looking forward to making and decorating cookies with Emily this year because I was sure she'd be into it.  And to make the event more fun/festive, I invited our young cousins to come over too.  In the end there were a total of six kids ranging from 3-12.  Thankfully, Angelines' cousin decided to stay and help maintain order because it was a little bit crazy with  dough-rolling, cookie cutting, hot cookie sheets in and out of the oven, decorating, etc.  We had a nice evening and when the kids got tired of decorating, Sonia and I did a few ourselves while the cousins turned off the lights in the living room, dug into Emily's new dress-up box and had a dance party with flashlights! :) 

New Year's was a crazy rush for Angelines as it is every year, which means that for Emily, abuelita and I there was plenty of cleaning to be done.  We had New Year's Eve dinner at my sister-in-law's house as we have now for the past four or five years.  This year it was just our two families and abuelita, though.  It was a small gathering, but I think that made for a nice, more relaxing evening.  At 11:59pm, Emily dragged her tita into the bathroom with her and so tita Toñi missed the grapes thanks to Emily's timely bowls! 

In fact, we all missed the traditional twelve grapes that are eaten with the tweleve strokes of midnight on New Year's Eve to usher in the New Year!  We had the TV on a channel we don't usually watch and they did some weird electronic boing sound with each second, rather that bell tolls...  We all just sat there wondering what was happening until about the seventh boing, we realized we were behind and started cramming grapes in our mouths like crazy!  I'm not sure how that bodes for the new year... ;)

I interupted the dance party for a picture. :)

Angelines ended the "night" at 9am.  Needless to say we were all glad when Tuesday, January 2nd rolled around!  We spent the day being at home and relaxing, but then headed out in the evening to see the Christmas lights in Puente Genil. 

Emily has taken to not napping.  Or perhaps I should rephrase that, I have decided to stop wearing her to sleep in the middle of the day.  Since she was a little baby, I've put her in the back pack and nursed her to sleep for her nap.  She is quite heavy now and so partially for my back's sake and partially as a step toward weening, I have decided not to use the back pack anymore.  This means, however that afternoon naps are out the window.

Cousin love on New Year's Eve

We are making a switch to "quiet time" (my mom will laugh at that inherited tradition) during which we read and stretch or chat in the bedroom and try to generally relax and be quiet.  She doesn't fall asleep though...  This means that come 8pm she is so tired that everything provokes tears.  It hasn't been much fun, but it is true that getting her to sleep around 9:00-9:30 gives A and I lots of time to ourselves before heading to bed.  Last night we watched a whole movie (without falling asleep) and were still in bed by 11pm!

Yesterday was our last full day together as a family before I head back to work because Angelines is working today (Thursday).  We woke up and despite cloudy skies in La Roda, decided to head to the beach.  Abuelita came along too.  On the coast it was sunny and warm without even a wisp of a breeze--a perfect day.  We brought along Emily's bike and strolled along the waterfront for about half an hour then played in the sand and waves and had a seafood lunch.  It was wonderful to get out of Dodge for a bit and abuelita was so happy to have a day out with her granddaughter even if she couldn't play in the sand or wade. :)

Today Angelines wasn't planning to open, but rain is predicted for tomorrow and Saturday which means that the city decided to move the King's Day parade up to the 4th of January.  This year the parade started on abuelita's street so after "quiet time" we went over there to be pelted by candies thrown from the floats and watch the Kings go by.    It's such a terrible waste because more than half of it just gets swept up by the street sweepers that go behind the parade.  Emily was pretty excited about the candy though; I tried to see it through her eyes. ;)

Christmas lights

Little cyclist

What a beautiful family I have!