Happy Birthday Aoife!

My little girl is two years old today! Here is Aoife in her first official photo taken a day or two after she was born. She is the tiny one second on the right. She was half the weight of the other puppies (2 ozs. at birth) and lagged behind for quite some time. When I got her she was eight weeks old and still on the small side. Compared to my other pugs, she is still small but well within average pug height.

I heard a story about her not to long ago. When Aoife was about a week or so old, she wasn't doing very well. She was having a hard time getting enough to eat because of her size - she just couldn't get where she needed to be at mealtime as her sister and brothers where double her size. At one point, the woman who was fostering the litter and Aoife's parents thought she would not make it through one more night. A call was put in to the powers that be and a decision was made not to take her to emergency but if she made it through the night, she could go in the next day. There are many hard choices to be made in rescue and the budget just couldn't handle a huge emergency vet bill for a week old puppy. Julie (who had already been bottle feeding her) took her to bed with her to keep her warm. Aoife curled in her neck and went to sleep. She is a little fighter my girl. In the morning she was stronger and made it to the vet. Nothing was wrong with her that vitamins and more food couldn't fix. Aoife's favorite place to sleep is still curled up around my neck. :-) I love all my pugs but Aoife is such a special girl.

Here is a photo of the new family taken the evening I returned home with her. And this morning, I woke her up to take the photo and she looks very unimpressed by the importance of the day. :-) For those of you who have recently asked, Aoife is a traditional Irish name. It's pronounced EE fa (or sometimes WEE fa). But I pronounce it EE fa. I'll have to check with Siobhan, her girls go to school with several Aoife's of the two legged variety. :-)

To celebrate the day, Aoife and I will go on a shopping trip and she can pick out a new toy and get a couple of special treats. :-) All my pugs love mommie and me days. :-)