Blaze

From Dan: It’s been a difficult month of vet visits and sad times. Our beloved first pet together, Blaze, has been diagnosed with GME (granulomatous meningoencephalitis). It is a progressive autoimmune disease of unknown origin. On the morning of February 13 when we woke up he wasn’t quite himself. He had a very low energy level, wasn’t eating, was a bit unsteady on his feet and had lost some vision in his left eye. After lots of tests, including a CT scan and a spinal tap, the vet’s best guess was GME (it’s a diagnosis by process of elimination), although she was not ruling out other causes like a stroke or a brain tumor. Through some connections (that’s still how things work in Portugal) we were able to get him an MRI at a human hospital yesterday. The result was lesions consistent with GME.

We got Blaze, a 7-year-old Australian Shepherd, from a rescue program. His early life in West Virginia included beatings, and those of you who know him know that he still never quite got over that and has forever been skittish around strangers. When Katrin and I first met him he was being fostered in Washington Heights in New York. We took advantage of a trip to the city for Ben and Sohui’s wedding in 2004 to introduce ourselves, and of all the people who had considered adopting him we were told that we were the only ones he even thought about approaching to greet. So after a short walk around the city and some contemplation about taking on a dog with such “issues” we decided that he should move to Burlington.

We’ve had some great years with Blaze. From that first nervous walk around NYC, he became a great pet and even learned to do agility with Katrin. He never became comfortable around strangers, but is extremely loyal and sweet with those he knows. We still hope to have many more years of his trying to do anything he can to please Katrin (and by association, me), but the disease unfortunately has no cure and so we don’t know much about his future. We will keep helping him live the full life he deserves and stay forever hopeful that he will be with us long enough for Amelia to remember him when she grows up.

From Katrin: We are told he will likely be with us less than a year, though it could be much less, and it could be much more, depending on how he reacts and responds to the various treatments. We have put together a team of veterinarians to help us do whatever we can to fight this and give him the best possible life for the time he has left.

I've never been told beforehand that I have a limited amount of time left with a loved one. What a hard place to be, caught somewhere between starting to grieve before they are already gone and savoring every moment you have together. As Dan mentions it has been a rollar coaster of a couple of weeks trying to figure out a diagnosis. Yes he is a dog, but he is a member of our family, and a very special member at that. He will do anything in his power to please and protect those he loves, and even though his energy level is at an all time low right now from the disease and the medications, he still finds it necessary to lift his head and howl every time Amelia cries, and to alert me if I am not quick enough getting up when she wakes up, he still goes crazy when the doorbell rings, and gets excited when Tazzy and Biju start playing, though instead of joining them as usual, he just goes and supervises the play session from near by. As I write this he is curled up on the couch comforting me because I am sad for him.

Home for the Holidays

So now that it is February, I am finally getting around to posting an account of our trip home for the holidays. Amelia and I started the journey with just the two of us, and I was rather nervous making the trip from Portugal to Oregon on my own with a 16 month old, but there was no need to be. She was such a great traveller on the starting leg, that I told her I wouldn't care if she screamed the whole way to Vermont the next week (in hindsight probably not the best thing to have told her, and I am really glad she didn't take me up on it). We arrived in Portland tired, but relatively on time and with all of our luggage, so a good start to the trip. We spent the next week visiting with friends and relatives, Amelia loved seeing everyone, as did I of course, and she took quite well to the very social routine that is so different from our fairly quiet life here in Portugal.

Dan joined us after a week, a day late thanks to the snow storm in Newark stranding him there for an extra night. We celebrated Christmas eve with my family and got up early on Christmas morning for the cross-country flight to Vermont. We made it in time to join in Christmas dinner, and it was great to have all of the little cousins together (Isabel 10, Calvin 8, Jasper 2.5, Nathan 2, Coco 19 months, Amelia 15 months, and Oliver 3 months) and to distribute and recieve the news of the two newest cousins scheduled to arrive at the end of July (that's us!) and in August (Julie and Jim).

We spent the rest of the week with more catching up with friends and family, sledding, lots of appointments, and topped it off with the big New Year's party at Mary and Pierre's. Amelia didn't quite make it to New Year, as she finally went to sleep at 11:40 pm, maybe next year.

After all the festivities we had to say our good-byes and get on the plane for home. Amelia treated us to another hassle-free trip, she slept the entire flight from Newark to Lisbon! We loved seeing everyone, and since we don't know when Amelia and I will be able to make it back to the US, we will have to be satisfied with all of the great memories we have from this one. For a few photos of our trip and some more Amelia shots, click here.

Roma, Italia

It seems like a long time ago now, but before the holidays we took a trip to visit Rome. We decided to make a Tuesday holiday into a 4-day weekend and go somewhere. Katrin had been there once before but this was my first visit, despite a half-dozen trips to Italy. The goal was to find somewhere fun we could go without changing planes, and Rome was the winner over Amsterdam and Geneva.

When Katrin and I moved to Portugal we had grandiose plans of visiting all corners of Europe. Ski trips to Switzerland, summer holidays in the fjords of Norway, and beach vacations to Ibiza. Well, a baby came along and sort of altered our agenda. But we’re still trying to get out and about.

Walking around Rome was all sorts of fun. It is truly an easy city to see on foot, even while pushing a stroller. Amelia will surely have wonderful memories of the coliseum, forum, Spanish steps, Trevi fountain, Vatican City, Sistine Chapel, etc., etc. The whole city felt like an outdoor museum of archeology, history, art and culture. But the two highlights of every day were lunch and dinner. We all know how fabulous the pizza and pasta are, although until you’ve tasted the real thing in Italy (or at Peter and Jane’s house) you don’t know what you’re missing. But the ambience and comfort inside a restaurant are harder to describe. Sort of like the feeling of home, while casually eating a delicious pasta dish with porcini mushrooms and sipping a tasty Chianti.

What made the trip all the more enjoyable, though, was the ease of traveling with Amelia. She’s a good traveler (after all, she averages more than one plane flight per month of life so far), but the Italians are truly a baby-friendly populace. We get sort of spoiled here in Portugal, which is a very baby-friendly culture (getting ushered to the front of every line, parking spots designated for parents with young children), but in Italy it was the individuals themselves that were head over heels for babies. No matter where we were, whether restaurants or subways or museums, Amelia was given tons of attention. Everyone wanted their turn to smile at her and help make her comfortable. Italy certainly has its political and economic troubles, but when it comes to children and quality of life, they are a very advanced civilization.

For more pictures of our trip to Rome, click here.

Our Little Helper

Amelia has become quite the little helper lately. She loves to help load the washing machine, and now that she has nearly mastered putting things "in," she can also be asked to help pick up, and we have quite the bucket brigade going as we grocery shop and I pick up the items we need and she throws them into our cart. Here are a couple of pictures of her helping her Daddy stack up our wood as we prepare for winter. Well, maybe not so much stacking, but she did take several small pieces from the pile on the driveway and throw them onto the garage floor. You can see her contribution in the background of the top photo.

Horse Fair!

A couple of weekends ago we took a family trip to Golega for their annual horsefair. This town lives and breathes horses, and proclaims themselves the horse capital. The center of town has a huge outdoor arena with a riding track around the outside, and stables built into the cozy squares all around town. During the 10 day long fair there are lots of daily events, and horses absolutely everywhere. The streets have wooden fencing inserted to keep a path for the horses being ridden (or driven) to the arena, and the whole place was bustling with horse and non-horse people alike, and shops selling every possible item of horse paraphernalia you can imagine. I of course was too excited to take any pictures of the whole going on, but Dan managed to snap a few for us. Unfortuantely for him, Amelia also seemed quite taken by the big kittys. I sense an expensive hobby in her future!

Is it naptime yet?

It has been an eventful fall thus far. With wonderful visits from friends from home, and trips to visit friends and family in England and France, the last two months have been filled with castles and ruins and Port tastings and history and scenery and good food and even better company. Top that all off with milestones like Amelia's first birthday and first steps and we have been pretty busy!

I've just posted lots of new photos here and here.

During that time Amelia has progressed from her first few tentative steps, to nearly forgetting that she used to have to crawl everywhere. There are still lots of stumbles and a few bumps and bruises, but she gets back up and keeps on truckin' (and going, and going, and going). While keeping us on our toes, she also keeps us pretty entertained these days, whether it is waving goodbye to the babysitter as soon as I walk in the door, headbutting the dogs and cat to mimic their play, the endless procession of moving the (clean) diapers from the dryer to the washer and back again, "talking" on our cell phones (or remotes, or sippy cups), and numerous other antics.

It was wonderful to see everyone, though I must admit that we are now looking forward to a little rest before we start it all again for the holidays!

Rolling...

Just a quick picture from our first family bike outing. Amelia had a great time, though she did start to doze off at the end of it, I guess next time we go after her nap.