Monday, wonderful Monday.
Today, I took care of three kids all day. Ok, technically it was one kid and two dogs, but that's not what it felt like!
We adopted another dog this weekend. Her name is Pearl. She is one and a half years old and is still full of that puppy dog energy. She is a black lab/great dane mix. She looks just like Sam (brown/black fur, white moat, white paws) but stands about 5 inches taller and is about 10 pounds lighter.
We spent the morning going inside, then outside, then inside, then outside, exploring the house, exploring the yard, exploring each other, Pearl testing my boundaries, Pearl testing Sam's boundaries, John testing Pearl's boundaries, me enforcing boundaries, eating food, playing, and hanging out.
Then, it stormed. Marble sized hail in the middle of 80 degree weather is always interesting, but today even more so. This happened right around 2:30 in the afternoon, about John's nap time. Well, John LOVES new things and loves the outdoors even more, so when there is something as exciting as little white toys falling from the sky and thrilling noises after flashing lights that make the whole house wiggle, he wants to be there. John wanted to be standing by the front window, or even better by the front door, staring outside. He also wants me to stand close enough for him to touch in case some of the excitement turns scary. If, by some strange and horrid circumstance, he discovered that I was not in arms reach, those exciting white toys and thrilling noises turned much less enjoyable and he would add his wail to the cracks of thunder, proving to me that, despite his excitement, he really did need a nap.
Sam we know is just straight up scared of storms, so he was curled up under the table by my feet until I started walking around, at which point he hurried to the innermost room of the house and pulled himself into the smallest ball possible between the wall and Eric's side of the bed.
Pearl's demeanor was much more like John's. She too, decided her best option was to attach herself to me at the hip. I'm not sure if her goal was to protect me, protect herself, or just to explore more, so I didn't bother to stop her until my physical contact with her led to problems with my physical contact with John. You see, her tail swings like a whip and while we were all lined up looking out the front window, it happened to swing around me and hit John. Well that just turned the world from a glorious play place into a house of horror and his whole world came crashing down.
This is when I decided it was definitely nap time. I soothed John's troubled nerves and calmly brought him into his room, pulling the door almost closed behind me. I sang a song while John rested on my shoulder in an attempt to drown out the whining from dear sweet Pearl who longed to be nearer. He seemed to be ready to sleep, so I laid him down in his crib with his pipe and blankie in hand. As I turned to quietly make my exit, in pounced Pearl, who had discovered that the door doesn't latch, so she can push it open with her nose! Needless to say, that didn't help John calm down. When I rushed Pearl back to the living room, John became more upset at being left alone than he had been from the original tail swing. Fortunately, I found a shelf that is empty, easy to move, and the perfect size to block off the hallway, keeping unfortunate Pearl separated from tired John. After another quick sooth, the baby was out like a light, the dog was sleeping safely sleeping, and the puppy was curled up ON my feet as I sat in the rocker to relax. No use trying to get anything else done...
