A girl and her dog

Two peas in a pod!

When Daniel and I brought Cooper into our house, we knew from the beginning that we were going to treat him like our baby. From the very beginning he slept in our bed, ate table scraps, snuggled on the couch with us and got just as many kisses and hugs as any other member of the family gets. When I got pregnant, people at work warned me that my feelings for the dog would change. One of my coworkers even joked that he would probably be banished to the backyard. At first I said no way! There was no way that my dog would suffer the same fate as that poor cocker spaniel in Lady in the Tramp, forced out into the cold because the owners had a new baby. I always felt so sorry for that poor dog. Anyway, it started when I was on bed rest during my pregnancy. Everytime I got comfortable on the couch with a glass of water, the dog would beg to go outside even though he had been outside 3 times just that hour. I would lay there and ignore him but all I could think about was "what if he really has to go?" So I would get up, let him outside and he would just chase some squirrel around. It was little things like that that would annoy me. THen after the baby was born, he really started to get on my nerves. It would never fail, the second I would get Maddie to sleep he would start barking or he would go into her nursery and flap his ears right next to her crib and scare her. He would lick her non stop, lay on all her blankets, chew on and occasionally destroy her teethers, lick her bottles, run up the stairs and wake her up, nearly knock me down while I was holding her and I was constantly in fear that he would step on her. I was really starting to worry that my coworkers were right. Maybe the dog needed to be banished. But that thought was such a fleeting one. The second I see her face light up when she sees him and hear her make her crowing sound when he lays down beside her, I forget all the bad things and just see how wonderful it is to see my baby interact so enthusistically with another creature. She loves him so much and I am trying to use him to help her learn. When she pulls his ears and pinches his jowls (poor guy just lays there and takes it) I teach her to be gentle and to pet him nicely. THey watch each other eat, He brings his food to her blanket and eats beside her (which I really wish he wouldnt do) and she watches him eat. And he watches every spoonful of food that goes into Maddies mouth hoping that some will land on the floor for him to eat or a messy hand will reach out for him to lick. They really are a cute pair, I just hope that she doesnt grow up thinking she is a dog!


Maddie and Cooper playing with a box, its the simple pleasures that make them happy!