After losing Charlotte, it took me some time before I could even come back and look at this site. All the photos and the stories were a bit much in the beginning. But now, I'm able to look back and smile thinking about some of the wonderful times we've had with her. It is getting easier, as life gets busier and distracts me, but I still think of her often and hope she's loving her new home in Heaven as much as we're missing her here.
Here is a photo collage I made for my background on my computer. It's a photo of each of my girls with their "happy" faces. Nothing makes me happier than to see their three faces like this, knowing I'm responsible for it. :)
Chelsea update:
Chelsea has morphed into the perfect dog. Honestly, I can't even begin to tell you how wonderful she has become. Yes, she still has her moments of fear where a sound will scare her or sudden movement will startle her and she'll jump and run away and hide. But now instead of running away completely she'll jump, run and then stop and turn around as if to say "Oh man, that scared me. Is is safe to come back?" And then she always does.
My favorite part about Chelsea is her fear of thunder. I know I shouldn't be enabling and encouraging her fears because it isn't good for her, but there is something sweet about when I hear a rumble of thunder and not but a few seconds later she comes running to me and cuddles up into my side because it scares her. It makes me so happy to know she went from running away from me to running to me.
She is also excellent with people now. Whenever we go out she goes up to people, sniffs them, lets them bend down and pet her. When people come to visit she comes over and checks them out and within a few hours she's their best friend. She'll sit next to them and cuddle up with them. Her new thing is she asks for attention. She'll come to you and paw at your hand asking for you to pet her and when you give in she'll roll on her back to tell you to rub her tummy, her sweet spot. :)
Every morning I wake up to Chelsea and Chloe's little faces at the side of my bed. I reach down and put my arm out and their tails wag and Chloe pushes herself under my hand and Chelsea paws at me, both attempting to earn some pets and affection from me. Then if I don't get out of bed Chelsea starts bouncing around and barking to let me know she wants me to get up and take her out. She's really learned how to adjust to being someone's pet and not some wild dog.
Here is a video I took one morning of this little routine: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJjBGvgErf4
I took her to visit my aunt and uncle a few months ago, and she was excellent with my cousins. She cuddled up with my three year old cousin Kathryn, and my two year old cousin Patrick. They adore Chelsea and Chloe and I was pleased that Chelsea had graduated from "scarredy cat" to "excellent babysitter."
Chloe did a good job too... which surprised me because Chloe has become much less of a people person. She sticks to me, Rob and Chelsea like glue. Whereas she used to love attention from strangers, now she's leery of them.
Chloe is doing excellent right now. She does need to lose some weight though. All those treats everyone feeds her because she is so cute, have caused her to be two pounds overweight. So now we're trying to get her down to five pounds with diet and exercise.
We found out she has a condition called Patellar Luxation, which is basically a slipped knee cap. It is common in small breeds, especially Chihuahuas. We noticed it all of a sudden when she was running after one of her toys and then her leg locked up and she started yelping. We panicked, of course, and took her to the vet where they told us what happened. She'll need surgery at some point (which will set us back about $1,200... gulp) but if left untreated she'll end up with lots of pain and arthritis so we don't have much of an option. She is so young and deserves to have a long life of running around so it's a small price to pay to see her happy, healthy, and living a normal life for a puppy. So that's next on the agenda and will probably happen early next year.
Chloe has also been keeping busy making new friends. Since I work from home I get a lot of packages to the house, and the UPS lady comes at least once a week to drop something off. Well Chloe would normally stand at the top of the steps and bark her head off when she heard the knock on the door. The UPS lady kept commenting on Chloe being loud, and upset, and how funny she sounded. But one day she said "she sounds so ferocious today!" The idea of my seven pound dog being a threat to the UPS lady had me giggling. So I told her to wait there and I went up and got Chloe. The minute the UPS lady saw her she couldn't stop the baby talk. And Chloe, who was on high alert and ready to attack just minutes before, was now reaching out for the lady and giving her kisses (some guard dog right?). Well from then on, Gina (the UPS lady) and Chloe have become best friends. Gina even brings her dog treats (which I have to split up and give Chelsea most of since Chloe is on a diet). It's very sweet and I really think it's the highlight of Gina's day because she never rushes back to her work, she always stays long enough for Chloe to come and greet her and pet her for a little bit. It makes me feel good that Chloe can make someone else's day happy just with a wag of the tail and a ton of kisses. :)
Anyway, I'll be writing again soon, but I'll leave you with some photos of the girls, as always.
Here is a random but cute photo, of the two of them during Tropical Storm Debby. We were getting pounded with rain, wind and thunder storms and the girls were terrified. I found them cuddling on the couch in fear, holding each other. I couldn't help but snap a photo before I went to comfort them.
And here is me with my babies at the dog beach on Honeymoon Island (FL). As much as they hate the water- and they really hate the water- they still follow us in because they'd rather be close to us.
Here is a photo of Chloe and her new cousin, Tico. My brother Jeremy adopted a dog now that he is living in his own apartment in Gainesville, FL for grad school. Tico is a Chihuahua as well and he and Chloe adore each other! Chloe is like his little shadow and even after only knowing him for a day, she was depressed when he had to go back to his new home with her "Uncle Jeremy".
Stare down can mean only one thing.... it's play time! :)
Don't let these two fool you, they have an excellent life. :)
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