Christmas and Snoopy's Cone of Shame

Karina and Lydia have enjoyed making up and writing stories recently.  Karina writes both long and short ones and Lydia's stories are usually variations of Karina's stories.  The girls wanted me to record them reading a short story they each wrote.   Karina's story is funny.  Lydia mumbles a little as she reads about 'Jenny and the Shadow', her own version of a short story by the same name that Karina wrote for a school contest.

Derek was jealous and wanted to participate too.  While I filmed him, he stood there with a sheet of paper in his hand, pretending to read.  Some of what he says is sounds like jumbled words, but here is our best attempt at a transcript of his performance:  "Go. That my.  Then I come - I want that one. Actually, poop. I need to go potty. My name is Derek.  I go walk walk. I go poop poop. I go.. all clean. Tee tee I go glih glah."  Since he is 2 years old and completely potty trained, I will just be happy that those are topics he likes discussing.  

The kids got to meet Santa and Mrs. Claus earlier in the month.  They come to our bus stop every year with the Ellicott City Volunteer Fire Department.  The sleigh is pulled by a pick up truck and follows a fire engine.  Lydia asked Santa for a doll.  When prompted, Karina said she wanted 'nothing'.  Derek didn't answer, because he didn't know who Santa was. 

We decorated a gingerbread house as one of the month's crafts. 

The stuffed animal 'Robbie' pulling Derek in the wagon.

Lydia came home from school one day saying "Mommy! I'm so excited! Only 3 more days!!!!!"  I was clueless as to what could garner so much enthusiasm.  I asked what was happening in 3 days and she said "Only 3 more days until my half birthday!!!!!!  For my half birthday I want a cake with chocolate on bottom and vanilla on top, with frosting and M&Ms". Lucky girl got her wish.  She had fun decorating with the M&Ms. Happy 5 and a half. 

Derek finds people to snuggle with all day long.  Karina had the honors one morning.  He is a cuddly and clingy little guy. 

Someone in our neighborhood put up a special red mailbox that ships letters directly to the North Pole.  Lydia wrote a letter to him:

There was a pretty woodpecker in our backyard last week.  It was pecking away at our tree.  

More snuggle attacks from Derek.  All the kids enjoyed this cuddle/wrestling session.

The kids got to open up one present on Christmas Eve.  The girls got some Legos to share and have made all sorts of creations since then.

We went to the Maryland Science Center for a few hours on Christmas Eve too.

Derek was exhausted after playing in the Science Center and fell asleep right away on the drive home while wearing his sunglasses. 

On Christmas Eve, Snoopy lost most of his appetite, was shivering, and kept scratching his right cheek.  Vet offices were closed and he didn't seem that sick. Nate and I also realized that Snoopy had not asked for treats for a couple days.  Normally the highlights of his day include: hunting for turkey in the morning, getting a Dentastix in the evening, and hunting for jerky at night.  Lack of treat enthusiasm was very unusual behavior for him.

Then on Christmas Day, Snoopy was much worse.  I was really worried this was the end for him.  He is 13 1/2 by our pretend count of his age (since he is a rescue dog).  We couldn't get him to stop scratching his cheek which had a little blood on it where he has a mole. 

I made the kids take pictures with him before opening presents in case Snoopy's time had come.  Snoopy didn't feel great, but everyone was cute anyway.

The girls got American Girl dolls and are enthralled with them. 

Karina wearing a crown that she got as one of the extra outfits for her doll 'Maryellen'.

The kids jumping to shoot rockets into the air. 

  

Karina and Lydia built a train and droid with motorized gears.  

After spending an hour + building, we tested out their creations.  Seeing how one gear moving would move all the other gears was interesting for them.

Meanwhile, Snoopy had gotten worse throughout the day on Christmas Day.  Soon we discovered that as he scratched himself, he would occasionally make chunks of hair fall off.  The hairless area kept growing and was bloody.  Snoopy looked so sad and wasn't much interested in food, though he did eat. 

We put a scarf on to prevent him from accessing the sore, and covered his foot with a sock.  He was not happy.  We were worried that he was literally scratching himself to death.   The scarf also wasn't effective enough.

Since it was Christmas Day, everything was closed, but we managed to track down a cone of shame from someone who lives nearby.   Their dog is twice the size of Snoopy, but we adjusted it down.  Snoopy sat there dejected with the cone of shame on.  He refused to try to walk around because of how scary the cone was.  Fortunately, it also prevented him from inflicting more damage to himself.  Snoopy sat immobile in his dog bed for over 12 hours.  

On the morning of the 26th, I called the vet only to discover they were closed on the 26th too.  Snoopy had stabilized with the cone of shame and hadn't hurt himself more.  His appetite was also back.  He also gained the courage to walk around with the cone of shame.  He made it down the stairs, and also explored the yard for 20 minutes or so.  Despite him hating the thing, the cone was working miracles for him!  It was both sad and funny to watch him walk around with the cone because he constantly ran into things, including the ground since he is short and walks with his nose toward the ground so he could sniff. 

Finding a good sniff:

That night we went to see a house with pretty Christmas lights and went to the beautiful Christmas train display at the fire station. 

Today, on the 27th, we were finally able to call the vet and set up an appointment.  Nate went to the appointment and said they were packed.  I bet they would be after being closed for several days.  The other vet office we had been too recently was also closed the 23rd-26th, so I think these are common closings.

The vet said that Snoopy has a 'hot spot'. Wikipedia says of hot spots: "common infection of the skin surface of dogs.... It occurs following self-inflicted trauma of the skin..... The dog persistently licks, chews, scratches or rubs at a focal area of skin, which quickly causes hair loss." The vet shaved Snoopy's hair at the hot spot area. He was prescribed antibiotics and steroids, and we got a powder to pour on it twice a day. The powder has more medicine in it and absorbs the moisture. This is what Snoopy looked like after being shaven.  It is gross, and his dirty paws/nails were making it worse and worse.

The vet says Snoopy won't need the cone of shame much longer because the steroids and antibiotics will get rid of his urge to scratch.  Poor guy.  We are grateful it seems he will make a full recovery though.  He appetite is back in full swing.   His treatment lasts a couple weeks.  Hopefully he'll be back to his normal self soon.