Kodi's Mama Instincts

The Rescue organization where Brian and I volunteer featured a video this week of one day old puppies, complete with all the sweet little squeaks and squeals they make at that age.  So cute!   A few fans on Facebook have shared that their own female who had birthed prior to being rescued heard the squeals from the video, then started crying and searching for the babies.

I read these comments and thought back to our first few months with Teddy, and how our Rat Terrier, Kodi took to him so quickly, and almost instinctively acted as his guardian when I stepped away.

More after the jump...

Lets start at the beginning...

I learned that I was pregnant back in January 2009, just after New Years.  And, as I am sure is the case with most expectant couples, my husband and I exchanged frequent expressions of sheer joy, fear, and "oh dear god, what are we going to do"-- about equally.

After the first few months and hearing a mini-heart beat every couple weeks at the Doctor's office, I started to gain a bit of confidence by relying on three factors that would enable me to "know what to do."  First, my highly skilled, incredibly capable Italian mother.  She practically speaks infant, and excels at getting them to burp.  Growing up, all her friends and neighbors would call her when they were having infant troubles. She was the baby guru.  Clearly, this had to be genetically passed down to the next generation, right?  

Second, my oodles of babysitting experience.  Every weekend night, every weekend, for years.  Years.  In addition to having an Italian mother, I also had a really, really, painfully early curfew and there was only one TV in the house with basic cable.  Oh, and one phone line, no call waiting.  No cell phones.  No email.  (Yes, we lived in NY, not Mars).  The families I babysat for-- THEY had HBO.  

And, third, I already had two (fur) babies, one of them being a Puggle, and I felt confident in my first two trimesters that there was nothing that a baby could throw at me that the Puggle hadn't topped.  "Oh the Joys of Puggle Puppyhood" will be the title of my third book.

So I rested in the belief that the puppyhood was pretty good readying material for me and Brian, but what about readying them?  

Kodi, Brian, and Baby. Oh my!

Puggle makes baby laugh June 2010.MP4

Giving Bruschi a toy

Why I'm Blogging...

Teddy's first birthday

I’ve created this blog for two reasons—the primary being that there can never be enough conversation about human children and canines living together in harmony… the second being that I really love talking about my family.  I’m an expert on nothing, but I survived the first year of parenting, and that has to count for something! 

About Me

I’m Colleen, 30ish, married woman with three children, two of the canine sort (they came first) and one little human who just turned 1.  My husband and I work full time, volunteer with an area pet rescue organization, and I teach basic canine obedience training part-time. 

All three of the kidz give us reason to be proud every day, and usually multiple times a day—even when their collaboration together results in something naughty (like the one with opposable thumbs retrieving food from the fridge for his furry buddies—true story).