human puppy

human puppy
Originally uploaded by clumberkim.

Before Oliver, I swore we would have puppies before children, so I could find out how helpful CD planned to be. About a week after we found out I was pregnant, but before we spilled the beans, we bred Penguin. The timing would have been great. She would be due just as I started second trimester. The puppies would have been old enough to show at the 2005 National. It was perfect. Except that Penguin didn't get pregnant. Some hypothesize that I used up all the pregnancy karma in the house, or my hormones trumped hers, or any number of other theories. In truth, it was probably an underfunctioning thyroid.

Some members of my family were worried that our dog experience would influence us a little too much once we had a baby. There was speculation that we would throw the kid in a dog crate and head out to a movie. Knowing this, I always planned to strap Oliver in his car seat, back in the days of the SnugRide (aka the baby bucket), and get a picture for posterity. Or just to freak out my mother.

I never managed the picture but Oliver gave me a "close enough" moment on Friday and I couldn't resist. Since then I have found him on at least two of the dog beds, often with one of the dog toys, and at one point he even looked like he was going to curl up for a nap.

Puppies will have to wait. Penguin is over the hill, in dog mom terms. For now, we'll have to be content with Oliver.