Brother and Sisters

Before Little E was born, I wondered how the pugs would adjust, particularly Rikki.  Rikki is quite a needy pug, loving nothing more than to be pet continuously, even if you are sleeping, unconscious, or dead. If you have two hands, you'd best be using them to rub her belly.  One of your hands is amputated? Then get one of your feet off its lazy sole and put it to work.  In short, she wants to be pet. One of her signature moves is to wedge herself between Bunni and any human, regardless of whether the space can accommodate her--if need be, she'll plant half her ass on the ground and the other on Bunni's face in order to gain prime position for petting ("PPP").

With all this neediness, I worried that she might resent little E and eat him (although the latter was less of a concern because she hardly has any bottom teeth).

The first night we brought E home, the pugs were on high alert and barked with high-pitched persistence every fucking time E cried. And that happened a lot. The next morning, I demanded that Kevin find and hire some type of very expensive dog whisperer to train them.

Luckily, those voracious reactions quickly died down, probably because the pugs were just too exhausted to care anymore.

Well, with an exception. Our little Rikki has taken her sister responsibilities very seriously and does alert us with a few mild barks when she hears E crying and doesn't think that we hear him.  There have been countless times in the dead of night where I wake up only because she jumps off the bed (the pugs sleep with us) and runs to the nursery with a bark or two when E cries.  It's her jumping off the bed that wakes me up, not E's cries (because my auditory nerves are a little slow to arouse).  We don't have a baby monitor--I know I would wake up eventually when his cries reached a certain decibel, but she lets me know as soon as it starts.  Then, after she sees me stumbling blindly to the nursery to check on him, she runs back to our bed. What a good little girl.

Bunni is a little more aloof, which I could have predicted.  She sniffs him once in a while, particularly if he has milk smeared on his face or poop smeared his butt, but in general leaves him alone.

Oh, Rikki still pulls the whole PPP wedge maneuver with E. It took her only a little over a month to sit on E's cheek in getting PPP.  Overall, though, the pugs have taken things very very well.  My favorite pictures of E so far are of him with his pug sisters.  I am so proud of how they have adjusted, and I can't wait for future days of E playing with the pugs, like this little guy.

I went to California...

...and spent time with some lovely ladies--human, canine, baby...I keep a wide circle of friends.

 My sister and I did a raging impression of ladies who lunch by feasting on oysters and steamed clams at Hog Island Oyster Company.  We were planning on following it up with a furious afternoon of shopping and then cocktails and dinner, like ladies out on the town.   We were going to hit it hard.  In the reality that is my life, we fell asleep, hard, for 2 hours after lunch and instead of cocktails, decided to watch Star Trek.  We did stumble out of our comfy positions in order to grab some dinner, so we really lived it up big time and don't you say otherwise.

And then, oh my goodness, I met some delicious dumplings that I almost ate except that their mommy would have been very upset...

I have a very strong maternal instinct. Just *look* at how happy that baby is in my arms.  I don't want to boast but I got her to talk and she called me "baby charmer". I said, "I know."

My sister had a different effect--I'm not trying to be critical here, but as "baby charmer" I think I'm allowed to say that the baby is not just a little alarmed. It's okay, sister, not all of us have that magic touch.  And clean that spit-up, please.

 The momma was the only one who could comfort this dollop of cuteness. 

 Of course, we cannot forget about the true ladies of California--my sister's three pugs. Wait, this is two. And you may be able to tell that one is older than the other.

 There's the third one! Hello my sweetie. Aren't you a vision in hot pink.  My sister made that pug sweater--isn't it adorable?

I love California.

Time Out

I've been lazy about blogging lately.  There are a few draft posts of recipes I have made but honestly I haven't been that excited about the things that I've made lately. I'm in a post-holiday slump.  Kevin suggested that I think of other things to blog about.  I'm going to ignore that helpful, positive suggestion and instead, put myself in a time-out.

This is how the pros to a time-out.

Bunni wedging herself in the corner by the front door. Totally random (she must have had a guilty conscience about something, like always backing away from me when I try to embrace her in a soul-crushing bear hug)

What, Bunni, what did you do?

I know you did something, it's written all over your face. 

Yes, hang your head in shame, little girl. Hang it.

You're round-eyed and horrified at what you've done, aren't you?

Oh wait, you're just sleepy.

No remorse, I tell you.

Happy Birthday Pugs

The pugs turned 6 years old a few weeks ago (this is late).  We don't typically make a big deal out of their birthdays, because, well, we forget to (so awful!), but this year things were different.  We just happened to be on one of our 5x/week trips to a local bakery that makes these little wonders called "pupcakes"!

How did the pugs handle this birthday hedonism?

I presented to them da goods. Bunni is mesmerized.  Notice Kevin's hand in the background keeping Bunni's ass planted on the floor.

A closer look, madame? Perhaps you would like just a teensy leetle bite to make sure zat zeese pupcakes are to your liking?

What part of "teensy leetle bite" did you not understand??

While Bunni cleverly destructed her pupcake in .001 second, Rikki's strategy was to lock her jaws around the pupcake entire, trot around the living room in simultaneous jubilee and utter fear that someone would rob her of her precious pupcake, only to be nabbed by Kevin all wide-jawed and just bizarre-looking.  All the while, mind you, not actually biting into the pupcake.

She still doesn't get it.

After some considerable time (and, ahem, Kevin retrieving the pupcake from her jaws and breaking it up for her), she finally did get the hang of the pupcake.

After the carnage, the pugs retreated to their bed.

I expected gratitude after the pupcake extravaganza. I expected unadulterated love and adoration.

Instead, I received one sleepy look and one "what da f&#! you want?" look.

Rikki did open her eyes in hopeful anticipation of a stray pupcake.

Bunni, that blessedly iron-hearted pug of mine, gave me a glare that said it all: "You gave me one pupcake.  One. I don't understand how you expect me to live."

Mama Lemme Up

I was working from home one day, and got to see the pugs in their full lazy glory. They really do lay around and sleep all day. They moved from sunspot by the window, to couch, to their bed, and then for a rare moment they plopped themselves in the middle of the living room floor, a few feet from where I was working.

Do you see Bunni looking at me? Like boring her eyes into my head?  It's because despite all the changes in sleeping locale that day, there was one place that she hadn't graced with her turgid self.

So she wanders over and does one of classic "Mama lemme uppp!!!" poses. She will perch her paws on your chair, arch her back, and then paw at you like she's kneading bread. Or trying to dig herself out of a grave. Either one.

While Kevin usually caves in and rewards this kind of behavior, Bunni's mama is made of tougher, meaner stuff. Not quite iron, but maybe some good synthetic rubber.

She takes the unusual tactic of sitting there and just willing me to pick her up.  Don't be fooled.  This is the dog that usually when reached for, backs away like you're coming at her with handmitts of fire. 

Rikki, in the meantime, lay there watching everything.  I know that if I picked Bunni up, Rikki would have been there in a hot second to use her big saucer-eyed puss 'n' boots look on me.  By the way Kevin doesn't like it when I refer to it as her puss 'n' boots look, because he thinks Rikki has proprietary rights over the look and I shouldn't sully it by dragging in a reference to something other than Rikki.  It is all her own.

Back to Bunni, who has kinda given up. I say "kinda" because do you see those ears? Yeah, she's still hoping.

It's Almost Too Much

It really is. Oh pugs.

I understand that, to the untrained eye, these may rather look all the same, but each picture has an almost imperceptible variation that showcases eons worth of additional cuteness. This is a truth, as any other pet-owner may attest.

Pugs and Chair

There is a coveted spot in our new apartment.  I think it has to do with the warm sunspot.

How are we feeling, my little Bunni? A little toasty?

Gah, momma, why are you always bugging me?

Somebody please take her away from me. Help.

I turned around to see Rikki looking longingly at Bunni in The Coveted Sun Spot.

She seemed resigned.

Two seconds later, Rikki decided she had had enough of waiting in the wings, and grabbed her moment.

Bunni, like the good sister she is, accommodated the latecomer.

Would you call this cozy or squished?

Because You Know You Want One...

I've been looking at a lot of Halloween stuff lately on Etsy.  While I'm not the person that has everything decked out and I don't even wear a costume, I do love Halloween.  Last year it was easier to decorate because we were living in a smaller apartment, and basically you blow up a balloon and the place would be decorated.  This year we're in a smidgen-ly bigger place, but I am on a shopping hiatus.  It's sometimes a very cruel world, something that I hope to tell any child I have as soon as they are able to comprehend English.

So these are for you. In case you want to buy them. Which of course you do.

Okay, I'm conflating Day of the Dead with Halloween. That is bad of me.  But not bad enough that you should deny yourself this colorful, spooky yet happy garland.

How cute is Vicki the Vampire? Just look at those teeth! And the skull bow! She could greet the guests at your party.

Those same guests could receive a goody bag tied up with these little cutie pumpkin tags.

And you should make cupcakes. And hug 'em with these wicked wrappers.

How awesome would it be to have this skullduggery soap?

This punch needle embroidery is calorie free.  So simple, yet it makes me smile.

I love things that glow in the night, like this luminary.

Back to that hypothetical child of mine.  I floated the idea of creating a gallery wall of the following prints for the nursery wall, which my sister thought was fantastic.  I worry about her.  

I love these prints by Lupe Flores. (Yes, that pic on the right is way over yonder.  I can't format in blogger--this should not be news to you.)

And ah mah gah how could I forget what I covet most of all:

Is there really anything I could say about this hat that the picture doesn't already show? 

Anyone gearing up for Halloween? Do tell!!