NIXON

Of course this is a post about Nixon. Truly there's not much else going on in our lives right now. Sorry. :)

This is Nixon taking a nap in the back seat of

Zac's parents' suburban. We were on our way home from Rexburg, ID.

Same trip, just doing his usual head cuddle on Zac's shoulder.

I, Sarah, recently taught Nixon to crawl. He will crawl for a fairly long distance, but only on carpet. I'm fairly certain it's uncomfortable and painful for him to crawl on the wood and tile. Also, he can't get as good of a grip to push himself along when it's a hard, smooth surface.

This is Nixon on Christmas night, 3 days after surgery. He is wearing the ace bandage around his neck to protect the fentanyl patch, which was administering wonderful amounts of pain relief through his skin.

Haha! Of course, Nixon peeking over the edge of the bed. He's such a weirdee sometimes. You can't help but love him.

Now, I suggest we do a little before and after. (For all of you who care. Ha, that's probably only me, but we'll do it for the sake of things.) Nixon and Harvey (the black dog) then.

Nixon and Harvey now. Allow me to clear up any confusion you may have. Harvey did NOT shrink.

To finish up, I propose we end with two moments when Nixon is the sweetest. (In his sleep.)

The first, in the back of the car. The Rexburg trip really took it out of him. (Of course he's sleeping with his head on the pillow, don't all civilized dogs?)

And second, our little baby boy, in Keaton's arms, after a long day of home renovations. He was exhausted. (And so tiny!)

Broken

So, Nixon has been broken for a couple of weeks now. He got hit by a car and avoided walking on his back left leg. So we took him to the vet and the vet basically told us that he had broken the ball of his hip, but the displacement was minimal and he would be fine to take it easy and let it heal where it was. The doctor also warned us that there was about a 5% chance of the fracture forming a blood clot, in which case we would be in for it. So we watched nixon carefully and he was doing fine. After about a week he was back to normal. Walking and running just fine. Then on our trip to St. George, he suddenly started limping again. There was no apparent reason for the limping so I called the vet. After a pricey vet visit it was decided that Nixon had, of course, been in the lucky 5%. He had formed a clot and the bone was dying. Apparently it was luck of the draw, and it was no fault of ours that he had formed this clot. Surgery was needed. Expensive surgery. Dang, I hope Nixon knows how much we love him. Also, during this wonderful vet visit, we learned he had mange (a skin eating mite), and a terrible ear infection. So, he has now had surgery, and thanks to Micall (it's great to have friends working at the vet's office) we were able to break in last night (ok we didn't really break in, Micall, being the great person that she is, offered to administer his pain medications after hours for free). These are some of the pictures of him in the vet post surgery. He is home now and feeling much more comfortable.

My child. My child.

Nixon is the most hilarious dog ever! I feel as if I have a human child. This was our morning:

I wake up at 6:15 and get in the shower

I get out of the shower and open the door

There is my little child dog, laying on the ground

He follows me around until I let him outside

He pees and does his 'business'

He comes galloping back inside

By this time he is stoked about being awake

So I go upstairs and start getting ready for school

Meanwhile Nixon is throwing his rope in the air

Running around to pounce on it

Picking it up

Spazzing out

Running in circles

Rolling on his back

And all of this he does without any attention from anyone

He is self entertained

Thus acting like a toddler with toys.