Beloved Freddy

Freddy lived 8 of his 10 years with us. He put up with Bella, our crazy schedules and the "intrusion" of a new human being into our lives. I always said he'd make a great dolly for a kid someday - he would let you do ANYTHING to him and he never complained. He just wanted to be loved. He was a real hit at the vet's office - so much so that our doctor painted a portrait of him and hung it in her lobby. For the past three years we've enjoyed Fred's celebrity every time we had an appointment - people always asked "is that the dog from the painting?" I think the tongue gave it away.

Freddy was a cool dog. A good friend once called him "Henry" - and when I corrected her, she said "whatever - I mean the one with problems." Unlike Bella, who was an atypical pug with absolutely no health issues, Freddy had issues. He had eye meds, skin meds, ear meds; antibiotics, steriods, flea prevention stuff (3 types) ....but he was adorable in my eyes.

During a party he would walk into the middle of a circle of adults talking, flip over onto his back with all four legs in the air, and just stay....for a long time....without moving.....occasionally his eyes would look around (upside down)....but he figured if he waited long enough, someone would bend down and scratch his belly.

If a new person met him and showed interest, he'd immediately flop over on his side and bare his big fat belly - ready to be scratched.

He also had this move we dubbed the "Stevie Wonder" - if you found the right spots to scratch at the base of his tail, he'd move his head from side to side very slowly.

I'll remember Freddy laying out on our brick path in the sun, ever-so-much resembling a beached whale. His tongue, of course, will remain his trademark. After long walks it would be dilated, and if you got his attention he would stop panting for a minute, cock his head ala pug, and sometimes the tongue would get caught in his teeth so that it hung out the side of his mouth. I never did get a good photo of that look.

Freddy died this morning after surgery last night to unblock his intestines. He did very well through the surgery and at night, but threw a clot to his lung this AM at the hospital and passed away suddenly.

I will miss him terribly. Bye, bye, dear Fre-Fre (Eamonn's nickname for him). You were the BEST dog for us.

Quotable quotes

E is at a great age. I'll post pics from Christmas as soon as I find the time to get them off my camera. In the meantime, I'm writing these down before I forget them:

Today - I pull up in front of the house to drop off the key I forgot to leave for the nanny who is patiently playing with E on the porch as she is locked out and our lawn is being mowed. (I also manage to leave the car on and get out before I realize I've left the keys in the car - at least I remembered to put it in Park):

E: "Mama - be CARE-ful so you don't get run over by Mark."

Yesterday - E is playing on the back porch with play dough while I try to pay bills on the computer in our adjacent laundry room.

E: "Mama - I need company."
Me: "Huh?"
E: "I need company because there are train sounds and bird sounds."

Earlier - looking for photos of planes on the computer (a favorite past-time):

E: "Let's look for pictures of vehicles that transport people to the hospital." (word for word, I swear)

Over the weekend:

I started to pitch baseballs to Eamonn and showed him a proper stance (to the best of my ability) and told him to keep his eye on the ball. He hit two in a row! Cracked'em. But then - he started to miss. I cheered nonetheless.

E: "NO, Mama! Don't cheer! Eamonn didn't hit the ball."
Oh dear.

And a last few nuggets as they come to mind:

"Dada will come home from work and then he will sit down at the table and eat dinner with us."

"Mama - don't go to your office - because I LOVE you."

Me: "What did you dream about today?" (post-naptime)
E: "Calerpitters! And the fast slide at the park!"

Me: "Name one thing that made you happy today."
E: "Playing with Mama. And the fast slide at the park!"

E: "Where's Dada?" Me: "He's at work - but he will be home soon - for dinner."
E: "He's bringing home the bacon, Mama." (thank DeeDee for that one)

Oh! And post-Disneyland stress surfaced the weekend after we returned as follows:

We were playing outside, G was raking the leaves and E was happy as could be pushing his bubble mower when all of of sudden he stopped and got emotional. Something was wrong. He whimpered (but not in a whiny sort of way). I asked him if he had hurt himself (what had I missed?!?) He said no - "Eamonn's sad." I asked if he needed a hugh. "No - Eamonn wants to go inside."
OK - I led him up to the porch - and it became clear he wanted to bring his mower into the house.

Me: "Eamonn - you know the mower is an outside toy - we can't bring that inside, it stays outside."
E: face turns bright red, tears well up in his eyes - and he says
"But Mama, I don't want the pirates to get it!"

Uff. We had a long talk about pirates and reality. Days later, he occasionally talks about hiding his toys from the pirates. Poor kid.

Other common outbursts:

"Eamonn's frustrated!"

"Eamonn LUUUUUUUVES spices!"

"Eamonn LUUUUUUUUVES cookies!"

"Mama/Dada take off your work/exercise clothes and put on play clothes."

In viewing the nativity scenes around town - some honored the tradition of putting Jesus in the manger on Christmas Eve night. This concerned Eamonn - "Where is baby Jesus?????"

And now: "Where is Christmas?"

Disneyland

We went to Disneyland for the first time - G ended the fiscal year with a bang and, frankly, we all deserved a break after the months of October and November, so I selfishly set my heart on going to Disneyland to see the Christmas decorations and the boys indulged me. We stayed at the the Grand California which was gorgeous and involved multiple Santa sitings (on separate occasions, thank goodness). E wasn't a fan of the rides OR the noise, but he loved jumping on the hotel bed:

while his parents loved the sunset from our room:

And Cinderella's castle adorned with Christmas lights:

And by the second day we eked a few smiles out of Eamonn - mostly in Toon Town:

Too good to pass up...

This weekend we went out to the ranch after Thanksgiving. One night Eamonn had trouble going to sleep, so I had to return to his room and sing a few songs while I absentmindedly stroked his hair.

All at once he took out his binky and said, emphatically:

"NO Mama! Don't touch Eamonn's head - there's a MACHINE in there."

I went downstairs and asked his grandmother (DeeDee), "Mom, did you tell Eamonn there's a machine in his head?" Sure enough, they had been out hiking and my mother explained something to Eamonn - and as she watched him process it she said "I can see the wheels turning" - he looked back at her quizzically - and apparently translated that into there being a machine in his head. Of course!

"NO Mama! Don't touch Eamonn's head - there's a MACHINE in there."

Adorable.

Jekyll and Hyde

So he's finally hit what the Sears' would call a "negative phase." Meaning: Eamonn's realized he has a will independent of a grown-up's, and he exercises it at every opportunity. He is physically incapable of using the word "yes" - and it's kinda funny....exasperating....but still amusing. It's amazing to me that in the span of five minutes he can go from absolutely adorable and happy, to on the floor on all fours and just sooooooo upset.

We spend a fair amount of time discussing emotions and feelings now. I try to emphasize how his actions affect others and getting him to recognize his reactions to those effects. This results in some amusing conversations with a two and a half year old. Case in point:

Last week DeeDee bravely watched both Ava and Eamonn at the same time. They played well together until I pulled up - whereby they both started tugging on the swing. Eamonn fell to the ground and hyper-reacted because it was naptime. When it came time to say goodbye I asked him to say goodbye to Ava and he said:

"No, Mama, Eamonn can't say goodbye to Ava right now because Eamonn's saaaaaad."

!

On the way home in the car I asked him if he was feeling OK.

Eamonn: "No - I'm still sad."

When I asked why, he explained that it was because he thought it was his turn to use the swing and Ava wanted it, too. So I explained that they are both young and both still learning to share with other people, and that Ava did not mean to hurt his feelings. This prompted:

"What are feelings and how do they hurt?"

So then I launched into happy feelings and sad feelings and my usual "be considerate of others" speech.

Silence.

A few minutes later I started to cough (we've all been sick for over a week now). Eamonn said:

"Mama, we need to go home and get you a lozenge. Then you'll FEEL better."

 

In October Eamonn's godfather Uncle Rich got married in New Jersey; Eamonn was the ringbearer!

Amending our compost pile