Yesterday when the kids and I went to drop off groceries at my mom's apartment, we decided to say hi to her through the fence. The humans stayed six feet away; Mousse did not. As soon as he saw her, he bolted to greet her - squeezing himself under the fence and pulling the leash out of my hand. He was so happy to get pets from Nana.
It would have been even better to spend more time with Nana and give her a hug, but even a quick in-person hello was really nice and helped with how much we miss her.
Here's a little mental stimulation I set up for Mousse this morning. It's pretty clear this dog is mostly Lab so he needs his brain worked as well as his body.
Here he is looking handsome in front of a vine that's looking lovely.
Another glamour shot.
Serafina was eating a cheese. Mousse thinks all cheese is supposed to be for him.
It's more of the same over here. Every day, pretty much the same. Every day is a struggle, but we make it through and try to find a little fun. Most of the joy around here comes from Mousse.
Here he is discovering the water spout.
Chilling under the dining room table.
He adores Tom.
Serafina enjoying some beautiful weather and a cold pool.
Licking some fruit frozen into ice cubes.
These goofy kids want the dog to get into the pool but he isn't interested.
I told them they have to make a positive association with the pool so he was tempted with lots of cheese.
Serafina managed to get him all the way to the edge but that was it.
This empty peanut butter jar was extremely exciting.
More time in the pool with floats.
Look at his cute face! I think he's getting more and more handsome.
Serafina was eating a cheese stick and Mousse just couldn't understand how there wasn't cheese for him.
He's 15 weeks old now and still loves his slobber socks.
The novelity of our situation is wearing off and we are just feeling cooped up and irritable at this point. Everyone took turns falling apart to some degree this weekend and it's completely understandable. This is crappy. It's scary and sad and extremely boring. We are doing our best each day but that doesn't make it easy. Some times this feels barely tolerable and the end isn't coming soon so that is overwhelming too. We miss normalcy.
When this is over and we leave the house for more than a bike ride, this dog isn't going to know what to do with himself. He's almost never left alone and gets a ridiculous amount of attention. But look at how cute he is?
He can hear the refrigerator open from anywhere in the house. He'll come running because maybe, just maybe, there is a piece of cheese for him.
He was completely weirded out by the sound of the pool float squeaking.
Leo had a full week of "distance learning" with meetings throughout the week for his four main classes. We had to do a lot of clearing off of LEGOs to get this table usable for "school" but it was necessary for him to have a separate space to log in for his meetings. Serafina was on "spring break" this week but starting Monday they will both have school meetings at the same time while Tom is working in the home office.
I made this cross stitch. This picture was taken on Tuesday. We're up to day 30 now which is kind of crazy. It's been a loooonnnnngggg 30 days and we still have many more days to go.
Serafina tried to make the best of her spring break and got in the pool the two warm days we had this week.
Now on to the dog pictures:
He's 14 weeks today. He went to the vet on Wednesday for some shots and he weighed 19.6 pounds. He's beefing up!
He had two more play dates this week. Here's a picture from today's play date with Petra.
Sometimes he sleeps really funny in his bed. Serafina took this picture.
He's not allowed to go on grass that other dogs may have been on for three more weeks so he walks in the middle of our street. Fortunately there are hardly any cars on our street.
Mousse had another play date on Saturday. This is Petra. They got along great and Mousse left tired with Petra's slobber all over his fur.
The Easter bunny brought the kids matching shirts. They both love the TV show The Office so much they didn't care that they matched. And yes, this is an accurate depiction of the height deferential of my kids.
Serafina got a duffle bag for Easter. She was excited about it even though she's got no where to go.
It was a beautiful day so we took a walk, but these guys were talking all about cars so I kept my "social distance".
I made a citrus cake.
It had fresh lemon, lime and orange, which were all from my trees. It turned out really good.
Mousse got an Easter basket too. It had fetch toys in it that wore him out and this little Lambchop to cuddle.
We watched a movie and had popcorn with Easter M&Ms mixed it.
Today I did a workout to burn off some of the Easter treats. This guy was not helpful.
Leo got the Tokyo LEGO architecture set for Easter and he finished it today.
Our situation continues with no change around here. Fortunately, none of us are sick with COVID-19. Unfortunately, we are all sick of each other and being stuck at home. Serafina said "I'm not homesick, I'm sick of home".
Mousse has been having more exciting adventures than the rest of us combined.
On Saturday, he did some socialization exposure with the puppy trainer and this itty bitty dog named Biscuit. Biscuit wanted nothing to do with Mousse and was afraid of everything. Mousse did great with everything the trainer had him experience - sounds, sights, etc.
At home, we were working on some circus tricks.
Eventually maybe we'll set that hoop on fire. I call this "cuddle and chew" time. The kids call it "sit and slobber". At least a few times a day, he loves to find a lap to sit on and this fluffy sock to chew on.
He's able to jump on the couch now. He has to get a running start and can't always getting himself down. Maybe I should kick him off the couch but with that cute face, how could we?
He got a new bed and he loves it.
On Wednesday, he had a play date with a puppy that actually did want to play. This is seven pound Ginny. She's some kind of micro mini designer dog.
They had so much fun and he was worn out after.
Mousse loves attention from Tom but sometimes all he can do is sit as his feet while Tom works from home.
Loving the sunshine.
Cutest dog ever? Yes.
Oh look. A non-dog picture. Here's Leo making brownies this afternoon.
The kids will officially not go back to physical school this school year. We will continue with "distance learning". Serafina had her first full week of morning meetings and assigned work. Her teacher has made herself available for additional chat times to provide extra help. It's been a bit of an adjustment for her but she's trying her best. Leo's school was technically on spring break this week but he was pretty behind on his work so we continued our usual work schedule this week. Next week, he'll start having virtual meetings with his classmates and teachers. The meeting start time is at his usual wake up time so that will be interesting.
This week we had a nice amount of sunshine. On Tuesday, Serafina decided to put her feet in the pool. Then she got in up to her knees.
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Then she decided to fully commit. This pool is not warm. At all! She's crazy.
Speaking of crazy. Here's a crazy Mousse in the yard.
He could hear and see some gardeners. This was fascinating.
Look at his sweet face.
Check out this trick. We have so much time together, we could probably have a whole circus act worth of tricks figured out by the time this is over. I'll be ordering a flaming hoop before you know it.
A girl and her dog. A dog and his bunny.
My majestic Mousse taking in the morning sun. Look at his long legs and how big he's getting.
Front yard time is a nice change of pace from the back yard.
Since he's not fully vaccinated, he's not supposed to be where other dogs may have been like grass and sidewalks. The middle of the street is pretty safe since there are almost no cars on the road.
How bored and stir crazy are we getting? Well Leo dug up a weed from the front yard and transplated it into a pot to grow in his room.
As a more productive use of our time, we made a cake this afternoon.
A corona cake.
It was delicious.
Then we had an evening happy hour with our friends. Some of us discovered fun filters to use.
It's really nice to connect with them even if it's virtual.
