Oh, child.

I am a nervous new mother in its truest form. We've had Judge for exactly five days and he's already been to the vet twice, and sorta made me cry a little a couple nights ago. I'm kinda embarrassed. Let me explain: first visit was his initial new puppy check-up. It's always good practice to take any new baby to get checked out so he can meet his new doctor and get used to the whole process of examination. I got the great news that we have a wonderfully healthy boy who looks, sounds, and is just perfect. On the down side, I learned he was a little underweight. No baby of mine is gonna be too skinny if I have anything to say about it. He weighed in at (what I thought) was a staggering 8.5 pounds. For a seven week old baby, I thought that was pretty large. At 11 weeks, Bailey was a tiny 5.5 pounds and could fit in my hand. Judge, being the baby beast he is, should have been closer to ten. So the vet gave me instructions to fatten him up. Every morning, he and Bailey get one scrambled egg. And 4 times a day he gets fed his regular puppy food mixed with buttermilk. So spoiled already. Doctor's orders. So far it's been a major success. We've gained 2 pounds in roughly two days.

Now let me tell you about that second night. Of course our babies sleep in the bed with us. Say what you may, but that's how we like it. All night we noticed puppy panting and just generally uneasy. Overly squirmy, even for himself. So we opened the windows and turned down the heat, but still no relief for this overheated little baby. Next, we tried a cold pack wrapped in a tee shirt for him to lay on. It helped a little, but he was still panting and now was coughing and sneezing, too. I was getting pretty worried. Never google medical symptoms for anything that your dog, child, or self may be experiencing, because you will immediately become terrified. Wish I had realized this sooner. It listed everything from cardiac defects, to ear infections, to internal bleeding. Good Lord. I decided that just maybe he was too hot. So at 12:30 a.m. I found myself on our kitchen floor with a pair of scissors and a pile of puppy curls. Let's face it, the dog has a lot of hair. This still didn't do the trick. So the next morning, darling, being the wonderful pup dad he is, took baby to the vet again to ease my mind. Turns out it was nothing. He did tell me they cracked up over my split decision grooming job, but over all nothing major, just the tiniest touch of kennel cough. So baby is back to normal, and if you ask me, I think that little hair cut did the trick.

Now Bailey is a sick boy, and I think we can pretty confidently rest it on the fact that we've been spoiling him like crazy to be sure that he doesn't feel replaced or resentful of Judge. Labradoodles have notoriously sensitive stomachs and we've known this from day one. But we sometimes tempt fate and give him nibbles of sausage or cheese or whatever else is on the menu for the night. All he has to do is look at us the right way and we melt. Who can blame us?

We've been going a little overboard since the arrival of the new baby, and his belly is, unfortunately, fighting back by being upset for the past day. He's getting back to normal, finally. I think we've learned our lesson this time around, and much to Bailey's dismay, no more table food. We'll be making a trip to PetSmart to load up on belly friendly munchies for him and Christmas toys for both, and a new stocking for baby. Can't wait. Just really can't wait.

you be the judge.

Darling and I celebrated our three year anniversary this Tuesday, and celebrated the best way in the world: by bringing home a bouncing baby... puppy. I nearly cried. I mean really cried. Those "so happy I have no other way to express myself" tears that I am all too well known for. We have been talking about a little brother for Bailey for so long now, but never more than just talking. So when Andrew surprised me a few days earlier with a trip to visit our new baby, I was ecstatic. And when I was told that we couldn't bring him home for another week, it just about killed me. So I visited. Everyday I visited. And on the third day of visiting, the breeder let me know that he was ready and she felt comfortable enough with his progress to let him come home. Let's be honest, she was probably pretty tired of me showing up everyday, but who cares, I won. So the past few days have been full of chewing, chomping, barking, whining, and 4:00 am trips outside to potty. And I couldn't be happier about it.

 We had a few reservation about how Bailey was going to take the new addition. He would either love him right away and accept him as the new member of our family, or he would fight this tooth and nail and be a jealous jenny about the whole thing. Thankfully, his reaction was somewhere in between. He was pretty excited about meeting this new furry plaything, but once he realized that he didn't belong to someone else, and would, in fact, be staying with us for the long run, he was a little finicky. This new baby is small now, but we know that once he's all grown up, that will be the last thing he is. He's going to trump Bailey by at least twenty pounds. We think Bailey knows this, too. And he's having all the fun he can now, because pretty soon, he won't be the BIG brother anymore. That being said, we decided on the name Judge Levon. Judge because a big boy deserves a big name, and Levon for darling's favorite member of The Band. So far, he's living up to the hype tremendously.

So here we are, going into our third day as a new little family of four, and I really couldn't be happier. Bailey is being the big brother we knew he would be and Judge is being the rambunctious puppy we have long been waiting for. Seeing both of these furry kids of ours chasing tennis balls and fighting over the good tot, and I realize how blessed I am. So no more is it us and the dog. But us and the dogS. And I'm loving our little family so much. And eagerly awaiting what is sure to be our most exciting Christmas yet.