Children!

Hold up!  Peanut butter bacon shake at Sonic....skkkkeeerrrrt!!!!!

And now, back to these messages. Sorry, the TV commercial diverted my attention.

Y'all, today my daughter was out of school and I was off of work for MLK, Jr. Day. She's almost officially a tweenager (in 10 days she'll hit double digits!) and has a semi-'tude every ten minutes, and our furry boy ran away.  

We've had him for two months now, and even though he has definitely had some training, he's still a puppy and has a lot to learn.  There are a lot of times that I think back to the days of Dash and Rusty, the dachshunds that my parents had. Dash was an empath. If I was sad, he would snuggle and if he was not keen on a boyfriend of mine, he'd let me know every time the guy was visiting my parents's house.  Unfortunately, he did not care for my college boyfriend or my husband - the two best guys I dated out of many unqualified candidates. 

Merle is not an empath at all. When our girl has gotten upset, he still wants to play fetch. Today when he wandered off and the neighborhood kids went on a search and rescue mission for me, he seemed unphased that "Sissy" was crying that he may be gone for good. In my mind only, I kept thinking, "Get it together, kiddo! We've got to stay level-headed to find your brother!". Out loud, I just divvied up the teams and sent them on their mission. The boys found him sniffing around a friend's yard around the block. The girls went running toward them, all screaming his name when he was galavanting toward me like, it was his time on the podium at the Olympics.  

Our tweenager's main priority is her friends. Even though she was crying from the get-go about Merle, she went right back to playing with her friends as soon as he got his leash hooked on and walked back up the driveway. Tonight, she didn't spend any more time with him than normal.  She had dinner with us, showered, and played Switch, just like always.  Sigh. Between her and Merle, I'll be having daiquiris for breakfast before my fiftieth birthday.  

Best Friend, Merle

We've adopted a dog!  Our little human has always wanted a younger brother, and now she has one - he's just fluffy!  Merle is about a year and four months old.  We discovered him at a Humane Society adoption event at the church parish fair and did a weekend sleepover.  He made a great first impression on us.  He was already fully potty trained and knew basic commands, and he was great with the fair crowds and other pups.  

The following Monday, my husband and I officially adopted him. He's such a sweet and good boy.   His paperwork says that he's part Australian Shepherd, but he's got long legs, so we think he may also be part Catahoula or another type of herding dog.  He's very smart and energetic, so he needs lots of activities to keep him from getting bored and destructive.  

He's the biggest dog that I've ever had.  My parents' first child was their black lab, Soapy (Sapporo).  Sadly, he got hit by a car when I was in early elementary school and had to get put down.  Then, when I was in college, Mom and Dad had two mini-dachshunds.  They were around until I was in my thirties.  Both dogs lived into their teens.  I don't like dog years, but if you do that math, they were old guys.  Anyway, none of them were as big as this guy is, and he thinks he's smaller than he is, too!  The other night, he climbed up on my husband and I's laps to snuggle.  It was adorable, all fifty-plus pounds of him!

Now I can say that I'm mom to a human, plants, and a pup!  

Toddler Times

No. No no. No? No! Noooo.

All of our daughter's variations of her favorite word. 

Did you have fun at school today?  No. Did you paint at school today?  No. Did you go outside today? No.
Oftentimes, she thinks it's funny.  She'll start out serious but be giggling by the end. Or she'll say no, and then look at you with the biggest grin. She's a ham, just like her dad.

The tantrums seem to come out of nowhere,  and they are so dramatic.  Sometimes I wonder how different her behavior would be if she didn't go to daycare.   I feel like that's where she learned dramatic whining.  I know that's where she learned hitting, but it's also where she's learning lots of good things.  Everyday she surprises me with a new word.  This week she's even saying short,  intelligible sentences.