Mama had a ruff week

Mama had a ruff week. I'm so happy I was there for her. 

Monday most of the boys and Mama left for a few hours in the afternoon. They went for eye exams. Mama has been complaining she can't see real well. She says she's getting new glasses. Something new to chew on?  (Mama's note, stress from this past year made my eyes get much worse.)

Tuesday Mama took Robert the Woof - the other SDit in the house - out for lunch with his trainer. I was left home.

 Mama seemed to have fun, but was then hit with a headache later in the day. I could sense it. So she laid down for a nap. The headache stayed for days. I would wrap myself around her head at night, hoping she'd find some relief. 

One day was really bad. I don't think it was just the headache. She seemed sad. So we snuggled up. Daddy took her out for a ride when it was dark. She came home smelling of tea, and a doughnut. She smelled good.

Friday her and one of the boys left early, it wasn't light out yet. Us puppies stayed home. Boy did she treat us good before she left though!! She filled up our Kongs with yummy stuff! Peanut butter, bananas, carrots. I'm not sure what else was in there, but yep, it was dog-gone delicious. 

This morning, we went for a ride to Home Depot. To my surprise, there was a new car seat for me in the truck!! It was very comfy. I managed to fall asleep. 

Daddy worked in the kitchen when we got home. Us doggies weren't allowed in. So Mama, she brought out our treat puzzles!!! THAT was fun.

Thank you for reading.

Waldo

Alexa

 A few weeks ago now, Mama ordered three Alexa Echo Dot's. Some scares happened in the house, and we want to make sure that if an emergency happens and someone needs help in another room, they'll get it as soon as possible. Mama could  not hear one of her boys and panicked. They were fine, but it made Mama realize that this needed to happen. So first we ordered two. One for the kitchen and one for the boys room. A day or so later, we ordered one for the grown up room. Mama will find herself hiding in there some days and still needs to be accessible. For a week or so, they worked great. The boys love them. They are useful. It takes away the up and down of the stairs for Mama in the morning. One boy is really hard to get up for his meds. There are mornings Mama makes several trips to their bedroom to get them up. Alexa alleviates that. Mama doesn't really know how to use "drop in" yet, but announce is easy, even if it goes to all the dots. That is ok. 

Mama started to really like the Alexa in her room. You can tell it to play music, and that is calming for some people with PTSD. We enjoyed listing to music to fall asleep. Dad Man likes when he says, "Alexa, tell me a dad joke." Then one day something happened. Alexa sounded terrible. Mama though maybe it was the location. She still wanted it on that particular wall, but moved it to various places trying to see if it improved the sound. Nothing. 

Finally, last night Mama contacted Amazon to see if she could get a replacement. We didn't want to be without the Alexa in the room, even if it was a waiting period to get the new one. But alas, it sounded dreadful. After figuring out how to contact a person, they told her she could have a refund. Mama didn't want a refund. She just wanted it to work. Mama had gotten them on sale, and we couldn't replace it with the refund. The human on the other end put us on hold for a long while. Finally a new person came on. They told Mama to unplug the Alexa, wait ten seconds and plug it back in. After a few minutes it came back up. Ok, lets try it. 

It worked! And it worked well!!! All those times Mama has said did you unplug it, and plug it back in? Mama never thought to do just that. 

So our Alexa is back and makes Mama happy again. Thank you Alexa.

Thank you for reading our blog today. Waldo 🐾

Realization

 Thursday was a light-bulb moment. Waldo is not housebroken yet. (Still just 3.5 months old.)  So Mama only takes him places she feels comfortable taking him. Such as, she takes him to work, they adore him. So if a mistake happens, Mama just cleans it up. Walmart is fine too. I carry things with me in our puppy backpack. I can clean it up. Petsmart is obviously fine. However,Thursday -- Mama took one of her boys for a psych evaluation. We are switching some of the doctor care to a different location. Ease of distance. More hands on deck so quicker appointments. Those kinds of things. Waldo stayed home. It didn't feel right to take him. He doesn't have patches on his vest yet. So to "normal eyes" he is just my pet, not my life line. Plus, not fully housebroken. 

The appointment was brutal. Boy showed some of his mean streak. He was rude. He couldn't sit still. He was angry and argumentative. He didn't like being called out on some of his issues. Mama did her best to remain calm. Not make it worse. Bite my tongue. That is not always easy. Especially that day. 

When the appointment was over, we headed back to the truck. 

One of Mama's goto's that start with an anxiety attack coming on, is hair pulling, something Waldo is actually being trained to interrupt, so it doesn't get to bad. Waldo was not there. He was at home waiting for his Mama. I really needed him at that moment. At that moment I also realized just how vital he is to me. I did manage to calm down. We made a pit stop on the way home to pick up dinner. I needed time with Waldo. Truly needed that.

Waldo has also woken me from nightmares, and comforted me back to sleep. Endured me screaming in my sleep and again, reassured me and I would fall back asleep. He is such a blessing and he is so young. 

Thank you Waldo for being my lifeline.

Thank you for reading!

Baking??

 Hmm.... Puppies and pets are not cheap to care for. There are vet bills. Food to buy. Toys. Enrichment things. Emergencies. Training. General supplies - poopy bags for when we are out. Dishes. Water fountains. Bedding. Crates. The costs are endless. 

BUT

 They are worth every penny. So, to compensate for some of those costs, Mama is creating Waldo's Doggo Bakery. It is still in gestation. The legal things are started. The doggo's enjoy my cooking for them. I am eager to get it moving. Chihuahuas are notorious for not doing well with artificial colors, so I am making sure all our treats are not artificially colored.

Waldo suffers the ... as I call it.... The Chihuahua shivers. He shivers a lot, sometimes because he is just nervous. Other times because he is simply cold. Small dogs have a faster metabolism. So they burn off the energy and get cold quicker. Recently Mama went to some used clothing stores and picked up baby clothes. (Waldo fits in size 0 - 3 month clothes.) They are all washed and ready for some.... alterations, so that Waldo will have things to wear and keep him warm. This is a small picture of the selection. 😁 Mama cannot wait to get sewing.

Thank you for reading! See you soon!!

Welcome to our blog!

 Welcome to the blog home of Waldo and Mama.

Who are we?
Mama is a just that - a mom to several children, and a nana to one.  One child has ADHD, and is on the autism spectrum. One child is a pediatric brain cancer patient. Mama works in the library as a storytime coordinator, a few days a week. Mama works with preschool aged children. 

Mama also has PTSD. Caring for a child with brain cancer, going through all the things such as discovering the tumor, staying in the hospital, getting ready for surgery, canceling surgery, staying at the Buffalo Ronald McDonald House, oral chemo, radiation. And being away from the family for months, takes a toll on a person. Pre cancer diagnosis Mama was already diagnosed with Adult Separation Anxiety Disorder. So having to stay away from her family was brutal. Many night were spent crying herself to sleep.

We opted to purchase a puppy for our child with cancer. Cancer really takes a toll on a kid. After several months of training, Mama realized she needed her own service dog. So another adventure began. In late December, Mama found Waldo. Waldo was from an oops litter. His mama was a small Chihuahua and his daddy was a small beagle. So Waldo is a Cheagle.  Waldo was born towards the end of October. (For those that need to know, he is a Scorpio.) Waldo has the body of a Chihuahua, mostly, but with some long legs. He is still very small. 

Mama started working with Waldo pretty much right away. Just simple things, like sit, and crate, (going into the crate for meals), gentle, touch, leash training, etc. Waldo is VERY receptive. Waldo spends his nights with Mama and the love of her life, Daddy. The days the Mama goes to the library, Waldo usually does too.Waldo has become the greeter at the library. Hi! How ya doin'? Let me make you smile today. He is very good at this job. 

The boys service dog in training, is not allowed to really mingle with other people.  His job is to focus on the boy.  That said, with Mama's work, she needs Waldo to interact with people. Unless something significant happens, Mama is usually quite happy at work. So though Waldo needs to pay attention, it is not his job at that time. That is his play time. His socialization time. He enjoys playing with the kids that come in. It is very good for him. Especially being a little guy. Little dogs need a good amount of socialization so that they accept people, and are friendly.

So, that is a little bit about us.