First things first...
6 - 6oz
620 - aqsleep on shoulder
830 - in swing
9ish - awake
10 - 6oz
1030 - asleep
11 - awake (at Target)
1 - 8 oz
2 - asleep in swing
430 - wake, 6oz
530 - start fussiness
7 - 6oz
730 - tylenol
745 - stop fussiness
8 - bath, 2oz, dance
830 - in crib w/o crying
Yesterday was similar, but he woke up at 1AM last night, and I had to go and soothe him, and again at 3AM, but I didn't have to soothe him.
Yesterday was one of the worst days of my life. Right up there in the the top ten. Spencer had been up the previous night, twice! The second time for quite awhile. I was sick on top of being tired. I felt so nauseous all day long, I thought I was going to pass out a couple of times. I actually took a nap in the afternoon, which I'm rarely able to do, even though I try often. I only ate two little crackers the whole day. Luckily, my mom had come to see Spencer and was mostly taking care of him.
Here's the part that put it in the top ten of bad days ever. The fourth company was here to give us an estimate on fixing/replacing the AC unit. The dogs were wound up because I kept them in the house when he was out back and vice versa, so they couldn't get to him. Seeing as it was the fourth guy to come here in the last six days they should have been used to the scenario. Mike got home on time, and I was changing Spencer in the nursery. He had just peed all over himself and I was changing his clothing as well as his diaper. The inside laundry door must not have been completely shut and the door to the garage must have been blow open by the pressure in the garage. The third car bay garage door was open because I had taken the Jeep to get some smokes. The previous night I had taken Danger's collar off b/c he kept shaking his head and waking me up with the jingling tags. Add all this up and you get nothing. Throw in the neighbors little dog coming up to Mike as he pulled in the driveway and jumping up on his leg to get petted and you've got something very, very, very bad. All I heard was the little dog shreiking in terror and pain and Mike screaming at Danger to stop, and let go. I ran outside and realized the situation was on the neighbors driveway and I couldn't see anything because of the A/C guys van in our driveway. I ran back to get Spencer (he's not rolling yet and the changing pad is contoured, so it was very unlikely that he would have fallen off, but still I went back for him) and came running back out to the house with him in my arms and his onesie half on. I handed him off to my mom and went after Monkey, who was trotting up the driveway. As I made it down the driveway (with Monkey in the house) Danger shot past me into the garage. He tried to get into the house, but in the meantime the inside laundry room door had blown shut so he was trapped. Mike told me that Danger (and Monkey, but not nearly as much) had attacked the neighbors dog. I immediately went to there house where the 5 year old boy answered the door and let me in. His dad was on the phone with the vet who was instructing him to call and go the the emergency care center. I remember saying something like, "is he okay?" and "I'm so sorry" and "I can give you directions." etc. There was a little blood on the dogs left leg and he was holding his right leg up off the ground. The owner/neighbor mentioned on the phone to his vet that the dog (I later realized he was just a puppy) had just been in to be fixed, so my initial thought was that Danger was playing rough like he does with Monkey and had torn out the stitches. Either way the dog was obviously not doing well and needed to go the the doc right then. I left and said that we'd work out the details later. The man did mention that the fault was partially his, for which I was relieved because even though I was mortified and felt somewhat responsible, I was already thinking that we were both in the wrong.
The man and his wife, Kim, stopped by later and told Mike (I had gone to bed b/c I after the adrenaline wore off I felt even worse) that the dogs little leg had been shattered and he would be having surgery the next day - today. They also said that they didn't hold us accountable at all for what happened, which I think was exceedingly generous of them. I agree that it wasn't all our fault because their dog was off a lease (as it always is) and in our yard, but our dogs got out of our house and went after theirs. I can only assume that Danger saw Tiger (the puppy) as a threat to Mike, was jealous, and territorial all at the same time. We named him Danger because of the irony of him being so gentle. I can't believe that all this has happened.
I called our insurance agent today to let him know the situation, so if anything more comes of it we are covered financially. He said to let it go for now, because they are not holding us at fault, and call him back if the situation changes. I did tell them numerous times yesterday (after they had returned from the doggy ER) that we would pay half the cost of the bills, and Mike said that in the heat of the moment when the incident occurred that he offered to pay (in general, no specifics). If they do come back and ask us to pony up half the cash, I'd make a check (credit card or otherwise) out immediately, assuming the amount is legit. I also asked the insurance agent about the prudence of giving them a gift basket with some treats, and chews and the like for the dogs recovery and he said it would be fine as long as I didn't attach a note saying "sorry my dog attacked your dog". It was the only time I laughed about anything in this horrible situation.
I took over a new dog bed and an assortment of rawhides, nylabones, milk bones, toys, and a rubber grooming glove. When I did, Kim said that I should "stop feeling guilty" and the vet said that their dog was young and would "bounce back". She also said that if he had been older they may have had to put him down. This put my guard up a little, because she said it within minutes of telling me to stop feeling guilty. Now that things are settling down they may be having mixed feelings about taking full responsibility for what happened.
I just remembered, it's also possible that the dogs got out through the gate in the yard. My mom may have let them out, not realizing that the repairman was still looking at the AC and the gate was open. I was changing Spencer, and no one saw them come out, Mike just saw them as they arrived at him and went after the little dog. In all the hoopla, I didn't ask my mom if she had let them out.
After all that, Spencer pooped right out of his diaper and all over my mom as she was feeding him. It was about 430 when Mike pulled up and that's when Spencer takes his bottle. I had just woken him up and was changing him and already had the bottle ready. When I handed him off, my mom took him in and fed him. When I came back from the neighbor's house (as they were leaving to go to the CARE center) I noticed poop between his legs and my mom lifted him up, there was poop everywhere. She was really cool about it and I asked her to clean him up b/c I really needed to sit down and have a smoke. Then the repairman needs to talk to us about the unit. He saids it needs replaced, but quotes us the lowest price so far. Since I still hadn't (and incidentally, still haven't) gotten the emailed estimate from the first guys who were here, we agreed on the spot. They will be here tomorrow to install it. I asked him about the refrigerant and the heat pump and he said that both were really non-issues. I asked about a 3 ton machine and he quoted us 6 grand for a SEER 20. I said how much for a SEER 13? and he said it would be 120 more than the 2.5 tons. I said deal, and he was gone. They called this morning as promised and will be here tomorrow morning. 3 grand, but that's less than the 4 everyone else was quoting and we didn't have to have a separate sleazy sales guy come out and give us some bullshit pitch. Tomorrow if all goes well, I'll ask them about a yearly service plan.
Oh well, that's it, and I think thats enough for one entry,
Chris
One a side note, today went fine. Spencer was fussy, but calmed shortly after I gave him the Tylenol, so I think it may be that tooth finally cutting.