Pup Pup Pup Pup

We have a puppy. She was born in late February. Her mother is a purebred yellow lab, and her father is apparently 3/4 black lab and 1/4 border collie and 4/4 amorous fence jumper. 

This puppy dog came with the name Sprinkles, as voted upon by a preschool class. Happily, puppy was not conditioned to the name. She comes to "pup pup pup pup" and she is already starting to respond to Phoebe, the name we chose for her. We often see a black phoebe in our back yard, and of course we're bird nerds. 

Phoebe is doing well with potty training, and she comes when called. She is very responsive to physical affection, and loves to snuggle up. 

We have been talking about getting a dog for some time now. We have a good house and yard for it, and the kids are growing up. I wanted to have Vincent potty trained first (nope, not yet), but all other stars seemed aligned for us to take this dog. A breed we like, a female, a puppy with an easy going and calm (for a puppy) personality, and she seems to have gotten a good start in a caring home. It's clear she's been handled from birth.

Phoebe was auctioned at a fundraiser for Zoe's preschool, thus the name Sprinkles. I'm not a fan of auctioning animals in this way, since getting a pet should not be a spur of the moment thing. We found out about the auction the day before, so had time to talk it over some more. After we met the puppy and the current owners (not breeders - the litter was unplanned), we decided to go for it. We were the only serious bidders. There was one other bid, made just to raise the price! The money goes to a good cause, and it was far less than the cost of buying a labrador retriever puppy from a breeder. We are not concerned about purebred bloodlines, and in fact are happy our dog has a touch of genetic diversity.

Zoe and Vincent are interested in and excited about their new dog, but we're all going through a big adjustment. They definitely do not like being jumped on, nor do they like it when Phoebe tries her baby teeth on them or their things. We're steadily working on a "down" command, and the kids are also getting calmer, which helps. They spent a lot of time yesterday, our first full day with Phoebe, perched up on the sofa (where she is not allowed, and can't quite get to by herself). The kids are also keeping their bedroom doors closed, to protect their toys. They have both had a turn feeding Phoebe and holding her leash.

In many ways, having a puppy around is like having a tiny baby to care for. I have to wait for her naps to get things done, and I am planning my outings with her schedule in mind. We have a crate for her, but she is not yet comfortable with it. When I took Zoe to school this morning, I took Phoebe with. She shivered in fear when I first put her in the back of the car (with her towel and toy), so I sat back there with her for awhile. She was fine while we were driving (mostly), but cried when we left the car. It was a quick drop off!

Before she came to live with us, Phoebe spent a lot of time in an outdoor kennel with her mom and siblings. She had inside time, but her home was outside. We may have to replicate that set up while her bladder is still puppy sized and her teeth are so chompy. Already I've had to tell the kids we couldn't go swimming yesterday or to the zoo today. And no yoga for me. Luckily we have plenty of groceries in the house, and farm share pick up is today. I'll have to make that quick, too.

I have so much to learn. It's a new chapter in our lives!

Goggle Eyed

They're new, and they're pink, so she's not taking them off. She had a bath for the express purpose of trying them out in water. She wore them while paging through the potty book with Vincent. She wore them for snack time. Will she ask to wear them to bed? Probably. 

Vincent has a pair of goggles on the way, too. His are blue. Each child chose their preferred color. The goggles are a bri...I mean motivation to try swimming lessons. May 5 is the scheduled start date, with month to month commitment. We've watched the teacher work with other children, and she seems very nice and quite able to adapt to the level of each child. The classes may have up to five children, but I've never seen her with more than one at a time. 

Zoe has trepidations about lessons with someone she doesn't know, but I think once she experiences how much fun it is to have someone playing one-on-one with her in the water, she's going to love it. I hope!

Hunting

Crafty

Zoe and Vincent both enjoy a time intensive, detail-oriented craft. The mosaics involved sticking adhesive dots on the picture, then putting sequins on the adhesive. The adhesive required my help, but both kids stuck sequins to the very end. Yay for fine motor skills. The mosaic was the second craft of the day...we glued together some foam and puff ball bunnies first.

On a different afternoon this week, we made cloud dough for the first time. It's just flour and baby oil. It has a pleasing texture, but the children were disappointed it wasn't more moldable, like play dough. It's more like making mud pies or sand castles. It keeps well, according to the recipe, so we'll play with again. I think I'll add glitter. May as well, as it's a pretty messy activity already.

Pose

Sick Kid

After a week of sick, Vincent is improved today. But still, he's feeling crummy enough to curl up and fall asleep in the middle of the afternoon. Poor kid.