BelliSafari: Grommets, Boo in the Boot & Bruno!

It was a busy final week in October. Maria had been sick almost constanting since we arrived in South Africa: high fevers, coughs, poor sleeping, lots and lots and lots of whining. After one unsuccessful course of antibiotics for a double ear infection her pediatrician suggested grommets in her ear. I looked at her in utter confusion. Turns out "grommets" are what we in the USA call ear tubes. Once that was cleared up I quickly agreed and the surgery was scheduled for later that week.

Pre-surgery.

Maria was apprehensive but handled it all well other than some crying and confusion when she awoke from the anesthesia (YES! I spelled that correctly on my first attempt!)

Back home later that morning.
Maria did not make it through her lunch!

That evening we went out for a celebration. Maria was back to her old self. It was amazing to see how quickly the grommets/tubes made a difference for her. That night was the first time she had not woken screaming in pain in over 4 weeks!

And, yes, we had dinner at another kid-friendly fun spot.
Maria LOVES these giant slides.

One day post-surgery was the Halloween celebration at Gio's school: Boo in the Boot. This was a fun event where dozens of families decorated their car trunks (aka "boots") and passed out candy in the school parking lot. Here are the Belli kiddos disguised as a pig and a zombie pirate.

The school event included a taco truck, a haunted maze, a photo booth, bouncy houses and a Maria favorite- face painting!

On Halloween Weekend Paolo and I got talking about how Enzo seems lonely here. There seem to be only small yappy dogs living near us and without his crowd of furry friends at Shevchenko Park our social boy is left without any canine buddies. We talked about breeds we like and Paolo had Basset Hound at the top of his list. I did some internet research and found South African Basset Adoptions. I signed us up to be a foster family on Sunday afternoon. By Monday we got a call. And on Tuesday.......

Meet Bruno. (How could we turn down a dog with an Italian name?? Just too perfect!). Bruno was given up by a family in Joburg because their other dog (a Rottweiler) repeatedly attacked him. I can only assume they wanted to keep the other dog for security reasons but still seems very sad to me.

Bruno is about 4 years old (as far as our vet can tell- he came with no records), was seriously underweight and his teeth were in terrible shape. I made an appointment for a dental cleaning to start his road back to better health.

Bruno does not leave my side. He is like glue.

Maria took to him immediately. Who wouldn't?

And Sir Enzo? He reacted with happy excitement. He raced around the yard, barking happily and tried desperately to play with Bruno. Unfortunately, most likely due to Bruno's history, he was terrified of Enzo for the first week. Enzo was patient and kept trying. Enzo's only show of jealousy/attempted dominance? He spent a lot of time on our bed the first week, letting Bruno know that this is HIS bed (where he lets Clara & Paolo sleep most nights).