Sailor here. Last week in the deep dark middle of the night, Mom received a phone call, laughed and cried and talked briefly, then popped out of bed, running to her dressing room to throw on cold weather running clothes over her pajamas. She started calling me �Uncle.� Zoe stayed in bed, but I, ever vigilant, accompanied her into the bathroom to make sure she didn�t fall in or fall out or do anything dangerous with her hair dryer. She popped in her eyeballs and brushed her teeth. I guessed it might be morning, although it didn�t feel like it. Just as my tummy started to anticipate breakfast, Mom called both of us to her, ran downstairs and put us in the dog yard, locking the gate behind us. What was this? Thrown out in the middle of the night with no cookies, no veggie glop, and no sunrise? Zoe told me that all humans are at times unfathomable and trotted into the doghouse, promptly falling asleep. With a sigh, I crawled in after her, curled up against her furry back, and dozed off, still pondering the imponderable. Days past. Well, actually, only a few hours elapsed, according to Mom, who reappeared just as the first pink streaks of dawn were visible in the East. I trotted up to her and smelled the strange smells all over her arms and cheek and chest. Something new has come into Mom�s life. Mom gathered us both up and took us inside to feed us breakfast. Then we all climbed the staircase together and went back to bed. Now what�s up with this? Several sleeps later, all became clear. Katy and Erik drove into our driveway and took hours to alight from their car, talking in high pitched voices all the while. They ignored me when I swept out the front door in greeting. When I peeked into the back seat of the car, I was amazed. At first, I thought they had brought me a puppy, but they brought home something else entirely. From the cozy nest in her portable puppy crate, poked a small little nose and a rosebud mouth. A tiny foot waved in the breeze. Erik bundled the puppy crate inside and we all had a look. Baby Ellie is human! She smells like herself and her Mom and her Dad. She does not smell like Jose the Fat Cat or Zoe or me. She does smell a little like my Mom, though, who by now was calling herself �Grammie� and chuckling in glee. She was the new smell on my Mom a few mornings ago! Zoe went nuts. She jumped up and poked her nose into Erik�s arms, trying to figure out what he was holding. She licked a foot, she sniffed a hand, she ran around the coffee table and did it all over again. I�ve never seen her so excited, not even when chasing squirrels in the back yard. �What is this? Huh, huh?� Zoe exclaimed. �Can I sniff it? Can I boop it with my nose? Will it play? Will it run? What is it? Should I be jealous? Huh, huh, huh?� �It�s a human puppy,� I patiently explained. I have had vast experiences with babies in my former Life Before Life With Mom and I know all about them. �You�ve really got to be careful, Zoe,� I warned her. �They can be lying there quiet as can be and all of a sudden, they go off like an alarm clock set on Buzz instead of Music. Then everyone comes running, at least in the beginning, to see what you�ve done.� Zoe didn�t want to be careful. She wanted to prod and nudge and sniff and lick and play. She wanted to learn everything there was to learn about babies in exactly two seconds. That�s how Zoe is. Patience is NOT one of her virtues. Laughing a little, Mom put Zoe in DownStay. True to form, Zoe popped up. Mom gave her The Eye and held her collar so she could not be a Pop Up Dog. Zoe finally relaxed and Erik unwrapped his daughter.... (to be continued) |
| BABY ELLEN |
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