iBode

It's been a wet weekend here in Dayton. Sunny during the week, but come Friday evening, the clouds came in and decided to park it here for a few days. It's rained off and on, but Saturday afternoon wasn't too bad. Ashley was down in northern Kentucky getting some type of aerobics instructor certification (she wants to be able to teach/sub for a class at the base gym), so it was just the two dudes and the three-legged dog holding down the fort. We played chase and read some books and took a long nap (which was awesome!!!) We also watched some videos on the computer. Here's a picture of Bode sitting in the chair. He's really starting to look like a little young man--not really our baby anymore is he?
Bode is one solid little guy. Even though most of our neighbors say Bode looks a lot like Ashley in the face, he probably was blessed (cursed) with the fabled McGuirk Squatty Body :-)

Bode continues to like all things electronic. He loves taking pictures, and he usually can snap a goofy one of Mommy. Here's one of Mommy making us all laugh.
Bode also likes my iPod. When we traveled to Colorado in February, Bode was able to figure out the earphones on the airplane while watching TV. Since then, he'll sometimes carry earphones around with him--he'll even wear them even though there's no sound. A few days ago, I decided to see if he would listen to music, so I plugged him into my iPod. He immediately said, "I don't like that one." So I skipped to a song he liked, upon which he said, "I like this one." And he listened to the whole song (it was Nickelback's Gotta Be Somebody in case you're interested). He also likes Lady Antebellum and Taylor Swift (yes, I have her on my iPod...pathetic, I know) I tried to show him how to change songs, but I'm not sure if he's got that down just yet. But give him a few days and he'll have the whole wheel-thing mastered. Be that as it may, we probably won't be rushing out to get him an iPad. Ashley had to fly to Washington DC today. She'll be back on Wednesday...looks like it'll be a lot of Mac-N-Cheese this week. She left around noon, so before she left, I was able to get a jog in. When I got back, Bode came running to greet me. I leaned down and gave him a hug. He pulled back and said, "You stinky Daddy." Nice.

Finally, an Auburn update. She's doing great. When Bode and I were chasing each other around the house, she wanted to play along. Obviously she's a bit slower than she used to be, but she chased after us (but we have to be careful on the tile and other slick floor surfaces). The pathology report came back on Auburn's leg. No surprise--she has bone cancer. None of her x-rays showed any tumors in other parts of her body, but in the vast majority of cases, the cancer has spread. What's interesting about this type of cancer is the main tumor (in Auburn's since-removed leg) acts as inhibitor for the rest of the cancer. Now that the leg is gone, it is likely there will be some type of metastization (is that even a word?) Anyways, untreated, most dogs will live another six months (sheesh). However, we can (and will) do chemotherapy, and this will (statistically) extend the life expectancy to 12-14 months. We asked if she'd be miserable doing chemo. The vet explained chemo for dogs is different than chemo for people. Most dogs won't get sick or anything like that. She'll be a little lethargic the day after, but usually that's the extent of it. The reason dogs don't react like humans is the intention of treatment is different. With people, the goal is to extend life as long as possible--and if the person gets violently ill, so be it. Not the case with dogs. They're trying to extend life, but they want the quality of life to be good. Auburn will get four injections, three weeks apart, and that will be the extent of it. We'll monitor, wait, hope, and see what happens. We'll enjoy this extra year (knock on wood) we have with her and see what happens. The doctors did say there are a small number of dogs that live another three or even four years. While we're realistic, we can also be optimistic.
Pleasant week to everyone.