Driving on the Right Side

When we moved to England, I was really quite nervous about driving on the left side of the road. It was nerve-wracking enough sitting on the bus from the airport to base watching cars coming from the "Wrong Side," the idea of remembering to drive in what seemed like an unnatural manner was very intimidating. And I'm not going to lie, I made some mistakes. Fortunately, they were all on base where drivers are more understanding and forgiving.

Driving is easy enough in traffic. Follow the cars. Simple. But when you approach an empty intersection? Shoot. Which one is it? Left? Right? We drive on the right in the states, yes? No. Yes. Okay, remember Beyonce. "To the left, to the left, over here in England we all drive to the left!" Maybe those aren't her words exactly, but I'm not lying when I say I recited them over and over for the first few weeks (months?) we lived in England.

And then, gradually, it became natural. In fact, I remember watching an American movie and there was a scene in a car and for a split second my heart rate doubled when I thought, "Ohmygosh, they are driving on the Wrong Side!" I remembered, though, that the right side used to be the Right Side and felt a bit foolish and amused at my mistake.

So much of driving is habitual. We don't think long and hard about what to do at a red light. We don't mediate on what a yield sign means. All of the littlest details about driving cause us no more than a nanosecond of thought, a flash of quick decision, and we're off. Even the stupidest things, like which side to pull your seatbelt from when you get into drive, can set you off when you start driving on the other side. It took me months to reach to the right for my seatbelt in England! I got into the wrong car seat many times before it became natural to get in on the right.

When we were planning our trip to Germany, I began to feel that familiar flutter in my stomach, that anxious feeling that I'd be going against the grain to *gasp* drive on the other side again. This wouldn't be my first time driving on the other side. We made a trip back to the States last year, and I'll be honest...I drove on the British side at least twice. Both times were when there was little-to-no traffic and were easily corrected.

What made me more nervous this time is that I'd be driving my husband's British spec car with the steering wheel on the right side of the vehicle. And I'd be trying to navigate through a very foreign country with a very foreign language I didn't speak. Ohhhh, I was nervous.

Ten days later, I will say that it hasn't been as bad as I thought it would be. For the most part, there's plenty of traffic and I keep in line with everyone else. Also, the roads in Germany are top notch. Mad props to you, Germany! England, I love ya, but your roads? Your traffic? They aren't my favorite. Getting around Germany is a piece of cake. Getting from our house in England to the base is like pulling teeth....painful.

That's not to say there haven't been...umm...incidents.

In Belgium, I pulled out of a gas station onto the left side of the road. It wasn't terribly busy, but there was oncoming traffic approaching down the road. And they flashed me. More than once. I was so into the habitual diving zone, it took about three flashes and my husband yelling at me to snap me out of it. Not a proud moment. Took about fifteen minutes for my stomach to unknot itself.

And then there was this one time here in Germany. It was on base, actually. I was pulling out of the parking lot of the BX, and again I found myself in the left lane again. Imagine a bit more yelling here from my husband, which put me into a bit of a panic. I was in the left lane. I need to be in the right. I was approaching a roundabout. OHMYGOSH, I'M APPROACHING A ROUNDABOUT! Yield to the right? Yield to the left? I DON'T KNOWWW!!!!!

I totally entered the roundabout going the WRONG DIRECTION. Lemme say, driving on the wrong side? Easily correctible in most cases. Going through a roundabout from the wrong direction? Not so much. Enter more yelling from both me and my husband and sprinkle a bit of Caleb crying because he has no idea what's going on, and you've got a good idea of what the chaos was like in our car at that moment.

I managed to get out at the very first exit in the roundabout with no damage done other than to my ego. Took nearly an hour to come unglued from that one, during which I mostly (and unjustly) blamed my husband for my panic. To be honest, I don't remember much of the day beyond that.

I will say this, though. I haven't driven on the wrong side since!

So tomorrow, we head back to England. About five hours of driving on the right side, a ferry ride, and then nearly three hours of driving on the left side again. I think my car will be happy to see the "correct" side. I, on the other hand, am starting to feel nervous.

So if you're in the UK and you see a BMW driving at you from the wrong side sometime during the next week, flash your lights, honk your horn, and shake your head at the poor befuddled driver trying to determine just what IS the Right Side!

Surgery

Well, it's done! My husband had Lasik eye surgery this morning. We weren't sure up until this morning if he was having PRK or Lasik, and he was told he'd be a good candidate for either. But the surgeon felt that Lasik gave him the best chance of perfect vision.

It's been a long day. Showtime was 0700. Fortunately, we don't have far to go to the hospital. It was a cattle call type of sitaution, with numerous individuals from many bases all over Europe coming for surgery. We were told we (the escorts/families) could leave and come back. The surgeries weren't to begin until 1000. Since Tommy was initially the third person in line, we left and came back just after ten to be waiting for him.

However, since he was the only patient getting Lasik, he was bumped to the end of the list. We initially thought he'd be done about noon, so we stuck around and didn't bother grabbing lunch. Unfortunately, he didn't come out of surgery till after 2:30! Neither Caleb nor I had eaten lunch (although Caleb had eaten a fair share of Cheetos, animal crackers, raisins and gummy bears. What is it with Germany and gummy bears? They seem to go hand in hand.)

By the time Tommy came out, we were shot. Caleb had thrown a few fits and hadn't napped. It was getting ugly. I felt patient with him, but I didn't have enough patience for other people's kids by the end of the day who all wanted to steal Caleb's cars and get in his personal space. (Kids! No idea of personal space!)

So Tommy is resting now. His eyes sting and are uncomfortable and he mostly wants to keep them shut. Caleb and I are trying to stay around if he needs us but not too close so we aren't bothering him while he recovers. The nice thing about Lasik is that he'll have a much faster recovery! Woo hoo!

The hospital at Landsuhl is HUGE! It's got numerous hallways/wings all connected by one shared hallway. There's a nice dining facility, a Burger King, a shoppette, a Community Bank, and a mini coffee place, among other things. It's very clean and nice. Largest base hopsital I've ever seen. Caleb enjoyed exploring the "tunnels" (hallways) and haging out in the smoking area (because it's outside and has a small fish pond.) He did really well most of the day, but certainly had some toddler moments, especially at the end when he desperately needed a nap but couldn't fall asleep in the busy hospital.

We have two more appointments before we leave next week. Depending on Tommy's recovery process, we might try and do a few things during our free days. If not as a family, Caleb and I will at least explore the local towns once or twice and see some friends of ours that are stationed here.

So far, so good!

Bruges and the Drive to Germany

Oof. It's hot in Germany. It was hot in Belgium. Weeks like these make me miss living in the States where everyone has A/C. our stinking cars don't even have working A/C, and lemme tell ya, that has made for some miserable long drives. Sleeping at night with no A/C can get pretty uncomfortable, too.

The ferry ride to Dover was quick and easy. Caleb enjoyed going to the top deck and looking out as we watched the cliffs of Dover grow smaller and smaller. The other two decks we were allowed on had a couple of coffee shops, a restaurant, a bar, some shops and some general seating areas. We spent most of our hour and a half trip chasing after Caleb who has no concept of sitting still.

The drive through France was unremarkable and fast. We had no problems finding Belgium, but got a bit lost trying to find the B & B we had reserved. I have to say, the lesson for this trip is that no amount of planning can adequately prepare you for the actual trip. Both the GPS and the printed sets of directions have led us astray on many occasions so far. The nice thing about the GPS, though, is that you can get SOME sense of orientation after you've driven through a town four times. Fortunately, the owner of the B & B was able to find us and we followed him to his gorgeous home.

We ventured into Bruges next. What a beautiful city! We only had a few hours to spend and managed to squeeze in a boat tour of the canals and a half of a horse and carraige tour. We also managed to eat too much chocolate and some waffles.

I guess I was confused about what half a horse and carraige tour meant. I thought we'd take a mini-tour and end up back in the same spot. Instead, we were dropped off way on the other side of town in an area we hadn't been to yet. Now the nice thing about this is that you get to see another side of Bruges that we might have otherwise missed. The not-so-nice thing is that I was so engrossed in eating my waffle that I didn't pay any attention to where we were headed and became completely lost. We hadn't gone far, but we got so turned around on the tour that it took us ages getting back to our car. We passed the same church three times. By the end we were just ready to get back to the B & B.

This morning, we ate breakfast at the B&B before setting off to German. The four hour drive ended up taking almost six due to a severe traffic accident and stops necessary for maintaining toddler sanity. We did have to fuel up for the first time since leaving base, and it was painful! €80 to fill our tank. OUCH! That's $114 on that day's rate. And we Americans complain about high gas prices!

While driving through France was unremarkable, the drive through Belgium and Germany were beautiful. The hills and country side were very picturesque. I wanted to take pictures, but as I was driving, it wasn't feasible. There must have been hundreds of windmills, though! I am so distracted by windmills. I find myself wondering how on earth they were erected, what would happen if those giant blades suddenly fell, how much power they really generate, and all kinds of entertaining ideas while I drove up and down the hills of Belgium.

We got to our TLFs (temporary living facility - complete with our own kitchenette and living room) by about 3 pm. Tommy's first pre-op appointment is tomorrow, and we'll know for sure if his corrective eye surgery is a go. In the mean time, we're trying to make the best of this hot weather and the lack A/C.

Day in Dover

Mm, I’m tired. I’m going to sleep that deep, delicious sleep you can only achieve by being crazy busy the day of said sleep. I am knackered.

Today is day one of our Great German Adventure. We left our house at about 8 am this morning, as scheduled and made good time to Dover, even though the GPS took us further into London than we would have liked. We had no problems finding the B & B that we reserved online. It’s a quaint, older house in the middle of town that smells like a grandmother and is really cozy and welcoming.

After settling in, we headed for Dover Castle. Although it’s really close to the B&B, the massive hill it resides on and the extensive grounds make it worth driving to, unless you’re keen on being exhausted from the get go. We were able to park in a nearby field and took a shuttle up to the ticket booth near the castle. Caleb wasn't too terribly happy when we arrived at the Castle.

The castle itself is definitely worth a visit. You ever visit a castle or stately home and think, “Huh. This is?” Dover is not that castle. In fact, we ran out of time to explore everything! And by “ran out of time,” I actually mean “ran out of stamina and were frustrated for not bringing the stroller along.” The Great Tower itself is not stroller friendly, but there is a “buggy park,” and the rest of the grounds pretty much require a little help from a set of wheels. I myself was wishing for a stroller to sit in.

We managed to make it down to the Medieval tunnels, which are a really interesting feature of the castle’s defensive system. . We got to go down below the castle and see where the soldiers would have lined their cannons and muskets in defense of the castle.

Unfortunately, we were too wiped out to make it to the war time tunnels, a complex of tunnels which were initially built as barracks during the 18th century but utilized as late as WWII as an underground hospital and operations and communications center, among other things. Unfortunately, we were just too tired to make our reserved time for the tour, so we’ll have to come back another time. It sounds like it is really cool!

Despite our exhaustion, we did make it to the White Cliffs, which are pretty stinking gorgeous. We couldn’t have picked a more perfect day to visit Dover; it was beautiful! We took a nice, slow walk along the cliffs and watched ferries sailing in and out of the ports. You can see the horizon of France from the coast of Dover on a good day. Interesting side note: when I was standing on the edge looking towards France, my cell phone received a text message from Vodafone welcoming me to France and informing me of the rates!

Tomorrow it’ll be our turn to be on one of those ferries! We’re off in the morning for Calais followed by a short drive to Bruges, Belgium. Can’t wait! For now, though, I better get some sleep. :)

From the Mouths of Little Dudes

[Originally written 2 Aug 09. Forgot to post!]

Why is it ordinary, every day words sound completely new and adorable from the mouths of toddlers?

Caleb is rapidly approaching two and quickly picking up new words almost every day. He's stringing together the words to communicate whole thoughts! It blows my mind. Today at the playground, he managed to climb up a rather scary ladder-like set of stairs that cause my heart to beat fast every time he appraoches them. But for the fist time, he got up to the top all by hisself. As he reached the top of his mini Mount Kilimanjaro, he annouced, "I did it!" I was so stinking proud of him.

He also learned the words "chocolate milk" today, which come out more like "cah-cae mook." And he's keen on adjectives today. Everything is a big truck ("bee cuck!") or a tall tree ("tah tee") or a shiney car ("siney cah"). In fact, the other day as I was squatting down to clean some of his meal time mess from the walls, he pointed at my backside and said, "Butt!" To which I replied, "Yep, that's momma's butt." Caleb responded, "Big butt!" Thanks, buddy! Thanks a lot!

He's also getting better with names. He knows some of his classmates names, his teachers, and a few of his out-of-school friends. And he's finally trying to say his own name, although I don't think he beleives his name is Caleb. One of his classmates calls him "Caybub", and his own pronouciation is more like "Taybuh." But he's getting there!

He recognizes people in pictures and loves to sit on my lap as I browse through pics on Facebook. He recognizes his grandparents - Mama and Bubba are my folks (MamMaw and Bubba Bob), and Nana and Papa are Tommy's (Nana and Grandpa.) And he's starting to get to know his cousins. Sophia is Feeah, and he loves to give her pictures kisses. But my favorite are his names for my brother and his son. Uncle Steve and Ben are "Cheese" and "Bun."

Caleb is also trying to sing along to songs. He'll throw in a word or two in songs he recognizes such as Little Einsteins' theme song, Johnny and the Sprites, and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. But MAN, did it throw me for a loop today when he tried to sing along to Beyonce's Halo! No kidding. We were driving to base, and he was busy sucking on his middle fingers and zoning out when suddenly he popped those fingers just as Beyonce was singing "Baby, I can see your halo, " and he belted out "Hayo!"

Honest to goodness, Caleb's first non-kiddie song was Beyonce. Weird.

It's fun, all this chatter. He loves to say "HI!" to anyone who will listen and tells them what he's up to. "I eat!" He's also rather bossy, and quite often tells me and Tommy to dance if we're eating out and there's music overhead.

At some point, all this chatter will get to be a bit much and I'll wish for a volume or mute button. But for now, it's all novel and new and fascinated, and I love listening to my little chatter box.

My Baby Has Friends!

There are two primary reasons that I'm the worst blogger ever lately. One is that I'm busy finishing up my last semester towards my graduate degree through the University of Oklahoma, and quite frankly there's a lot to do!


Second, there's been sun lately. SUN! The big yellow ball in the sky has been uninhibited by those pesky clouds and their rain. Caleb has actually worn SHORTS to school this week. Unbelievable. As a result, we've spent way more time outside at the playground than usual.


Don't get me wrong, we're still in England. A week ago we had a miserably cold and rainy day. Well, cold for May anyway. But the rainy days are becoming less and less common and the sun has been a good friend of ours lately. Honestly, it's enough to make me sing. Bring on the Fresh Prince, put an umbrella in my drink, and find me my flip flops! It's pradtically summer in the UK! At least for today. I'm sure that will change tomorrow.


So the most precious thing ever happened yesterday after work. Dinner was done, and we were relaxing upstairs when I heard someone knock on our front door. As I approached the door, I could tell it was the neighbor kids, so I assumed a ball had popped into our backyard and the wanted permission to retrieve it. Instead they asked if Caleb could come out and play! Well technically they asked if I was going to bring Caleb out to play, but all the same.


My baby has friends! Like actual neighborhood kids that come to ask for him at the door!


I was already in my pajamas, but I rushed upstairs to change so we could go hangout at the playground with Caleb's new buddies. Of course, they are all a good bit older than him (ranging from 3 to 8.) They all love him because he's the "baby." They get to push him on the swing, help him up the jungle gym, and hold his hand as they run around. Caleb loves the attention and the silly things they'll do to make him laugh.


In other news, Caleb is learning so much. New words include moon, rock, Manny (as in Handy Manny) and money (he likes putting money in his piggy bank.) I think he's trying to say "doggie" finally. He's been calling them "deedees" forever, it was one of his first words. Now he calls them "debbies" occasionally, with I think is a transition to doggies. He no longer calls cars "beep beeps," but actually calls them cars, (which sounds more like "cah.") He can do baby sign language for dog, frog, bird and his favorite, horse.


(On a side note, it makes me sad a bit when he graduates from his baby words to big people words.)

Also: Caleb has said his first sentence! He now says "I see you!" which sounds like "Ahtheeoo!" whenever we play peek-a-boo.


Oh, and he's a monkey. He climbs on ANYTHING. I found him STANDING in my window sill the other day! Like he's stinking Peter Pan coming to teach Wendy to fly! We've had to start putting a dining room chair in the middle of the living room for him to climb on. He does better climbing without the table to get in his way.


And I guess that's about it! I should be completely done with my classes, comps and internship come the end of July or so. Until then, I'm just plugging away trying to wrap things up!

Happy Mother's Day!

Today started off lovely, got better from there, took a bit of a nose dive around dinner time, but corrected itself into a pretty good day.

Caleb is cutting his last canine tooth, and as a result wakes up 2-4 times a night screaming and hasn't slept past 5 am in at least three days. Ugh. My husband was very kind this morning and took that early morning shift with Sir Crabby Pants while I slept in to the luxurious hour of 7 am. (Seriously. Remember when sleeping in didn't count until you had slept till at least 11, preferably 12?)

Caleb and I were ready for church early, so we headed to the playground while Tommy got ready.

By the way, for grins and giggles, here is Caleb on Mother's Day last year. What a marshmellow!

After church, we went to downtown Thetford to enjoy the beautiful weather and to have lunch at Red Pepper, a delicious Thai Food restaraunt with fantastic Pad Thai. Caleb enjoyed his chicken skewers. I love that he's still at an age where he'll try almost anything (when he feels like it.) I hope he stays this way.

Then we stopped by Argos to order some things we've been eyeing for a while. There's really no good US comparison for Argos. It's a store front with very little on display. Instead, you leaf through their latest catelogue, present the cashier with the item numbers for whatever you want, and then wait until they bring your item to another counter.

We picked up this awesome pot rack. I had seen one in my friend Tina's house and have been wanting one ever since. Now it's not so darn crowded in my cookware cabinet! I seriously love this thing. Hooray for creative storage options!

We also picked up a grill. We actually have a grill that we like, but we've had so many issues getting it sorted with a British propane tank (you have to use a really annoying adapter for US grills that never seems to work), that we decided it would be best to get a cheap British grill for the next two summers. Tommy took a nap, so Caleb decided to help me put the grill together. As you can imagine, he was more of a liability than a good assistant, but at least he was cute.

All of the hard work really knocked Caleb out.

I was super impressed that I managed to assemble the grill all by myself (well, with Caleb), but disappointed to realize the tiny propane tank we had for the American grill was out of gas. No sweat! I hopped in the car and searched Thetford for a gas station that sold propane tanks. Four gas stations later, I found a tank! After a quick stop at Tesco express for some cheese and rolls, I was on my way home, eagerly anticipating burgers!

Unfortunately, a new grill + a new propane tank did not = burgers. The propane tank doesn't seem to fit the grill valve! I seriously don't get it. Do we have the wrong tank? Do we need some sort of adapter? Why won't this fit?! By this point, I was so irriated. I had been craving Pioneer Woman's Favorite Burgers, and it seemed like nothing we did could make our Summer of Grilling dreams come true.

In the end, I finally just fried up the burger in a skillet. And they were good. But not grilled good. Still good, though.

So here's my trouble shooting section. Any and all thoughts are appreciated! We have a British grill and British propane tank. Here is the tank, just after we purchased it. Is it odd that there's no valve to turn it on and off? You just remove that orange cap (which was a bit trickier than I thought it would be).

Here is it with the cap removed. I wish I had gotten a better picture of the inside of top, but it's too dark now.

And here's the valve from the grill. That black switch on the left turns to lock the valve in place.

No matter what we tried, though, we can not get the valve to latch and lock. It feels like it just doens't fit. Should we buy a new tank and hope that it's the right kind? Or should we search for some kind of adapter? Or should we just throw our hands in the air and realize our fate of non-grillers as long as we're in the UK?

HELP!

Hello, there.

Oof. I'm a bad blogger. I've been taking lengthy blog vacations out of sheer laziness. My mental justification for this is that I'd rather not blog at all than blog out of obligation. Because surely those will be some boring blogs.

Quick update on Zeus: he's FINE. He's so fine, he's back up to his peak of obnoxious affection and attention-seeking. He's trying desperately to get into more trouble, but is not given enough opportunities to find trouble any more. I can't afford another leg break. Or anything else for that matter.

Zoey, on the other hand, had some derriere issues this week. I won't gross you out with the details (and I promise, they are disgusting), but a round of antibiotics and some help from our local vet have sent her on the path to recovery.

Honestly, these dogs are killing me softly with vet bills.

In other news, Caleb turned 18 months old a week ago today! Holy moly, we're on the downhill slope towards 2 years old. Aaayyeee! He got his 18 month old shots, and clearly he's figured out what the immunization room at the Peds clinic is all about. Because he started fussing as soon as we got there, and when we dropped his jeans, he went into a proper fit. Fun! But he survived. Here he is in the waiting room at the Peds clinic. Look how blonde he is in this pic!

And he got another haircut. This time, we visited Jazzy D's in Thetford, which has a kid's only salon near the train station. Caleb got to fly a plane while getting his hair cut, and was rewarded with a lollipop, which he promptly dropped into a pile of his freshly cut hair. In the words of Caleb, "Mm!"

We took a trip to Banham Zoo today. Caleb ate it up. He's at the age where he wants to identify and label everything (the Adam Complex, my dad said), so he really enjoyed seeing birds ("buh!") and piggies ("peepees!") and sheep ("see! baaa!") and lions ("raaa!"). It was raining when we initially set out for the zoo, so we took him to our local indoor play zone for an hour, and then spent a good two and a half hours at the zoo, so he was completely knackered when we left. In fact, I need to wake him up soon. He's been sleeping for more than three hours! (Very unusual for my boy who rarely naps more than an hour.)

This is Caleb and Tommy looking at some leopards in the zoo. He also loved the giraffes!

It's absolutely amazing to see how much he's learning now. He can say so many stinking words. Some of his favorites are:

• bus
• bath ("bass")
• fish ("iss")
• juice ("deuce")
• socks ("saw")
• car (which sounds exactly like clock, "cah")
• bubbles ("buh-boos")
• walk ("wah")
• ride ("rye")
• outside ("ow-sy")
• apple ("ah-poo")
• banana ("nana")

And he's becoming a big fan of letting you know when he needs a diaper change. A friend of our watched him last night while we went out for Thai food. When we picked him up, she said he told her "I poo-pee" when he was in fact needing a fresh diaper. What a clever little tot!

He's seriously so FUNNY, too. He dances, spins, jumps, runs and just generally loves to have a good time. And he thinks everything he does is hilarious, so by default, it is hilarious! It's hard not to laugh when a toddler laughs. Even when he's getting into trouble. Oy.

Well, I guess a long blog makes up for a long absence, right? I'll try not to wait so long next time! Before I go, though, one more pic of Caleb and his girlfriend Lillian. Suddenly Caleb's into holding hands...with everyone but me! He's too big for momma. *Sob!* Oh well, at least he's got good taste in women! ;)

Poor Pup, Revisted

Do you ever wonder if a traumatic event will change a person? If their personality will be effected by the outcome of a particular situation?

My dog Zeus broke his front right leg earlier this week on Saint Patrick's Day. It's been a stressful and crazy week as a result, and I wondered how Zeus would behave after his necessary surgery to repair the fracture.

Well, having picked up my healing pup this morning from Christchurch Vets in Ipswich, I can confidently say that you can remove Zeus from mischief, but in no way, shape or form can you you remove the mischief from Zeus, even surgically. Despite a slight slow down, Zeus seems just as eager to be up and running and getting into trouble as ever before. The trouble is, I have to keep him calm and relatively still while his leg heals for the next 6-12 weeks!

This all began Tuesday night as I was giving Caleb a bath and Tommy was on his computer. Zeus had wandered down stairs, likely to stir up some trouble looking for remaining food since we had just finished dinner. Out of nowhere, we heard that awful yelping of a dog in extreme pain. At the bottom of the stairs, Zeus was cowering with his paw dangling in a precarious way from his leg. Now I'm no doctor or vet, but I knew there was no way that paw should be hanging that way.

Our local vet in Thetford was closed for the night, so I rushed him to their sister location in Bury St Edmunds where the vet told me, "That is broken!" She was worried that there was nerve and ligament damage as well, but the X-Ray the next day showed that it was only a bone fracture. Zeus stayed overnight, but the vet told us the next day that we should take him to a doggy orthopedic surgeon in Ipswich.

(Quick pop quiz: What's the worst way to discover that pet insurance is important? Answer: A visit to an veterinarian orthopedic specialist! Yikes! Between the two and half days at our vet and the day and a half at the specialist, we had to kiss good-bye to our trip to Paris and Belgium over the next few months as we forked over £1,000 to save Zeus' leg. Eek! At the end of the day, I'm glad we were able to save my pooch's leg, but MAN, I am done poo-pooing pet insurance!)

Both the vet in Bury and the vet surgeon in Ipswich were great. Zeus was in great hands, and his surgery went well. He was a hit with all the nurses. They had to place two plates on his leg to fuse the bone together, and they actually used the same kind of plates you'd use for human fingers because Zeus' bones are so small.

The vet in Ipswich was super cool and gave me images of Zeus' X-Rays at my request. Since Zeus's leg was repaired with a plate, he doesn't need a cast or even a splint anymore. He has wound dressing on his leg, of course, but no external support. So here for your viewing approval are images of Zeus' fracture and repair!

Ouch!!

Zeus is doing well. I picked him up this morning, and he is on strict crate rest for at least four weeks. He can only be let out if he's taking a potty break (on leash, only in the back yard) or if he's going to be in our laps for a bit (and he's gotten plenty of that today!)

The problem with Zeus is that even though he's sore and a bit off, he's still Zeus. As soon as I saw him in the vet's arms today, he practically jumped right out of his arms and ran to me. My husband says he doesn't think Zeus has learned anything from the event, and he may be right. I fully expect him to be digging up trouble as soon as he's able.

Unfortunately for Zeus his break comes right as we're having a patch of great weather! And for the next few weeks, I have to keep a very high strung dog as still as possible and keep a very active 17 month old from messing with the dog while he heals. Sounds easy right? Sheesh.

Welcome home, Zeus! At least while you're on crate rest, I don't have to worry about you digging in the trash or eating dirty diapers or scouring my bag for Caleb's snacks! Take it easy bud, and feel better soon!

My

Yesterday, during our ritual early morning cuddle session on the glider, Caleb pointed to a picture of my husband that was on a shelf above us. I pulled down the picture and asked Caleb, "Who's that?"

Caleb replied, "My Dada!"

My Dada! He's stringing together words! Actual words. Not just adorable babble-y noises, but putting together two legitimate words to make more sense out of them both. My Dada! Needless to say, I was thrilled. What a smart little cookie!

Today, he dropped the Dada.
Everything is now just "My!" I guess he can't quite formulate the whole "Mine!" but he certainly understands the concept. Everywhere we went today, everything was "My!" I had a late start at work this morning, and Caleb and I grabbed lunch at the cafe inside the Enlisted Club on one of the bases today. After a few minutes of him chewing and spitting out his pancakes followed by him throwing his tater tots everywhere, I figured he wasn't hungry and removed his food from his reach. At which point he seemed to grow Go-Go-Gadget arms and an internal megaphone as he reached for the missing tots and began to yell, "My! My! MY! MY! MYYYYY!"

Oh, my.

It was definitely a case of realizing that a new word is not necessarily a good word. That little single syllable which sounded so adorable in front of "Dada" is so much more powerfully annoying all on its own. Truly, he is a toddler in every sense of the word now.

And I know this is only the beginning. Right now he's mostly saying it because he enjoys the sound of it. But soon, soon my friends, he will be imbued with that heady sense of ownership of all things that toddlers seem to posses. It's bad enough I have to share the bathroom with him now, can't I eat my 100 calorie cookies in peace?!

My guess is no.