New Addition(?) to the Family

I had always wanted a pet when I was growing up. We had fish (boring) and parakeets (a little less boring). Five parakeets actually. One after the other. When one died, my dad would get another one. They were kept in our living room and when they got too messy (or we were too lazy to clean out it's cage and area) we moved it into the garage. We were not a very pet-loving-family. I really wanted to have it sit on my finger and pet it etc.. so I'd always try to let it out of the cage (which I was not supposed to do.) It would fly around and always fly into our huge glass windows thinking it was a way of escape but it would just hit the window and fall onto the ground. Most of the time they would be okay but sometimes they would not. Then it was time to get another one.

We could not increase our pet variety because my mom was very anal about cleanliness. Especially regarding her home. She can be a bit OCD in regards to how she wants the house kept up. She was also very sensitive to smells. She's like a hound dog. We were also allergic to cats. So fish and birds were it.

Pretty depressing childhood huh?

So when I grew up and got my own place I told myself that I would get a dog! A dog shows unconditional love and affection, is fun to play with, and is man's best friend!

But when I got married and got our own home, I realized that it was hard enough to take care of a husband and a house. Matthew was a cat-person. He had three when he was growing up. He did not like how dogs smelled and shed. I did not like cats (allergic remember?). So no pets for us. Instead we had two girls.

The girls wanted a pet, especially Hannah. But my practical daughter, Emily, told her sister that she couldn't even take care of herself much less a pet. So Hannah became a stuffed animal owner. Lots and lots of stuffed animals ...dogs, bunnies, bears, giraffes, seals, horses..but no cats. Emily collects stuffed birdies! (surprising huh?)

These are just Hannah's Build-A-Bear animals.

So when we were asked by our good friends if we could take care of their bunny during Spring Break while their family goes to Rome to visit their daughter who's studying there, the girls jumped at the chance to have a real pet! FINALLY!

Now I was hesitant since we had never taken care of a pet before. (I mean we had a tiny turtle named Tuck that my mother-in-law got the girls a few years back in Chinatown but it died after a few days.) Our house is not as spacious as theirs so BunnYee (her name) could not hop around as freely as she did in her own home outside. Our backyard is filled with seeds.. and more seeds.. (due to Emily's multiple bird feeders). And I read that bunnies cannot eat nuts.. and seeds are a form of nut, I think. So we couldn't put her outside. Thus we needed to keep her indoors. But Angela assured me that she would be easy and non demanding.

Once Angela and Rachel came over with BunnYee's 'luggage', I realized I needed a much bigger space for her then just a 'corner' so she literally took over our living room.

Hannah playing on her computer AND keeping BunnYee company at the same time!

BunnYee loved hopping in and out of her little shelters.

I must say that BunnYee is THE most adorable bunny we have taken care of. (Of course she is the only bunny we have taken care of.) She is not aggressive (like some bunnies can be.. at least that's what I read). She just eats and poops all day long.

She is a Norwegian dwarf bunny around 3-4 years of age.

She is very very soft to pet and is as quiet as a mouse (minus the nocturnal running around sounds mice make when they are wake). Really... she doesn't make a sound (unless she's stomping her legs because she's mad).

The only real sound she makes is when she eats. Check out the video clip below. (Make sure you turn up the volume to hear her!)

Praying for her snack!

She just hops around and lounges around her caged area. The girls take turns lying with her on the blankets and she hops around them.

I was quite amazed with the sense of responsibility the girls had when given the opportunity to take care of BunnYee. Rachel (her owner) gave them specific instructions on how to care for BunnYee.

At 8:00am every morning she is to be given her pellets and to be let out of her cage. No later or she'll start stomping. Now this was Spring Break! Please... 8am to wake up? You're lucky the girls wake up at 10:00am on a Saturday! But lo and behold, Hannah woke up at 8am everyday without fail and without help from me to feed BunnYee. At 3:00pm, she had to be fed her romaine lettuce so we would always need to rush back home (if we were out) to feed her her afternoon snack. Her water had to be changed at that time and her hay pile had to be kept filled continuously. Her 'toilet' box needed to be changed and cleaned every other day. And the girls did it all on their own without my help nor reminder!

Below is a video Emily made in honor of BunnYee for Rachel while she was gone...

Now it looks like we are ready to get our own Bunny right? Nooooo... with our luck we would get an aggressive one that bites all the time and ruins my furniture. (I was told BunnYee likes to chew up electrical wires and towels.)

I'm good at us just being the official BunnYee sitter!