A Bundle of Joy and a Stork?

Two years ago, I held a beautiful bundle of joy in my arms. No, it's the not a third child whom I never speak of (the one who lives under the stairs). Two years ago today, we brought home Meeko. That's actually Emma in the photo, holding him as we drove home. It happened to be Mother's Day and that seemed like a perfectly fitting day to me.

When we brought Meeko home, he was smaller than the phone book.

Meeko was calm and cuddly for about three days, actually it may have been more like three hours, before becoming a highly energetic, rambunctious rascal. I lost some weight in the first few months he was with us and slept more soundly than I had in years. Meeko moved constantly and it almost always involved mischief, so I needed to move as fast as he did. He would nip our ankles as we walked across rooms. Soft-coated Wheaten terriers originated in Ireland where they were used primarily as farm dogs. They would tend sheep. We figured it was his sheep-herding instincts coming to the fore. We couldn't wear anything that dangled (skirts, scarves) or he would try to snatch it. He tried to snack on just about every plant in my back garden. He chewed on the edges of a couple of pieces of furniture and gnawed a hole in the middle of a wall (don't ask me how, I honestly don't know how he did it). We bought the special bitter lotion that is sold to deter dogs from chewing furniture and, wouldn't you know it, he liked the taste of it! He pulled my recipe books off the bottom shelves of the bookcase (we had to fence the bookcase off for a year). He chewed many, many sprinklers of my watering system in the back garden. I really don't have room to fully list all of his shenanigans.

Meeko thinks that the stories of all of his puppy mischief are quite funny.

With a lot of work on our part and a good deal of maturing on his, he has turned into the wonderful dog he is today. He is goofy. He is joyful. He is faithful and affectionate. And he is smart like you wouldn't believe. At the dog training courses we took, I was told to keep my words to him brief. But I can't. I talk to him in words, sentences and paragraphs and he's absorbed a good part of it. The number of words he understands is really quite remarkable. Emma has even taught him a number of commands in ASL (American Sign Language). He still has a few rough edges, but then I guess so do most of us. He has captured even the reluctant hearts in this household and a few more in our neighbourhood as well. I love him deeply.

Speaking of bundles of joy, I could have sworn I saw a stork out the front window this morning. There is a small man-made lake in the park across the street. I am used to seeing a great blue heron there, but this bird was white. Then I realized, there were two of them. I searched online and found out that they are great egrets. Just beautiful. Chloé and I both took photos.

The second one is on the other side of the grasses (a bit to the left). It almost looks like a mirror image.

I hope they visit again. (This photo is by Chloé)