It's raining and pouring....

The dish is out, so I'm checking out some youtube videos. Love this one!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgrrQwLdME8

One week....

It's been a week now that we've had Clifford and we're just all fitting really well together. It's amazing how good and well trained he really is-I have to think that someone out there is really sad he's gone. We're just working on establishing ourselves as the leaders now and he's getting it. He saw my good friend, Dr. Jen, today for a checkup and she determined that he's really healthy overall. She showed me how to take care of his ears (Hound ears get buildup and infections easily) and he needs a good teeth brushing.
Clifford has a really cool howl and luckily he only uses it rarely. He's been howling at dogs that live across the street (I didn't know those people had dogs and it took me a couple days to figure out what he was howling at)-maybe he just wants to meet them! I used his howling as a good training tool tonight (since we wanted a watchdog afterall). The neighbors were outside and one of their friends came up into our yard, real close to our window, just talking away over the fence to others. It was kind of annoying, so I got Clifford over by the window and i gave a little howl or two. Clifford then just howled a few times and the guy moved away pretty fast. Good...just the way I like it. He stopped as soon as I 'shhhhd' him. Good dog.
Alex really adores Clifford and we're teaching him to be a good dog friend. He tried to touch Clifford's eye today and I caught him in time. I also caught him trying to get on him for a ride. He now knows those are big no-no's. Clifford is very tolerant and sweet, and while he doesn't seem to know what to do with Alex, he's been very good to him. I hope they become good friends.

Alex has expanded his Spanish vocabulary a bit. He just picks stuff up and absorbs it. He can count to 10 in Spanish, and knows Red and Blue. We taught him white and yellow (because that is all I could remember). We're really just enjoying the great weather! He's very excited to see his Gaga and Papa tomorrow, since they've been out of town for the past week-he's really missed them. If we went over that way for something, he would say, "Let's go to see Gaga and Papa".

It's finally quiet in the house. Wil is working. Alex and Clifford are sound asleep. So, I'm going to watch "I love the 80's" on VH1 and read my new book.

On the move...

Clifford is doing just great in our home.  He lays around a lot, except when we go for walks or out in the yard.  He seems pretty happy and content to just hang out and sleep.  He slept all night last night and didn't make a peep when Wil came home from work at 2:30am (maybe not such a watchdog).  We left him alone for a couple hours today while we took Alex to his soccer class and he did just fine alone.  He's being a real good dog (except when he took some of Alex's lunch out of his hand today).  So, now when we eat, he's banished to the living room blocked  by a gate, but he did just fine with this at dinnertime.

Alex started soccer today.  I really want him to just try new things, play with kids, and have fun!  Unfortunately, there are always those parents who think their kid is the next David Beckham.  Anyway, Alex did really well following direction, running and kicking the ball.  He was NOT into trying to play an actual game.  I think he got overwhelmed with all the kids running together to the ball and he didn't get it.  There were a lot of kids and a lot of parents.  The coach divided the kids up into small "teams" and I think he didn't realize that Alex is only 3 and put him with the older kids (the ages are 3-5).  So, Alex had enough and just wanted to go home.  So, we left and made sure he knew how great he did and that we were proud of him.  He said he's going to try again next week.  

So, here's where I can start my mini rant about organized sports (because I'm truly not a fan, but realize that Alex can learn something and get some exercise).  There are always a handful of people who can just ruin it and turn it into more than what it is.  All the kids were under 5 and it was obvious that most never played before.  It was also obvious whose kids have parents who think their kid is the star (and there was the mother who is reliving her soccer playing days through her kid).  These are the parents who would not shut up and just let the kids play and I think that is where Alex got a little put out.  So, we'll try again next week and maybe Alex will be more comfortable.  But, if he's not, that's okay too.

Clifford, the big red dog...

We brought our new dog Clifford home today. It's a dog we've seen a couple times at the Humane society, but he wasn't ready for adoption until recently. He is a lab retriever mixed with coonhound. His name is appropriate because he's reddish in color. Very sweet dog so far and we're all just getting used to eachother. So far, we've played in the yard and gone for a walk. Now, he's finally settled down enough to lay down and relax on the floor while Alex watches a Spongebob episode before a nap. He knows some commands and is listening well so far-just tried to get up on the couch and when I made a sound for "no", he got right down. He really likes getting loved up and being outside. Alex is a little wary yet, but is okay and says he really loves Clifford.
Clifford has hypothyroidism, so he'll require medicine for the rest of his life. But otherwise he's very healthy! He has quite the Coonhound howl and I'm sure our house will be protected from now on. We're very happy to have our new addition to the family.

Weekends go by just too fast! We have been keeping ourselves busy, wanting to be outside more but with uncooperative weather. I had a nice birthday- I skipped out of work early on Thursday and Wil and I went out for lunch and a movie. We saw the new Indiana Jones movie-it was pretty good. Alex slept over at grandma and papa's last night and we went out with some friends. Today was just laid back with the family. Alex and I headed over to the park and within 5 minutes he had gone face first into the slide, cutting his lip so blood was everywhere. So, now we're just hanging out watching some Dora.
The other day we Alex and I were playing and all of a sudden, he starts counting in Spanish! He learned this from Dora apparently (which we really don't watch a lot of) and can count to 10 in Spanish now. He's doing so well with the potty and is now ready for a big bed (the toddler bed is just getting too small). So, I'm thinking that next weekend will involve painting and redoing his room fitting for a big kid. It's sad to see the pale purple and Pooh go away, but he said he wants baseballs and such now. My baby is growing up way too fast!
Wil found out this weekend that he passed his LSIT (Land Surveyor in training) exam! So, we're hoping that this will open up some doors in his field in a rather tough market right now.

Still waiting for the nice weather to get here so we can be outside!

The dog search continues...

Unfortunately, we were not able to adopt Shelby the dog. Hopefully she went to a good family. So, we are still looking at dogs on petfinder.com and our local humane societies. It's amazing how many dogs (and cats) are just abandoned by their owners. But I know that we'll find the right one for us.