Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Q: What about Chloe?

18 day countdown...

I grew up with animals my entire life.  As a child, I remember always having puppies, kittens and fish, birds, mice,...and eventually adult animals, elderly animals, and sadly animals that inevitably cross over the "Rainbow Bridge". But the cycle always repeated itself because for some reason my parents never thought that seven of us in the house (sometimes nine with my two cousins), was enough of a challenge.  There was more than enough love to go around for everyone, including at one time when we had approximately 20 cats because someone (my sister) brought home a cat who was pregnant, who had kittens, who then had more kittens, and so on.  Talk about a lot of mouthes to feed.  As a result of always being framed by a cat and a dog or a puppy and a parakeet, I have never been nervous about children and animals.  We just adjusted, treated them kindly, loved them like family, and the animals adjusted, too.  There was never an incident of a dog bite, or a (serious) cat scratch, or a fish swallowing a baby whole, though I do remember being super freaked out when my pet chameleon latched on to my big finger and hung on with a vengeance!  (So much for hand feeding lizards...I'm still a bit traumatized from that incident).

So as Bill and I ponder the entrance of a newborn in our lives, and in turn our friends and family ponder it, we've been asked a few times...

"What about Chloe?"

What about her?  She's still in puppydom, and will most likely be out of it by the time May rolls around.  In fact, her 2nd birthday is May 3, two weeks before the due date.  But I'm convinced that this only "child" will be perfectly fine around our new baby, contrary to what most friends and family may think.  Surely we won't leave the baby unattended in the beginning, but I trust that Chloe will learn to love our baby just like we were loved by our animals when we grew up.  And what a wonderful memory to grow up with animals!

Ultimately, though a bit rowdy when people first arrive, our 55 lb. lover dog Chloe is a cuddler, just like her daddies!


And how could you resist that face?



10 comments:

  1. Chloe is a cutie. Derek and I have 4 cats and I'm a littler worried (and curious) how they'll all do with 2 babies. On the plus side, we'll have 4 cats and 4 humans in the house soon so everyone can have a cat if they want.

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  2. Man she got big!
    We are so hoping our dog grows to love the baby. His first reaction is intense hate towards anyone that is not part of the pack. I hope he admits the new member to the pack right away :) Thank god he is too much of a wuss to actually bite.
    K

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  3. Our kids didn't care about - then were scared - and now are curious about our pups.
    Frankly, nothing prepared us more for our children than caring for our extraordinary animals. They have graciously moved down the pyramid in our home but love US just the same.
    I have a feeling your Chloe - who I want to TACKLE AND HUG AND KISS AND CUDDLE (SOOOOO CUTE!) - will be absolutely fine!

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  4. Chloe is so cute and I'm sure it will go well. But one thing would I like to say as a 55kg dog owner: it's not about leaving them unattended in the beginning, you can never trust an animal to 100%. Despite our dog being very, very kind to our 2-years old we can not leave them alone. A child is in constant development and finds out new games and things to try ALL THE TIMES. Hence, it's not always about trusting the dog either, it's also about what your little one comes up with. Besides, a dog can feel surprised by the childs action or constricted. A dog can hurt even though she don't mean to due to her big size.
    Sorry if I probably tell you this unneccesarely, but the words "in the beginning" really made me wanna do it!
    I'm 100% sure you will be great parents and Cloe a fantastic four legged big sister :)

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  5. After John was born in 2000, my Golden Retriever went from being my baby to simply a dog in 24 hours. But only in my eyes. Fred's still a dog person. Just giving you a heads up that this might happen to one of you too.
    m.

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  6. Ugh, we talk about that all the time, Mark... how ga ga two 40 something grown men are over our 110 pound doberman and how he'll always be our baby -- I'm glad to hear Fred is still ga ga over the dog.

    In other news, Argos is great around kids, though on Thanksgiving he did get a little over-excited with our friends' toddler and try to turn him into the object of his desire. Luc was none the worse for wear. So as long as he's chaperoned, we know he'll be fine.

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  7. We were talking about this recently... and hoping that our Siberian Husky will take on the big brother role well....after all he will always be our first born :)

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  8. Chloe will adjust magically like all puppies that are well-loved as you've experienced throughout you life. Your dog sounds a wee bit like Sophie with the typical excitement...she calms after I stroke her chest or between her eyes...seems I do that a lot..oh well..if it works. So glad you like the looks of Sophie...I became hooked on Labradoodles about 5 years ago when I saw my 1st one and said that's what I want and almost 5 years ago she chose us...the best match evah! Cheers for a great w/e!

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  9. Chloe is such a beauty! We got Neyla when Blaze was 5 mths old. We waited after loosing our Frankie girl who was 13 years old just one week after returning from India. Neyla is a rescue dog and we are so lucky to have her. She loves the twins TOO much always trying to sneak kisses when we aren't watching her. I am sure Chloe will be a wonderful companion too.

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