The Bambinos & The Mangey Dog

Noori:

Noori is potty training! He is in his third week now. I just decided that we just weren't going to do diapers anymore. I don't want to be buying or washing diapers for two & also I want him to start preschool in the fall and he must be trained by then. He's only had a couple of accidents this week and I don't even put him in a diaper for naps or night time. It's really cool to see, it seems like the first really independent thing that he does on his own. Going to the bathroom without me there. 

Hani:

She is seven weeks as of yesterday. She just seems so huge in comparison to Noori at the same age. She is already out of her newborn clothes and fits pretty well into 0-3 months. She is not nearly as demanding or clingy as Noori was and still is. Talking to other moms who have one of each- all agree that girls seem more independent than the boys. It helps me feel better about my parenting too, because in the back of my mind I felt like maybe I made Noori so dependent (he still doesn't sleep on his own without assistance from me). But I know that's not true at all now. She will fall asleep on her own, many times without complaint. And when she does cry it's just a little bit and by the time I get to her, she's already asleep! And then there are a few occasions where she really demands me to pick her up and help her fall asleep. With N, I can count on my hand the number of times he's fallen asleep on his own. 

The Mangey Mutt Truman:

So this dog.. just showed up on our doorstep one day. He really did. Saturday morning, there he was and he just hung out there. He was mangey though. He really had it bad. Lots of hair loss and bloody ears from the scratching. N started jumping around him and practically on top of him. The dog didn't seem perturbed by it in the slightest. And even started playing with the kids outside. On Monday, the dog followed Iajia to his bus stop in the morning and then came back. 

So we decided to keep him and I took him to the vet the next day where he got a mange treatment bath and some shots. He spent two nights there. All this only cost us $25! From then on, we have kept him in our back patio area and I have been applying a topical cream for the mange. He looks a lot better. Finally, yesterday, I took him back for his appointment at the vet for another bath, and hope that when we pick him up today the vet will give him a clean bill of health.

We named him Truman, after the president, but also after a dog Iajia saw in a movie a long time ago. He seems like he'll be a very nice dog and good with kids!