A LETTER TO MY WALKING DAUGHTER

Dear Amelia,

Recently you took your first steps in becoming independent… you learned to walk. I still make you hold my hand so you don’t run away but you don’t really need my help. I realize this is the first of many milestones you will make but to me it is the most awesome and saddest one I think I will ever experience.

When you walk there’s no denying it. You aren’t a baby anymore… you are a little person. It feels so amazing when you run into my arms for a kiss and hug but I know some day we may argue and you will use those same legs to run away. I hope in those moments you always remember that I love you no matter what!

Right now you are so happy when you walk. I think you must know what a big deal it is. I hope you are always able to get excited about the small joys in life… even when you a super cool teenager.

When you fall you get upset for less than a second and then bounce right up and start walking again. I hope you meet all of your future challenges with the same kind of determination and enthusiasm.

Sometimes you look back and smile at me when you walk a long distance. Princess A, please remember the little people like Mom and Dad when you are older and off achieving your dreams.

Know that I will always be there for you no matter how many times you fall flat on your face.

No matter how much you grow up you will always be a tiny baby with a tiny hand that fits perfectly in mine. So forgive  me if I continue to mother you even when you are off at college.

Oh and don’t forget to look both ways, 3 times, and say a prayer before you cross the street. You live in Manhattan and one of the few things that never changes in New York are the crazy cab drivers.

I love you!

Mom

SPRING TIME IN NEW YORK

I love spring time in New York. I especially love the trees but they also give me allergies. The flowers that bloom on the trees get blown off on windy days and go everywhere causing me to sneeze. Anyone have any good tips for keeping allergies at bay without taking so much Benadryl I fall asleep at the wheel of a stroller?

Stay Glamorous,

Shannon

I HATE CHICKEN BONES

I hate chicken bones. But you know what I hate even more than chicken bones?!?!?!?! The people who leave their old chicken bones on the streets of New York!!!!!!

Last night, I was walking Freckles and he jumped forward and grabbed something in his mouth. I looked down and it was a chicken bone. This chicken bone was literally 3 feet from a trash can. I hate lazy sloppy people.

Anyway, if a dog eats a chicken bone they can die from the splinters. So I grabbed that chicken bone out of his mouth as fast as I could and I got a cut on my hand because if you try to take a chicken bone away from a dog they will literally bite the hand that feeds them. It hurt but at least I got that chicken bone out of his mouth!

This is not the first time this has occured. Freckles finds a chicken bone and succsesfully gets it in his mouth once a week. I see chicken bones on the street almost every day! Not only is this disgusting but it is heartless to the dogs of New York City. I got Freckles when he was a small puppy and I have done my best to raise and train him but I don’t think any amount of training can make him not want a bone.

So please New Yorkers… for the sake of cute dogs like Freckles everywhere… throw your chicken bones away in a trash can!

Stay Glamorous,

Shannon

HOT DOG

On St. Patrick’s Day We woke up and did our usual routine. I got dressed and when we went into the nursery to get Princess A dressed for our morning walk. Freckles did something unexpected though. He jumped on our air conditioning unit. We couldn’t get him down. Princess A tried to get him down by offering him a ball but he still refused. I took a picture and thought it was just normal Freckles weirdness. Then when I was dressing Princess A he jumped off the air conditioner and ran into the living room.

When I was done dressing Princess A I thought it smelled like poop so I checked her diaper. It wasn’t Princess A so I went into the living room and there was Freckles squatting and pooping gross diarrhea all over our apartment.

Just so you know Freckles is a gentleman and very well house trained so he only poops inside when he is really sick. I stuck Princess A in her play pen so I could clean up and then Freckles started vomiting. This was getting bad fast so I woke up The Husband and he watched Princess A while I took Freckles to the vet.

Unfortunately, it was St. Patrick’s Day and my vet is one block away from the parade so it was beyond difficult getting there. Eventually we did and the doctor saw that he was dehydrated and had a stomach virus. They gave him some fluids and antibiotics and sent us home. Freckles was in a good enough mood so we walked home because it was impossible to find a cab before the St. Patrick’s Day Parade. Then we met the husband and Princess A at the pediatrician because she had a follow-up appointment for her TB test.

The doctor said she had not been exposed to TB… yeah! Then when we were done with that the parade started and our pediatrician’s office is at the beginning of the parade so we got a really good spot to watch it from and the whole family was together. If Freckles hadn’t gotten sick I would have probably just taken Princess A to the pediatrician myself and the Husband and Freckles would have stayed at home.

So thank you Freckles for taking one for the family and getting sick on St.Patricks’s Day so we could watch the parade together!

Stay Glamorous,

Shannon