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. 