If you said they both have back problems, you would be closer.  After all, Friday is a daschund and my father is a dentist, both of which are prone to back issues.

But if you said they are both diabetic, well then, give yourself a pat on the back because you win the Kewpie doll. 

Less than a month after needing to have one of my dog’s teeth extracted, he stopped eating and started drinking alot.  And peeing.  Alot.  He was always a little overweight, but we managed to get him down to a healthier weight recently.  But he was suddenly looking a little toothin.  Ribs too prominent.  Waist too narrow.  I can think of several women in my life who would love to shed four pounds in less than a month, but this is definitely not healthy for a dog who spends most of his life sleeping and gnawing on bones.

So, having our suspicions, we took the dog to the vet where they did some blood tests, and they came back with a diagnosis of canine diabetes.  After doing some research ourselves the night before, this basically confirmed our suspicions.

Freaking diabetes.  In a five and a half year old dog.

I know how much the vet bill is, and while not astronomical, its significant.  But I can’t even imagine the cost of the soon to be needed daily insulin injections.  Or the cost for weekly or bi-weekly blood sugar tests at the vet.  But it is what it is. (My wife hates it when I use that expression)

Someone at work asked me what I was going to do.  I looked at her strangely.  But I guess that’s the mindset of someone who doesn’t own a dog.  What am I going to do?  Try to give him away (because there is a waiting  list for diabetic dogs)?  Put him to sleep?  Not get him the medication he needs?

The dog is almost 6.  My children are 2 1/2 and 6 months old.  He’s part of the family.  And we treat him like part of the family.  He’s been around twice as long as either of the kids.  Now, if his back gave out and he was borderline crippled, well, that’s another story.  That’s a quality of life issue.  But he’s sick, and can be treated with meds, so that’s what we’ll do.

Its this part of pet ownership I don’t think a lot of people understand.  You have kids coming out of college or grad school and living in their own house or apartment for the first time and they suddenly have the desire to have a dog.  But its not that easy, and I don’t think enough people truly understand the responsibility of owning a dog.  It’s more than feeding them and walking them and putting a house of their head and playing with them.   It’s being aware that, like children, like adults, like people, dogs get hurt.  They get sick.  They get diseases.  And you must, as a potential pet owner, understand the financial toll of having a sick animal before you own one.

A dog isn’t a fish or a hamster.  He’s your friend.  Your strange adopted child.  And when you own one, you better be prepared, and willing, to do everything and anything required to maintain his health.  If not, you should probably get a fish instead.  That, at least, can be flushed down the toilet.

My dog has diabetes.  Maybe he will get better.  Maybe he won’t.  But I love him, and if I have to sacrifice so that he is healthy and happy, then that’s what I will do.

Because that’s the price of being a dog owner.

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Technorati Tags: canine diabetes, daschund, diabetes, dogs, pets, vet, weiner dogs

My wife and I adopted a wiener-pup over five years ago. We were told he was a tweenie, not quite a mini, up to 7 pounds, but not a massive standard dog, either. But the breeder was wrong. Our dog Friday is a beast.

To read the whole post and see some adorable pictures of Friday through th years, click over to the Lighter Side.

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Technorati Tags: Children, Daschunds, dogs, wiener dogs

Before my first son was born, I thought that the actual physical preparation would be the toughest part, you know, buying stuff, setting stuff up, getting ready.  But I was wrong.  the hardest part was deciding on a name, and I think that eventually coming up with Nathaniel was a miracle.

Now here I am again, 2 years later, having to move furniture, build furniture, and shop for lots of crap.  And I would rather do these activities multiple times than come up with a name for my daughter to come.

You see there, are rules.  Rules that can not be broken under penalty of death.  And here they are:

1. Can not be a name shared by one of our cousins.  And we have ten female cousins between us.
2. Can not share a name with an ex-girlfriend (easier to deal with since several of my girlfriends share names with our cousins)
3. Can not share name with a girl either of us has a bad association with, you know, the fat girl, the stupid girl, the trap, the cheerleader.  No names that elicit the image of someone who brings back bad memories
4. Can not begin with “C’ or “K” if it has the hard consonant sound.  My last name begins with C, and I don’t want my daughter to sound like a comic book character (ala Perter Park or Reed Richards).
5. Can not be found in the list of top twenty popular names of the past 5 years.My wife does not want her to be 1 of 4 girls with the same name.
6. Must be more than one syllable so there can be a natural nickname.
7. If there is a natural nickname, it can not sound stupid (For example, Sebastian because Sebass, a type of fish)
8. Must not be too weird, or too ethnic.
9. Means of making fun of the name can not be too obvious.  We liked Natalia, until someone told us that you can change Natalia to Geni-talia real easily.  So scrap that one.

So… I’ll admit it, we’re struggling now.

I think the only name left that fits our criteria is Michelle.  But that’s my mothers name.

I’m tempted to pull out 10 Scrabble tiles and arrange them randomly into a name.  And I won’t pull out the Q, X or Z’s before hand.

So, world, please welcome my daughter Quiznox!

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Technorati Tags: baby names, Fatherhood

Being a 31 year old father of two who works five days a week, my time is limited. Between television, sports, reading, writing and blogging, the amount of time I can allot to video game playing is minimal. but I make sure I find a couple of hours here and there because, well, I am a male and I grew up playing video games. I love ‘em, and lord knows, if I didn’t have a family and I didn’t have kids, I would love to spend more mindless time playing.

That all being said, when i purchased a next-gen console two years ago, I had a choice to make. i already have a PSP and DS, and there is always something to play between those two systems. So I knew that I would only be able to buy 1 system. So which one would it be? I chose the Wii.

Now, to a lot of you out there, that may seem silly. As an adult, shouldn’t I value the technical and graphical superiority of the Xbox 360 and PS3? Of course that was an issue. I bought Madden ’09 for the Wii, and when compared to the PS3 and 360, the graphics were awful (though I did enjoy the motion controls). And of course each system has their own franchise games that i can not enjoy on the Wii: God of War, Gears of War, Ratchet and Clank, Halo… and those are but a few examples. And I will miss not playing them.

But I am a child of the 80′s. I grew up playing Mario. And Zelda. And Metroid. And when decision time finally came, I asked myself, “Which games do you really want to play?” And you know what? I wanted to play Super Mario Galaxy. And Twilight Princess.  And Metroid Prime Corruption. And I don’t regret my decision one bite. Video games to me are everything about nostalgia. And don;t get me wrong; if these games sucked, I wouldn’t be playing hem. But Mario Galaxy is one of the bets games ever made, and there is a sequel on the way. Both Metroid prime: Corruption and Twilight Princess were great, and there’s just soothing about the music, something about the characters, that brings you back to a simpler time. And, like Galaxy, both of these games are getting sequels sometime.

But you can’t build a system on a handful of games, and I will admit that the other systems may have more non-first tier games than Nintendo, and more of the games are better. I won’t deny that. But the fact is, Mario Galaxy had such great replay value that I played it for four months, and both Metroid and Zelda were long, engrossing games.

And the Wii does have some other games that are of high quality and can fill in the time between these first tier games: Boom Blox, Punch Out, Super Smash Brothers, Zak and Wiki. And many of the cross-console games reach the Wii, though the graphics and controls are often inferior. But the fact is, there is enough on the Wii to keep an old fart like me entertained, and nothing brings me back to those good old days like watching Mario and Link and Samus save the world.

I won’t deny the pure superiority of the other consoles. i won;t deny that they have more, and in many cases, better games. But for someone with limited time who grew up fighting Ganon and Mother Brain and King Koopa, the Wii is enough for me

Hopefully Nintendo will remember Kid Icarus and Starfox and bring quality games to the Wii based on these franchises soemtime soon.

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Technorati Tags: Link, Mario, Metroid, PS3, Wii, Xbox, Zelda

TV is not the problem.  TV can even help to solidify words and concepts in a child’s brain as long as the parents are spending adequate time teaching the child!  TV, when used properly, can help to expand vocabulary as long as it is not the sole tool of learning.  True, today’s shows, like Dora, encourage interaction, but that interaction is for older children, not for younger children.  Younger kids need one on one learning with parents every night for television to have any value.

Anyway, that wasn’t what I meant this post to be about, but I figured I would lead into this with that.

With a new child here and the demolition of my home office to make my son’s new room, we got a laptop for the dining room table.  Now, whenever my son is bored and he sees me on the computer, he will come over to me and start saying “numbers”.  he wants to sit o  my lap and play on the keyboard.  Stupid me, I though I would make it work.  You know, open up Microsoft Word and set a very large font, type some numbers and letters and let him identify them, and then ask him to find some numbers and letters.  yeah, great idea.  In  theory.  Worked for about a minute, until he got bored and just wanted to pound away on the keyboard with his ham fists.  And then he ran his stained fingers over the screen.  Complete disaster.  Now I don’t let him on my lap and he cries.

So I went out and bought this V-tech keyboard/computer for $20.  It has thirty or so little programs on it, but he is only old enough to really do 2 or 3 (It is made for 3 years and up).  But there is a program for identifying numbers, and one for identifying letters, and one that asks him to identify the largest of three objects.  So it will be more useful as he gets older, but it gives him a keyboard he can bang away on without destroying a $700 dollar piece of computer equipment.  He absolutely loves it!

Of course, he saw me putting in the batteries, and after playing with it for 30 minutes, he flipped it over and demanded that I open the battery compartment for him.  I didn’t, and he cried for a bit.  Hopefully he will forget it is there.

Though made for older children, if you have reached a point with a younger child who is bored with pointing out numbers and letters in a book, this is a great durable and relatively cheap toy to make learning more interactive.  And since it looks somewhat like a laptop, your kid will think he is a big boy, too.

Peace out.

And remember, TV isn’t a substitute for time spent with your child, but it can be a great tool when used to enhance what he or she already knows

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Technorati Tags: 2 yera olds, Children, computers, development, Dora, learning, TV, V-tech

Months ago, he would spy my toothbrush sitting next to the sink while he bathed and demand it.  And if I didn’t give it to him, he would throw a fit in the bath.  So I would give it to him.  I quickly learned that I needed to keep my brush safely tucked awayinn the medicine cabinet where he couldn’t see it.  It worked for a while; out of sight out of mind.  But one day, while in the bath, he looked up at the cabinet and pointed a finger and said, “Want toothbrush”.  And I promptly told him i didn’t have any.  He obviously didn’t believe me because he continue to point his finger and ay, “In there.”  So, admitting defeat at the hands of a two year old, I opened up the cabinet and revealed my new green toothbrush.  he took it with glee.  “Daddy’s toothbrush,” he screamed, and proceeded to violently brush his teeth.

I am always careful to keep my toothbrushes out of sight.  While he know they are there, he is less likely to ask for it if he can’t see it.

He’s taken about twenty toothbrushes from me in the past several months, and he carries them around the house like toothbrushes, proudly proclaiming, “Daddy’s toothbrushes”, every couple of hours or so.  He’ll brush with all of them in a five minute time span, lining them up on the floor and using each one in order until he gets to the last one, his own small orange toothbrush.

He doesn’t hate his own toothbrush.  I guess he just likes daddy’s toothbrushes.  Thankfully, we order them in bulk at the office, and I always have a handful in reserve at home so when he steals mine, I won’t be left empty handed.

Once I tried to retrieve a stolen toothbrush, but Nathan had managed to destroy it in less than three hours.  I’ve had toothbrushes for a full six months which displayed less bristle wear and bend than what my son is capable of inflicting in less than a day.

Eventually, when a brush becomes too disgusting, I’ll throw it away.  But Nathan always knows, and those are the times he inevitably points at the medicine cabinet and asks for Daddy’s toothbrush.

Now, as dental professional, I can not endorse any child walking around with a toothbrush in his mouth.  It is a very dangerous practice.  So don’t let your children do it.  As the old proverb says: Do as I say, not as I allow my child to do.

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Technorati Tags: Children, Dentist, toothbrushes

I know people don’t like going to the dentist.  I don’t take it personally anymore.  people just don’t like the dentist.  Why?  The needles.  The perceived pain.  The nosies.  All of the above.  A dozen different reasons.  But I want to tell you why its important to visit your dentist when he or she tells you.

First off, what good are teeth?  Several reasons:

1. Eating.  With teeth, eating is easier.  Simple.
2. Talking.  Without teeth, talking,  and being understood, is much more difficult.
3. Smile.  Keep you teeth, nice smile
4. Face structure.  Ever see granny not wearing her dentures?  Sure you have.  its ugly.  The whole face sags.  Without teeth, your face is quite scary

So there it is.  Why bring this up now.  Because of a certain type of patient I see too often.  Here’s the scenario.

Patient comes in, first cleaning in a while.  He has a lot of cavities.  None into the nerve, none requiring root canal, but many that are close.  I sit down and explain the situation: “You have a lot of deep cavities and you need to get them filled.  It will cost x amount of dolalrs. If you don;t, and any one of them needs root canal, and then a cap, it is going to cost you 15x that much.  Yes.  15x.  For the cost of doing a single root canal and cap, you can have every tooth in your mouth fixed.  If a tooth starts to hurt and you can not afford a root canal and cap, it will have to come out.  Guess what?  Having a tooth extracted costs the same amount as having a filling.  Except you no longer have that tooth in your mouth.  And it hurts a whole hell of a lot more to have a tooth taken out.  So please, schedule at the front desk so we can start filling these cavities before they start hurting and need more extreme treatment.”

Sounds good, right.  And you would figure any sane person would do as instructed.  Because teeth Do NOT heal, they only get worse.  So you are going to pay now or you are going to pay later.

So what bothers me?  When these people don’t come back to have their fillings done.  You know what?  I don’t mind doing crowns and root canals.  I get paid more.  But my first job is to try and make it so you don’t need expensive, invasive work.  And when people start throwing excuses at me…  I know people have other things going on in their lives, but finding one afternoon, or morning, to get these things done, should be a priority.

I know dental work can be expensive.  But people don’t seem to respect why.  My education, first off.  My loan payment every month is a small mortgage.  My schooling wasn’t free.  Materials are expensive.  Lab bills are expensive.  Stamps needed to send letter and postcards asking patients for payment is expensive.  Competent help is expensive.  Do we get paid well?  Yes.

But I spend my day inside people’s mouth, maintaining oral health.  So they can continue to eat right, and talk right and look good.

So if your dentist tells you you need work, get it done.  And if need be, get a second opinion

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Technorati Tags: cavities, Dentist, dentistry, smile

Nathan is just 2 years old, and my wife has decided to start potty training him.  She must have taught him the word penis, because I sure as heck didn’t.

My wife told me to show him how to pee while sitting down.  I prefer not to.  I think he’s smart enough to watch me pee standing up.  Anyway, before bath time, he’ll sit on his potty and watch me pee.  And laugh at me.  And I’ll tell him to watch daddy pee, and that he should pee, but he hasn’t, not yet.  But he laughs.

Anyway, several weeks ago, Nathan is playing in the bath, and I have to pee.  So I stand up and starting peeing in the toilet.  And I turn to Nathan to Nathan and say “Daddy goes pee pee int he toilet.”

And Nathan proceed to stand.  he looks at me and smiles and says: “Ney Ney (how he says Nathan) go pee pee in bathtub.”  And then he proceeds to pee in the tub.  So I can’t figure out why he won’t pee in his potty considering he has some control.

As for the second story, and back to the fact that my wife must have taught him what his penis was… one of Nathan’s favorite game is to ask me a question that he wants me to ask him, so he can answer it.  Such as, what color is the car or what shape is a block or how many cups there are.  What can I say.  He likes showing off.

Anyway, last week he’s sitting on the potty, and all of a sudden he looks down at his penis and asks “What color is penis?”  So I ask him what color his penis is, and he smiles and yells “Pink!”  Later that night, after I put his diaper on, he points to his diaper and asks “What color is penis in here?”  And I ask, and once again, he yells “Pink!”

Sometimes it’s pink, sometimes its purple, and yes, soemtimes,a ccording to him, it is green

Hilarious, I tell you.

More to come as the potty training continues.  I hope he gets it soon.  With another baby here, I would like to only have to pay for diapers for 1.

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Technorati Tags: 2 years old, Children, potty training

Have you ever seen Wonderpets, the adventures of a baby duck, turtle and hamster?  Its horrible.  It;s so sugary sweet with the lessons that it  rots the brain.  My wife loves it, thinks the lisp the duck has (his name is Ming-Ming) is adorable.  It drives me nuts.

And then there is Ni Hao, Kai-lan, a cartoon featuring Chinese characters.  The backgrounds are beautiful, but the stories are horrid and they are trying to get my kid to start speaking Chinese!  I think China is trying to use this cartoon to start the take over of America.  Characters have names like Ho-ho and Yea-Yea.  It truly is an atrocious show.

But neither of these are as bad as my son’s newest favorite: Max and Ruby.  Max is a toddler rabbit, I guess, and Ruby is his sister.  Max basically spends every episode trying to annoy Ruby and getting into minor trouble.  Ruby scolds him at the end of every episode, but I don;t think he ever learns a thing.  I don’t think there is a single redeeming quality about this show

Thank god he doesn’t like Yo Gaba Gabab- at least not yet.  I’ve watched bits and pieces of that show, and it is bad enough to melt even my 2 year old’s brain.  And what’s up with that big red guy?  You know who am I talking about, the tall one that looks like male genitalia with genital warts.  Totally inappropriate.

So I have learned to appreciate Dora and Diego because they are truly the lesser of two evils.  Decent stories, only minimally annoying characters (though I do want to shoot Boots), and at least they are teaching Spanish, a language they may actually have use for in the future.

Whatever happened to quality children’s programming.  Anyone out there like me, in their early thirties, remember Pinwheel on Nick?  Now that was awesome.

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We have a slight ant problem right now.  it’s that time of year.  Not big ants, just the tiny ones, but they are there nonetheless.  So I went out and bought some run of the mill ant traps and dropped them in the areas where the little buggers were at their greatest concentrations.  One was behind the couch, the other under a table that is difficult to access.

I went to the bathroom, and moments later I hear some banging from the kitchen, and I ignore it, figuring it is just my wife.  But when i eventually get out, what do I find?  The table bumped out of the way and my Daschund with the little plastic trap in my mouth.  And when I tried to take it from him, he growled at me like he was hoarding a juicy piece of steak.  So, like any time, my dog misbehaves, I got my spray bottle filled with bitter apple.  I didn’t even have to spray; the threat was enough.  He dropped it and I promptly gave him a piece of bread and water.

What makes this whole think funny is that it is not the first time it happened.  He ate his first ant trap two years ago, and my wife freaked out, wondering if the dog needed his stomach pump.  So she got on the internet and starting looking through forums.  And every post on every site said something different: bring him right to the vet, do nothing, feed him this, feed him that.  It took ten minutes for her finally find a post that had the most sensible suggestion; call the company and see what they say.

We called, and basically they said not to worry, the poison, if the dog actually eats any, isn’t strong enough to even make him sick.  The biggest problem is the plastic casing, which, if swallowed, can tear the esophagus and intestines.  They suggested givign  a little bread, but it wasn’t necessary.  So I collected the plastic, made sure it was all there, and then treated my dog.

It’s so funny how people throw up posts without knowing what the hell they are talking about.

The dog was fine two years ago, and he was fine this time.  I just find it amusing how my stupid dog made a bee-line for the ant trap.  i smelled it.   it smelled like crap.  But then again, dogs do lick each other’s asses.

I should write dog food companies and suggest ant-poison flavor.  My dog can’t seem to resist it.

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Technorati Tags: ants, dogs, treats