The cutest thing I've ever seen in my life is when Tyler smiles. I know it's just a reflex thing, but it's way cool. Believe me, I've tried to get a picture, but the smile is gone by the time I get the camera powered on. It happens most while he's sleeping. We'll just look down and he'll have a smirk on his face, or even a full blown grin. So awesome. I know I've blogged about smiling once already, so I'll leave the topic be until I can get a photo of it.We've got two dogs. We've got a female boxer mix named Delilah and a male sheltie mix named Logan. We were slightly nervous about how the dogs would react to baby Tyler, when we all came home from the hospital. There would be a lot of energy, because they were only seeing me 3 times a day while Sarah was in the hospital. They hadn't seen Sarah in 6 days, and they've, obviously, never seen Tyler.
The day after Tyler was born, I
Then, July 1st rolled around, and it was FINALLY time to bring home our baby. When we got in the house, I immediately set the car seat (with Tyler still strapped in) out of the way. Sarah was in intense pain from her
Sarah went into the kitchen and sat at the dining room table. I put Tyler (still in the car seat) on top of the dining room table. Then we waited. We were waiting for the energy level to die down just a tad. It was a long wait. The dogs knew something was on the table, and they wanted to see it. When the tempo had finally slowed a little bit, I put Logan outside. I grabbed Tyler (for future reference, the entire kitchen scene takes place with him still in the car seat. I'm getting tired of notating that fact, so there ya go) and sat him on the floor. I sat, Indian style, next to him and SLOWLY let Delilah get closer. I've got ZERO fears of Delilah purposefully hurting Tyler, but she plays rough, and LOVES loves loves to kiss. I don't want her doing either with Tyler. Each time she got close and sniffed, I said "Good girl" and praised her. If she tried licking him, I tapped her nose (not quite a smack, not so weak as a tap) and said "no kissing". If her energy got too high, I pushed her away from the car seat.
She did wonderfully, but she eagerly wanted to lick his little face off. That's the most restraint I've ever seen her exercise.
Then it was Logan's turn. I made the mistake of thinking that I could let Delilah stay in the room as well. I'm so dumb sometimes. Things got chaotic very quickly. I gave the leash (strapped to Logan) to Sarah, and took Delilah outside. Then, I did the Logan/Tyler introduction. Logan, I do have reservations about. He was an adoption from the ASPCA, and he was an abused dog. As such, he's got trust issues. He doesn't like strangers. He has bit people before. We love Logan to death, but he's got two outs, and two strikes already against him. I told Sarah that, if I so much as see him "show teeth" to Tyler, he'll be at the vet getting put down that afternoon. And I mean it.
As a side note, Logan's attitude/demeanor has done a 180 since we've gotten Delilah, but that doesn't mean I'm going to just flat out trust him. Either he accepts Tyler as another future alpha male in the house, or he gets put down.
He also did wonderfully. He sniffed around Tyler for a bit, then left. That's it.
In the following days. Logan has sniffed Ty a few times. He gets curious when Tyler is screaming. Otherwise, he just lets him be. Delilah, on the other hand, is madly in love with Tyler. She wants to sniff him (and probably kiss him) all the time. She's doing great. She tries to sneak in kisses sometimes, but for the most part, just sniffs him.
It was much easier than I'd expected, though I won't be letting my guard down with Logan. Both dogs have been slightly attention starved, Delilah much moreso than Logan, but things are finally starting to normalize.
Man... it's going to be so weird going back to work on Monday.
3 comments:
ok, finally caught up with your babbling. i have a few things to babble back at you.
1. Mom (sarah) will be right ALWAYS. you cant get mad at her for knowing these things. husband over her just accepts my knowledge and allows me to do as i must.
2. i agree and would sign a petition for children coming with pre-programed words. although, thanks to my mother, mine can say "pepsi GUD." at the mere age of 23months.
3. my tyler puked in my mouth. piss is sterile. go buy a peepeeteepee. yes. that is what they're called.
4. littleman tyler is absolutely adorable. good job you two.
5. i really hate to hear that a)sarah had to have a c-section b) that she was in so much pain as a result of said c-section. i hope things are improving greatly now they ya'll are home.
6. i endorse sucky things (i.e. pacifiers). like you said, a parent can take away suckies, but not thumbs.
7. its tweets, not twits. twits are on those forums you frequent.
8. i'm sure there is more, but i need to get back to my knitting. oh, i learned to knit today. i may have to blog about it later...
Awesome job with the dogs! I wasn't on the ball for that one. We have one Jack Russell Terrier who has been with me since the day she was born five years ago. She is very attached to me and she used to protect my belly when I was pregnant. Now she's not sure what to do and DJ makes weird noises that she needs to check out. She's still protective of him, but she also is not quite sure what to do with him.
Just wanted to say hi from another "Daddy blogger". Welcome to the club!
The dog thing is a tricky one. It was dicey with us at first, as our seven year old husky was used to being the sole "child". It gets easier, but I still keep my eye on him whenever he's around the boy. Mostly he just gets irritated, now that Zach's crawling, and runs away where the boy can't get to him. Remarkably, he's a little protective (not in his nature at all) when other dogs are about.
Best of luck with things - it's good fun!
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