Thursday, July 28, 2011

Our Precious Gem

July has been a crazy month! I am going to have to break it up into a couple of themed posts to get through all of the stuff that has happened. I need to tell you about my trip to Wisconsin. I need to tell you about my friend coming to visit. But this post will be telling you about my new PUPPY!

On July 2nd Joe and I went to pick up our baby. It was a long drive up the west-side of Florida, but we broke it up by stopping first at Hobby Lobby and then by having lunch with J's uncle and cousin. I was really happy to get to Hobby Lobby. J said that I couldn't stop smiling as I was walking through each and every aisle. I see so many possibilities while walking through a craft store. I had to restrain myself to keep it at a reasonable cost. Then we went farther north and had good burgers at Square 1 Burgers. It was nice to talk to J's family since we don't get to see them often. Then we continued our trek towards puppy!

Originally we had wanted a boy puppy. But when we went the first time to meet the puppies we were holding ours thinking it was a boy only to find out it was a girl. We didn't really care. We liked her personality the best. She was calm and confident. It was a bit funny because we were going to name the puppy Charlie and we had picked out this blue suede studded collar. We've always liked the name Ruby for a girl, but we kicked around some other names like Adelaide and Mona. She's an Italian Greyhound, so we thought it would be funny to name her Mona Lisa. My dad thought if it was a boy we should have named it Linguini. :) But Ruby stuck and we then bought a red leash, a red collar, and a red harness. I actually made her a jeweled collar. I wanted her to have ruby red rhinestones on a red collar, but I couldn't find one online. They were all white rhinestones. She doesn't fit in that collar yet because she is teeny weeny.

She was born April 29th and right now she weighs just under 5 pounds sopping wet. She'll grow. She'll get taller, but not bulkier. She looks like the dog version of J- skinny body with long, long legs. She is "seal" colored (a dark gray). So we still have monochromatic animals: black and white cats and now a gray and white dog. Ruby is very funny. Her ears are always roaming around on her head. Sometimes they are both flopped forward. Sometimes they are both flopped to the left or the right (I call this look the Justin Beiber). Sometimes one is flipped backwards, and sometimes both are backwards. She likes being held like a baby, or even upside down, so her long ears hang low (yes, just like the children's song). She reminds me a bit of the bat from Fern Gulley because she can also go nutso around the apartment. She has a long face like a fruit bat too. Perhaps these aren't the most flattering descriptions, but she is adorable- I guarantee it!

She does have bursts of energy that leave J and I in stitches with her antics, but she also loves a good cuddle. She can sleep for hours and in really funny positions. She will squish herself between me and the couch, or lay with all of her legs straight up in the air. When we first brought her home, we had the hardest time trying to have her calm down in her crate. She cried and cried for the first couple of weeks. I was exhausted. Now she is a little better (and we actually let her sleep in a play pen and only have her in a crate when we are out of the house). She still wakes up to whine at 5 am everyday.

We are trying to be good puppy-parents. We brush her teeth, clean her ears, give her baths when necessary, and play a lot. She doesn't really like going outside, we got really bit up by mosquitoes the first two weeks... we waited and waited outside for her to potty and then we take her inside and whoop-there she goes. She is really good about using the piddle pad we have for her in her play pen. But sometimes at night she gets bored and likes to chew it up. It makes for a messy morning.

Ruby makes us laugh and talking in stupid baby voices. But she has a dark side. My aunt sent a squeaky teddy that is the perfect size for her. It is now called one-eyed teddy (don't worry, it was a felt eye and not a button). And then there is the raccoon from my friend E that gets death throttled frequently. She also likes the huge hedgehog J and I got for her, and the smaller, giggling one my mom sent. She is afraid of the tire toy my mom sent that has a bell, though. It's just crazy to watch this sweet, tiny puppy shake toys to oblivion. And she can make horrible noises. She will make cute, little grunts and squeaks, but if she feels ignored in her crate, she turns into a gremlin. They are gutteral growls and high pitched yips and then just when you think her likeness to Linda Blair a la The Exorcist cannot get any closer she will then vomit... JUST LIKE THE EXORCIST. :) (By the way, for those of you who know me well, you know that I despise scary movies. I've only seen THAT CLIP of The Exorcist because some girls did a project on the History of Horror films in my AP US History class.) I don't care what she sounds like, I am still absolutely crazy about her.

Ruby has brought a bright spot to our home. J and I are so happy to have her. Of course it is a lot of work, and she does make scheduling a little bit harder (she's not used to being alone for a full day-- benefit of J's position), but right now, I wouldn't have it any other way. I'll be sure to regale you with plenty of Ruby stories in the future.