Commotion squared

I'm wondering if I have ever written a post declaring boredom? Oh my goodness, things have seemed particularly crazy for the past few weeks. The boys are both doing swim lessons again, Elijah's behavioral aide has been coming over twice/week, I suddenly have a ton of projects to complete for my food blog (yay!), work for Dan is crazy (literally), Buddy is driving me crazy most of the time and Sammy started soccer! Look at him go! He has improved by leaps and bounds from last year. He had his first practice last night and I couldn't believe how well he was dribbling the ball and how focused he was. Go Sammy!

We have had a couple really rough past couple nights. We went down a bit on the dosage with Elijah's meds a month or two ago and now I'm wondering if we should go back up. We'd need to battle with insurance again, as our dosage request was denied last time. I've been seeing behaviors that I haven't seen in a really long time...LOTS of whining and deliberately trying to make me angry. Tonight's battle began when he whined about not being able to spell the word "mother." Knowing that he knew this, I asked him to politely ask for help and that I'd be happy to help out. Twenty minutes of screaming followed, which abruptly came to an end when his flailing arms knocked a huge jar of salsa off the counter and onto the floor...ugh.

Not only is Sammy doing great with soccer, he is rocking swimming, as well! He has been so brave and I'm super proud of him. He still doesn't like water in his face, but willingly bobs his head when asked and attempts everything else the instructor asks of him.

Last week was cold and rainy, but this week has been lovely again. The boys always know exactly what the expected high is for each day of the week. They are both excited for Friday, as it is expected to be 86 degrees! Both of them have their outfits picked out for that day. We love summer!

Ohh Buddy. He is so cute and sweet as long as I have time to manage our time together well and outsmart him a bit. Yesterday was an off day and we ended up getting very frustrated with each other. Every time I asked him to come or stay or do anything he would do the opposite. I brought him to doggy daycare for a few hours to wear him out and the car ride there (which is like 5 minutes long) was a nightmare. He found things in my car that I never knew existed. An old lollipop stick that he just about choked on. A wrapper buried way under my seat. A plastic bag crammed into the bottom side of the passenger door. As I was frantically pulling him out of the car to go into daycare, I saw a piece of chewed gum stuck to his ear. I couldn't help but take a photo. Only Buddy! :)

He was exhausted after playing and this sweetness ALMOST made up for the morning (not really).

I really do love Buddy. This puppy stage is tough, but I've been thinking about all of the positive things he has brought to our lives:

- I get outside MUCH more than I ever did before.

- The soccer skills I learned as a child are being honed (and are dang awesome, I must say!) since kicking a ball around is my main way to get Buddy exercise.

- People in our neighborhood who we've never spoken to before are suddenly our friends. It is amazing how drawn to dogs people are. We have been forced into a more social lifestyle!

- My laundry is ALWAYS immediately put away because if it's not, it will get chewed to pieces.

- My floors are ALWAYS free of clutter because anything on them will get chewed to pieces.

- Every door in my house is ALWAYS closed (so Buddy isn't tempted to go in and chew everything to pieces), which makes our house look cleaner.

- Aside from the shards of glass from the salsa jar remnants that I cleaned up tonight, I have not swept my kitchen since Buddy's arrival in our home.

- Both Elijah and Sammy find him very calming, which is such a HUGE bonus. They both love lying next to him and snuggling. They love getting kisses and they love when he chases them happily when they get off the bus.


I am very much looking forward forward to a relatively peaceful upcoming weekend. I'm hoping for peace for all of you and thank you for reading!