didionville

so last week we posted a bunch of pictures of everything that was blooming or beginning to bloom in our yard. the amount of change that has taken place in just one week is amazing. across the street from our house are several trees that bloom with these gorgeous pink blossoms. neither steven nor i know the name of these trees. they might be crab apple trees. regardless, they are just so pretty.

this afternoon the clan went out to pick dandelions, specifically, and weeds, in general, because that is what married couples with babies do on the weekend, i suppose. it is supposed to rain off and on for the next several days, so i suspended dandelion duty to photograph the aforementioned pink trees and our bleeding heart. the rain will likely knock off most of the blooms.

i also had to get a photo of our japanese maple. it has filled out so quickly and is so lush and richly colored. i love that little tree.

in the meantime, we parked the pack-n-play in a shady spot of the front yard and brought izzie out for a change of scenery. izzie and didion hung out: izzie chilled while didion played with his piles of toys. note, however, that his favorite go-to toy right now is an empty wheat-thins box, that is assuming the remote control is unavailable.

izzie was super good hanging out with the kid, and didion did a great job entertaining himself. i think he really feels empowered being able to roll over and sit up without support, etc. mobility is a good thing for a kid. for parents, however, it’s another story …

now we are watching the yankees struggle against the indians in game two of their weekend series. it ain’t pretty. the mets won earlier. we’ll likely stop watching the carnage when the lakers and nuggets’ game starts in a few minutes.

though, who knows what we will be watching … i just let didion have the remote.

big stuff happened on tuesday.

big-boy ryan got to go home from the hospital with his mommy. his size definitely contributed to a relatively rough delivery, but his size also helped him get super-strong afterwards.

you go, ryan!

that was in the morning.

in the afternoon, mommy and i had to take izzie to the vet. you see, izzie likes to do this:

and lately his back legs have been giving out. at first mommy and daddy thought his muscles were just sore. then they thought the floors were just too slippery (all of a sudden??? and certainly NOT from being clean!) … but they resigned themselves to the fact that izzie is getting old (9 years), and that he was getting bad hips and arthritis like bigger dogs often do.

mommy was not handling this prospect very well.

so off to the vet we go … and GOOD NEWS!

izzie’s bod is in great shape! his hips and musculature are awesome (as always). he actually has a COMPRESSED DISC! can you believe it? g-pa jer, auntie jen, mommy … they all have bad backs … and now izzie, too?!?!?!?!

the vet says it’s from an injury … mommy and daddy think it is likely from hurling himself into the tree when he jumps on his rope.

but, gosh, does he LOVE pulling on that rope.

prescription: muscle relaxants, steroids, and rest.

prognosis: full recovery.

izzie wows us with his jaws of steel and his lightning-fast relexes. he’s a total stud.

from vimeo.com posted with vodpod

mommy made a steak dinner a while ago. she and daddy splurged on filet, and mommy even found red carrots at the grocery store, which is quite exotic for these parts.

she roasted sweet peppers with the carrots, made a yummy salad, and cooked the filet on the rare side of medium-rare. while mommy and daddy ate, i hung out in my bouncy chair and izzie and the cat stood by, waiting to “turn on the beg” on a moment’s notice …

they didn’t get any food. mommy and daddy were too busy wolfing it down themselves.

but mommy likes to give izzie the plate to lick when she is done eating. this time she made izzie lie down and stay while she put the plate in front of him. he was so good at staying that mommy also made daddy go get the camera so they could document how awesomely good izzie is at obeying, even where there is a plate full of steak juice just waiting for him to attack.

here is izzie, being really, really, really patient:

and again:

and finally, when mommy lets him have his treat:

the last picture is blurry because it is a still photo of some very LIVE action.

so to conclude: the fact that no body parts were lost during this entire episode proves that izzie is the best, smartest, most patient, dog ever.

the end.