Babies and dogs

The old cliché is that a picture is worth a thousand words. I was at a loss for what to write about this week, so I’m going to give it a shot. I might not get a thousand words, but I’ll do my best.

What does this photo say to you? To me it says one thing: Trouble.

Featured we have the always adorable Baby Jane, and the cute as ever Weezer the dog. It’s been a tough past few months for poor Weezer. His people brought home a new, tiny person that makes weird sounds and smells. They don’t pay as much attention to him as they used to, because they are busy with said new, tiny person.

Fortunately for all involved, Baby Jane is becoming more independent. She’s also becoming more curious about the furry friends she shares a home with. She has a puppy friend at daycare, too.

What I like about this picture is the eye contact between the dog and the baby. Since neither of them can speak in a language I can understand, I can only imagine what this wordless glance between them means. I have a few caption ideas.

“What up, dawg?”

“In a few months, you and I are going to rip this place up!”

“If you think it’s fun to chase your own tail, just wait until I chase it!”

“I see competition for the morsels of food on the floor in the very near future!”

“I didn’t toot! It was the dog!”

“I didn’t toot! It was the baby!”

“Let’s get this homework-eating agreement settled now.”

• • •

I’ll be honest. It’s hard having pets and a baby. There have been some “What were we thinking?” moments. But things are improving. They might get worse again, but they are improving for now.

I think it’s good for children to grow up around animals. We always had dogs and cats on the farm growing up. It taught me some responsibility and compassion. Pets are great companions and playmates. They’re always willing to lend an ear without judging, and seem to know when you’re sad and need comfort. We humans could probably stand to learn from them in that regard.

So while our pets may have been temporarily displaced, I am beginning once again to see their importance. I hope Jane feels the same way. I think maybe she is already starting to.