Since the last time I wrote, a lot has happened which is why I haven’t had time to write, including that biggest time-consumer of all, more snow.
I fear I destroyed the scientific validity of this study when I picked up the yellow alien and moved him. In my defense, I did this in self-defense. Fric went through a spell when the alien went out and came in almost every time she did. But when it started snowing in earnest on Friday, she left it on one of the little landings up to the front steps. Seeing it there immediately elicited an image of it become covered in snow, me not seeing it when I took the dogs out, stepping on it, and becoming scared out of my wits and falling on my keester when it squeaked. So I brought it inside instead.
In general she plays with it more and more like a toy, although it continues to hold special charge that it didn’t have before the puppies were born. When she’s stressed, either positively when visitors arrive or negatively when she’s not quite sure what’s going on, she either grabs it if it’s nearby or looks for it if it’s not. Yesterday when my youngest grandchild (one of two she adores) visited, she just lay quietly about as close to Geneva as she could while Geneva made the alien squeak by stomping on it. As soon as the two-year-old moved on to other activities, so did Fric, i.e. she didn’t grab the alien to try to hide it or anything like that.
The puppies are rapidly changing, spending more and more time playing every day. I intend to start offering them food this week and see what happens. The biggest one was drinking water from Fric’s bowl yesterday so at least he’s got the concept of lapping down, and they’ve all got lots of teeth erupting which adds another dimension to nursing. Lots of play with each other, toys, and the paper in the pen. I hesitate to say this because I don’t want to break the spell, but it’s been over a week since anyone peed on anything but the papers…
Below is a picture of Geneva with the incredible, lovable, hulk who was so good with her as were all of the pups. Still, he’s usually so active and jumping on his sibs, yet he graciously accepted being picked up (gently) and put down (gently) time and time again. As you can tell, she thought that he was quite incredible, too. 🙂
