Monitoring the Dolphin

Today was my first shift watching Donley the Dolphin. He was found at Port Aransas as a baby. He is either 8 or 10 months and doing very well. He is self feeding, playing with toys and loves attention. 7 places applied for him but Sea World San Antonio will get him because they have a maternal dolphin which is what Donley needs. He is doing very well and is very strong. The supervisor thinks that Sea World will be coming to get him sometime next week. I have my next shift on Friday and I can't wait!!!

Another New Addition

Sunday afternoon I drove about 2 hours to look at a little Maltese Puppy. It is kinda a sad story, the lady's best friend had overdosed on meds and left her with 12 Maltese Puppies. Well with the economy she was having a hard time selling them so she had dropped the price by quite a bit. I went there to look at a little boy because she had told me that was all she had left. Well, by the time I got there the person who was suppose to buy the girl backed out so she offered me either one for the same price...little girls are usually more expensive. I chose the little girl, drove 2 hours to Kimmie's picked up the girls and headed home. Maddie loves her little white puppy. I was hoping to have a name for her before posting this but we still don't. Suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Great Saturday!

This morning I got up and went to the Texas Marine Mammal Stranding Network Training. It was great! We learned what to do to help rescue live animals and what to do with none living. We also had hands on training on how to move an animal and how to capture a dolphin in the water and then we had to carry 50lbs 50 ft. It was soooo cold but it was good. I have my first shift Monday morning after I drop the girls off and before classes. We currently have a baby dolphin who will be going to Sea World San Antonio once he is able. Since he is not going back into the wild we will get to get into the water with him soon than most new volunteers usually get to get into the water. I am so excited about everything.

Once I finished I came and got the family and we went to look at puppy/dogs. Our first stop Jahno found one he really liked, they aren't sure of his breed so they are calling him a black mouth cur mix. He was pretty big but so sweet, he loved Gianna and Maddie was bouncing around but he didn't get anxious or jumpy or hyper or anything. He also thought he was a lap dog. He did not bark when every other dog, literally, was barking. The biggest problem was his tail was lethal and right at Maddie's face. The lady joked at they would cut his tail off for us because he was such a great dog. We went to several other places but didn't seem to find anything. The very last place we went there was the cutest little black dog but he was brought in today as a stray so he isn't up for adoption until Thursday. I have been looking online tonight because a lot of the adoption places cost as much as getting puppy. And at least with a puppy we are getting exactly what we want and not just settling. Anyways so the dog thing is still an on going process.

Finally, Madeleine has been extremely attached to me lately. Tonight when I was putting her to bed, we read in her bed, we usually read in the chair and then I tuck her in. So we were covered up, cuddling and I began reading. She told me we had to whisper so we did not wake up Gianna. She I whispered with rest of the story. Then as I finished she said, "Mommy, I have a secret." I asked her what her secret was. She said, "I miss the Christmas Tree!" I love the fact that she is getting so big and starting to tell me secrets. I hope it stays this way and she does want to tell me her secrets, I know there is a good chance she will hate me from 11 to 18 but one can hope right. :-)

TGIF

Well, this week has been crazy and busy. Gianna decided she wasn't ready for solid food so we are going to try again in another month. Gianna has started rolling across the floor. She has also been attempting to crawl but is just scooting. I think it is too early for all this but I guess she knows best. Dr. Q did say that I should plan on her hitting milestones early but it is just too early. :-) Madeleine is doing good with school but she has started getting in bed with us in the mornings. A couple of times I have been able to get her back to her room but when it is 5 or later I just let her stay. Kimmie said Nat Nat did that for a while...GrandDad says she still does! I hope it doesn't last that long! We are considering getting a dog. And I have my Texas Marine Mammal Stranded Network Training this weekend, which I am extremely excited about. I don't think things are going to slow down anytime soon but we are loving every bit of it!

Valentines Parties

Madeleine had her Valentines Party on Friday and it went great. She had way too many cookies but it was a special occasion. I got to meet her "Best Friends". They are all so cute! We went to GrandDad and Kimmie's for a while. Saturday the girls went to Jada's and we went to see Valentines Day. We planned to take Madeleine and Gianna to Chuck E Cheese that night. We pulled up and there was a line out the door and they were not letting anyone else in. We took as very upset little girl to The Pet Store which sorta helped but then we took her to Toys-R-Us which made things all better. We will have to take her another time. So that was our Valentines Weekend. Here are some pictures.


The Teacher Gifts I made


Madeleine in her Valentines Dress


Gianna in her Valentines Outfit (I think she likes the day as much as I do)


Maddie and her "Best Friend" Chloe


Maddie and Chloe hugging


Gianna still not thrilled


Mommy and her girls


Madeleine and Grand Dad blowing bubbles


Gianna and her Valentines Bear


Madeleine and her Valentines Dog

Some Stuff

Gianna had been throwing up last week so Friday I called the doctor. She was throwing up a lot with her hernia so I was starting to worry. We are already on Soy Milk which is suppose to be the easiest on the tummy. The doctor said that she had a bug over the weekend (that is when she was throwing up the most) and that her poor little sensitive tummy had not recovered. So she was over the bug but her tummy wasn't so she is on Xantac for 2 weeks. We also discussed her skin rash/pealing. We are trying one last cream which is a steroid and if that does not work than there is a good chance that she is allergic to the milk protein. We would have to switch to this special formula but they said we will cross that bridge in two weeks. The cream hasn't seemed to help yet but she said to keep using it for the full 2 weeks. I just hate seeing her skin peal off like it is. She doesn't act like it hurts her but it isn't pretty. It really seems like we just can't catch a break with her. We also started cereal which she liked until she saw her bottle. Madeleine is doing great with her potty training. She is going all by herself and we hardly have to remind her. I am so proud of her. She is doing great with tumbling and dance and this month she is learning to play with the violin.

4 Month Check Up

Today I took Gianna to her 4 month check up. Before I get into her details, Madeleine seems to be completely potty trained, YAY!!! Madeleine also had to get her flu booster shot and did not shed a tear, she is such a big girl! Back to Gianna, she hit 12 lbs and is in the 11th percentile for weight, she is in the 47th percentile in length and her head in is the 5th percentile. She she is tall and skinny...no clue where she gets that from. :-) I was a little worried about her head, the doctor said that her head is growing but we are going to watch it to make sure she continues to grow. She is very active for a 4 month old and she is scoring above average on everything which they have said she she was born. The doctor also said we could start cereal and baby food whenever we were ready. She does have a bump on her chest that we are going to watch also but all the good out weighed the questionables so it was a good visit.

We all had a stomach bug last week which wasn't fun but we are all good now. Madeleine is going through some 2 year old issues which we hope to solve quickly. She is doing great with dance, tumbling and music. My classes are going good but I am ready for the semester to be over so I can take some fun classes. Well, that is about it for now.