Week 9: September 7-13

Kian's 8 week birthday was an eventful day for us! Running errands and doing things with him in tow seems to get a little easier all the time. Not that we haven't had our difficult moment of course. And now I am frantically knocking on all the wood I can reach!

A week or so prior to this Brian noticed a little bump on Tinkerbell's (our schnauzer) rear leg. A few days later he found a smaller one, and then a third small one on her neck. That Thursday I finally arranged to bring her to have it checked out. Having worked at a vet clinic definitely has its benefits, one of which is not actually needing to have an official appointment to be seen. This is especially nice with my wee one because it gives me lots of flexibility. As it was, it wasn't nearly as difficult as I anticipated it would be, packing up both baby and dog and myself. Tink was a perfect angel on the ride, sitting nicely in the passenger seat and not barking at passerbys even once. In case it's not obvious, this is very unusual for her. When we arrived, Marc (her vet and the doctor I worked with when I was working) took a quick look and said they were just cysts or little warts, both of which are very common to schnauzers. In other words, nothing to worry about, phew! I thought I was going to have to drop her off for him to look at when he got a chance, and was planning on running a few errands in the meantime. When I mentioned that, Marc said to just put her in a kennel, so Tink hung out there while Kian and I ran around for an hour or so.

We hit Babies R Us first, and I had a few large items to return which was originally making me nervous. I found a parking spot right next to the cart corrall though, and got Kian arranged in his carrier, then dumped my returns in. Unfortunately it took the customer service an age and a half to take care of our stuff, so I ended up leaving them to figure out how to credit my gift card while I shopped. We were mostly looking for some staples, but also for a larger size of Swaddle Me. They carry smalls and larges but no mediums, leaving us out of luck. Luckily as I said last post he was doing alright without a swaddle, and has remained unswaddled up until now, a few weeks later. We made it out with Kian's attitude intact, and made a quick swing through the craft store next. Then it was back to Valley for a very happy to see us schnauzer before heading home. He made it almost 3 hours without eating on top of everything which is really pretty miraculous, and I was quite proud of myself if I do say so.

The next day was a 'First Friday', which is a little party at the squadron, generally held on the first Friday of the month - imagine that. When the turnout is good, it tends to be a pretty loud and boistrous time, and it's in the evening when Kian tends to be fussy so I was a little nervous. The turnout WAS good and there were a ton of people there. It was the first time that all the babies born in the last year have been in one place. In my humble and not at all biased opinion, Kian is definitely the cutest one. That seemed to be confirmed by the fact that I hardly even SAW Kian the whole time, as folks passed him around and snatched him away from me as soon as I got him back. I didn't see any of the other babies with anyone but their parents. Maybe it's just because I'm more laid back about it, and he pretty much slept the whole time which made him fun to hold. Yes, I am puffed up like a peacock :). The food was good too, and it was nice to be able to socialize and eat with both hands and just hang out for a while, even if I did spend half the time anxiously checking on folks to make sure they were OK with the kidlet.

The rest of the week passed in a blur. Brian was finishing up his upgrade at work, which made him incredibly busy and included working long hours. Not only does that leave me missing him, but even when he's home (which is rare enough) he's exhausted and busy prepping for the next day. Luckily, Kian has generally been happier this week and a little lower maintenance. He's also been a lot more interactive, smiling some at his mobile and really paying attention to songs and storybooks. Just the same it was a tiring week, and most of Kian's downtime was spent on laundry and some cleaning. We made it through though, and he's one week older! Plus, my family was scheduled to arrive so that made it all easier.