Month: February 2019

Everybody wakes up early around here. Usually about 6:00 am Baby Girl starts to get restless. “Mommyyyyy” she whines. “I wanna get uuuuppp.” I am an extremely light sleeper. I hear everything that goes on the entire night. I could be in a deep sleep and when Baby Girl starts to stir I always hear her and I always bury my head deeper and try to ignore her. I wonder what would happen if I jumped out of bed before she whines and said “GREAT! Time to rise and shine!” Would she jump up also? Or would she ignore me and go back to sleep? It’s a toss-up because she definitely likes to get up early. But she also likes to contradict me at every opportunity so maybe, just maybe she’d whine about going back to sleep instead.

Yesterday, all the way to school, she argued with me about needing gas for the car. Yes, my four-year old absolutely insisted we needed gas for my car. It’s pretty astounding how frustrated and annoyed you can get trying to tell a four year old you DO NOT NEED GAS for the car. Finally I told her to be quiet, that we were done with this conversation. She gets real quiet for a minute and then says “Never mind, we don’t need gas.”

Roll your eyes to Heaven, y’all. You know I did.

In the mornings Puppy (Tess) is crazy. Insane. She’s been cooped up in her crate all night and she is ready to PLAY. However, Baby Girl is very whiny in the mornings and definitely NOT ready to play. So I get to act as referee from the moment I wake up until approximately two hours later when Puppy finally calms down. These are not my finest moments. I cuss (inwardly – usually). I sigh. I roll my eyes. I grab Puppy and tell her NO, no biting. I tell Baby Girl to quit whining and move where Tess can’t get at her. As I stumble over the puppy trying to get to the front door before she pees all over the place, Baby Girl is crying to be picked up and carried so Tess won’t bite her. At this point Tess isn’t even trying to play or bite, she just needs to pee dammit. And if I don’t get that door open fast enough she’ll pee right there on the front door mat. I’ve gotten slightly better prepared by having some shoes and a jacket ready so I don’t freeze to death in my bare feet.

God Bless Me, y’all, cuz the mornings are just HELL. It’s all I can do to keep everyone alive and separate. Puppy has also started trying to chase the cats. Both cats hiss and swipe at her, Pineapple even growls ferociously, but puppy seems oblivious to their warning signs. She wants to play and dammit she’s going to find something to play with! I try to distract her with her own toys, but that lasts about a minute. Then I have to try to get her to go outside often enough to not poop in the house. I think I have been successful maybe one time. I’m always too early or too late and then I get to clean puppy poop up which is so fun when you’ve got your four-year old having a heart attack over the smell.

In the afternoons and evening when Tess is tired – that’s when Baby Girl loves her puppy. and will play with her and kiss and cuddle and run and have a great time. Otherwise she is clearly MY puppy, and I get to be entirely responsible for her.

We were successful getting to exchange paccy for puppy but that was not an easy few weeks. Baby Girl wanted that paccy sooooo bad. I felt terrible for her but I actually stuck to my guns. Especially as now EVERYONE – the entire family – is sleeping in my bedroom. Kid is on mattress on the floor. Cats are on my bed. Puppy is in crate at the end of the mattress that’s on the floor. There’s barely room for my husband. I should see if Sissy wants to sleep in there, too, so we’d ALL be together. Wouldn’t that be fun?

I still have hope that someday – maybe – Tess and Baby Girl will sleep together in her room, in her bed and that I will be blissfully alone again. Except for the cats. And my husband. I severely underestimated how hyper a puppy can be. But we are on week three and we are making it work. I am adjusting because I have no choice. And Baby Girl is learning that puppies are very hard work. I still have no doubt that this is the right puppy for us, she will grow into the perfect dog for us. She is absolutely adorable when she’s asleep or sitting calmly looking at you with those precious baby eyes. She’s sweet laying in my lap or under my feet while I work. Just like a newborn everyone told me.

They were almost right. Babies poop in diapers, not on my floor.

 

Two more sleeps til we pick up Tess Cupcake. Two more sleeps til life as I know it is gone forever. I’ve never been a dog owner. Never had the desire at all. Not really a “dog” person. I mean, I like dogs, but only if they’re small and well behaved and belong to someone else. Dogs get in your personal space like nothing else can. Except small children. And I’ve certainly had enough of that lately.

But we are taking the plunge, we have purchased the puppy. Saw her the day she was born and have been watching videos and looking at pictures and seeing her grow day by day. Baby Girl is ridiculously excited. She has wanted a puppy since the day she was born. She has volunteered to give up her paccy to the paccy fairy the first night that puppy is home. Daddy and I are certainly not going to let her forget that deal. I think we are more excited about that than anything else.

We have purchased a crate, a collar, a bed, two hopefully indestructible toys, a tag that says Tess Cupcake and some tooth cleaning paste. When that puppy licks my face at least her breath will be minty fresh. I’ve got horse shampoo I can use to bathe her with. I’ve got a special brush just for her long fur. I’ve been told I won’t need a flea comb as long as I keep her groomed.

And still. I’m worried. I am not ready for this. My best friend told me that this is possibly the worst timing for me to have a puppy. But she still went with us to see her at four weeks old. She’s adorable. At four weeks old she was the size I was expecting at eight weeks old. I have no sense of how big she will be. I am told up to 40 pounds and 20″ tall. 20″ is more than 18″ crossrails and less than 2′ verticals. That’s all I can figure. 40 pounds is less than a bag of grain. But certainly more wiggly and awkward to carry.

Many friends have told me about chewy.com. Holy moly dog food is expensive! I wasn’t prepared for that. How much will she eat? I read a book that I bought especially for this purpose and I have subsequently forgotten everything it said. She will chew on things, Baby Girl will have to keep her toys picked up. And I’ll have to actually put all my shoes in the closet. Egads! I wonder how much flea medicine and heart worm medicine and shots and grooming will cost. It’s like a new small pony. Except she’ll be in the house. Sleeping in Baby Girl’s bed (we hope). Getting fur and puppy drool everywhere. I am so not ready for this.

She’s not a cat. I’ll have to crate her when we aren’t home and be prepared to take her places. I’ll need a traveling crate so she can go to horseshows with me. My car is going to get dog fur and muddy paws all over it. Sooooo not ready.

I have to GET UP to take her potty outside. In the dark! Another friend told me about teaching the dog to ring a bell attached to the doorknob when she has to go out. A great idea for sure. I will probably never see either of my cats again. One of them for sure will stay under Sissy’s bed for at least a month. The other one will be so pissed at me he will probably start throwing up on every piece of carpet he can find. He will artfully dodge any surface that can be wiped up easily.

We are not getting a rescue because I would be even less prepared for that. The baggage! The instant ownership and overwhelming needs the dog would probably have. I needed to buy a puppy – I needed to. For the express purpose of getting eight weeks of watching her grow and waiting til she was big enough to bring home. Like a newborn, I need to bond with this puppy. I am already committed to her – as unprepared as I am – she is still ours. And it was good for Baby Girl to wait. To understand that not everything in life is instantaneous. You have to work for things, you have to prepare by reading about dogs and psych yourself up. Oh wait, that’s just me.

Well I am not ready for this, but Baby Girl is. She has been waiting a long time. And if we’re very lucky, Tess Cupcake will do exactly what we anticipate – she’ll be Baby Girl’s best friend, and sleep in her bed with her, thereby keeping Baby Girl out of my room and in her own bed. All night long. A gamble to be sure but one we are certainly committed to now.

And, as with all things that I am not ready for, I will just wing it. That’s what I have been doing since Baby Girl was born after all. How hard can one little puppy be?