Thursday, October 22, 2009
Practicing for Halloween
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
New friend
D: Our boys have a new friend. His name is Buddy. Buddy lives in a tree in our front yard, but often times plays downstairs when we are all upstairs. It seems that Buddy is just shy of 2 feet tall, but other than that I have no idea what he looks like... because Buddy is Finn and Ollie's imaginary friend.
That's right, they have the same imaginary friend. They can both see him and talk to him, and they both seem to know what he's doing at the moment. Buddy seemed to be Ollie's friend first, and then Finn caught on that Buddy was a fun friend to hang with.
I've heard Ollie talking with Buddy downstairs by himself, showing him toys to play with and putting him to bed. Today I heard him call out to him from a tree in a park, asking him to join him. At first we thought he was talking to Finn (Oh, how cute, he calls his brother 'Buddy'!), but alas... I realized that no one was there.
I really thought that maybe because they had each other every waking moment of their lives that they would be less inclined to have an imaginary friend. I guess it just goes to show how truly imaginative (and social!) they really are.
Friday, October 16, 2009
Chili Bean
Anyone who knew our family knew and loved our dog Chili Bean. Chili is the kind of dog that could care less about other dogs, and absolutely freaks out over attention from humans. At the dog park he spent most of his time sitting on the laps of the human dog owners, gushing from their attention. He made 'giggle' type noises every time a hand was extended his way. And while not everyone cared for this kind of response from a dog, absolutely everyone agreed that he was one of a kind... a real special dog.
Chili Bean's first name was Elvis. It only lasted a few days, before we soon realized he needed a name that better suited his appearance and attitude (small and feisty). Chili was our second dog, bought as a companion for our yellow lab. Their pecking order was established early, with Chili literally sleeping on top of our lab and biting at his face any time the lab got any attention. And although I could never understand how our lab could possibly stand that kind of abuse, they seemed to have an inseparable friendship and mutual understanding.
When the twins began eating solid foods, gleefully throwing food all over the floor for our dogs to enjoy, they weighed about 19 lbs. And so did Chili. With each passing month they quickly gained weight... and so did Chili. By the time they boys broke the bad habit of tossing their food to the ground our little pug grew 1/3 of his body weight! He was still healthy as a tic... but now he looked like one too!
And even though I would call him my 'grub' and we would make fun of his fat rolls, I still can't get over how stinkin' cute he looked, when he'd cock his head from side to side as if he was really trying to understand what you were telling him.
For years I slept with Chili, under our covers, spooning him like a teddy bear. I realized my spoiling was creating a bit of a monster, so I had to stop. However I couldn't resist a snuggle on the couch every evening... and nothing could make him happier.
Chili didn't know any tricks, other than we taught him to say "I love you" like the pug on Letterman, but he was never as good at it as I pretended his was.
When Chili was really fired up, he would scoot his little butt under his legs and tear around the living room, doing laps around the dining room table. It was hilarious to watch.
The boys always called him Chi Chi.
And when he wagged his little cinnamon bun shaped tail, he always made me smile.
These are all the things I want to remember about Chili Bean now that he's gone. He was such a crazy dog, truly misbehaved in many ways. But good for a laugh or a cuddle for anyone who needed one. We will all miss the Bean.
Chili died last Saturday from an Addison's Disease crash. He's had them in the past, but this one was too much for his little body to take and he died suddenly.
Good bye, sweet Bean. You were a special part of our family and we love you.
