6/27/08 -- route

In lieu of a full baby report, here's a brief peek into the baby's daily routine -- her evening walk-about.

B.R. 6/26/08

I had to leave for work early today -- well, earlier than usual -- so I only had time for a quick game of fetch followed by breaky for the baby before I had to run out of the apartment. The baby seemed to sense this and played a fast and furious game of fetch.

I wonder what she did all day while I was out.

Anyway, later when I returned, the baby did a quick dance of joy and then ran to her bone as if to say, "here's where we left off, so here we go!" What could I do but oblige. After our game, the baby and I ate our respective dinners and then we took our evening constitution. However, before we left, I got a call to tell me that the baby's perspective sibling -- the tabby -- had found a forever home. Oh wells. I haven't told the baby yet, I hope she doesn't get too upset.

Goodbye little tabby, I hope you enjoy your new home:

Doing the baby walk

So this is where we went. The baby is a wonderful walker and I am very proud of her. Her tail is almost always upright during our walks now. And she always looks to me every couple of steps to check for visual cues as to where we're going, how quickly we're walking, etc. Hard to believe that she used to run away at the first sight of her leash and harness. Nowadays she gets all tail-waggy when I ask her if she wants to go outside. What a great baby.

B.R. 6/24/08

The baby had a very nice morning and displayed none of the sickly-ness that she did yesterday. We played, she had fun with fetch, and a wonderful breaky. She was very lively and danced about my leggies every time she had the chance. Enn likes to say that this means that the baby's clingy, but I think that this means that she's super swet.

Later in the day when the baby and I took our daily stroll, she was very chipper and kept her tail up high -- almost the entire time even when we passed by other piaps! During our walk the baby and I encountered another little piap with the same name as the baby. Sadly, the baby broke their mutual sniff by taking a little snap at the little yorkie.

Upon our return I had a little surprise for the baby -- we visited two kitties. These two in fact:


The one on the right was the main purpose for our visit. Lately, I've been thinking about getting a little companion for the baby, and since this little kitty happens to be looking for a little companion as well I thought that maybe they might get along. All three were a bit wary of each other, but they were all pretty chill in the end. The tabby and the baby sniffed and checked each other out, and seemed content to be in each other's company. No hissing, no barking, and no growling (ok, maybe a little low growl from the baby but not in a menacing way and not for the entire time, just briefly). Everyone was pretty good. all in all I think it was a good first visit. I was very proud of everyone; and happy that maybe we found the baby a new friend.

B.R. 6/23/08

The baby looked somewhat sickly this morning. My first impression of her -- that is after we emerged from the bedroom -- was that she looked very gaunt and not well at all. She looked like she was going to puke, which she did in her throwing-up-in-her-mouth sort of way. Also, she didn't appear interested in playing at all, which was very uncharacteristic of her. I looked her over and nothing looked amiss, other than her sickly appearance. I proceeded to make her breaky and tried to get her attention by blowing the scent of the cooked chickum her way. After breaky, she seemed to regain some of her verve, and we played a short game of fetch.

Later when Enn visited in the afternoon, it was reported that the baby looked rather listless and did not appear very interested in her onigiri (!!!); a fact that I found most troubling. Also, Enn reported that the baby seemed very miserable. I was therefore most eager to return home to ascertain the baby's state for myself. However, all my concerns seemed for naught as the baby was very excited to see me and seemed for all intents and purposes her usual, fun-loving self. That said, I did turn on the a/c which might have eased the baby's discomfort. I also made her some crushed ice which she enjoyed immensely.

After dinner, the baby and I took a break from our usual walking route and instead we went south and took in sights around Carroll Gardens. I think the baby enjoyed the new smells and new piaps we saw along the way. I have to say though that there are a lot more oldies in Carroll Gardens than in Brooklyn Heights. Must be all the hold-overs from the old neighborhood.

Live baby report: The baby is sniffing about as if she's searching for something but can't find what she's looking for. This intense sniffing, poking around thing is turning out to be a regular midnight activity for her as she's been doing it every night about the same time. Sometimes she's a little weirdo.

the baby doing the moonwalk

And then today...

Here's where we went today, but not before she had to suffer some indignities:

Briefly...

Today's route.

Crack!

The baby loves crack.

No, not this or even this.

But rather...

<---

She loves to lie in any sort of fissure, and this is exactly what she's been doing all day.

It's impressive that she even managed to get her tail in the crack.

She looks as if she's trying to figure out how to wedge herself in even more.

B.R. 6/19/08

The baby had her usual morning routine -- jumped on me to be let out, got let out, sun-bathed, greeted me when I got up, sinkled (tho this could've occurred anytime bet. being let out and when I got up), played, ate, yumped, and got sad when I left.

When I returned, we played, she ate, I ate, we got ready for a walk, and got very happy when we finally left to go on our walk. It was kinda cold again so the baby started out wearing a shirt, but once I noticed that she was heating up (tongue out, panting) I took off her shirt much to her delight which she demonstrated by immediately wagging her tail in a most vigorous manner.

Two things of note from our walk:

(1) Some large, LARGE dog we encountered on Henry St. wanted to play with her and refused to budge until the baby was next to her -- so in effect we walked for about two blocks with this LARGE dog. The baby handled herself rather well. That is, she nipped at the LARGE dog when she tried to get too close for the baby's comfort; and then proceeded to try to sniff the LARGE dog's butz when she was ahead of us. The baby's tail, which had started off in a lowered position when the LARGE dog first happened upon us, was up and wagging by the end of the second block.

(2) We had a wonderful game of tag in the park. The thought that I might get dizzy and fall on my face occurred to me since it was rather challenging, optically-speaking, to keep up with the baby. She's surprisingly fast, and it was rather dizzying to follow her in the lowly-lit verdant park as she ran circles around me.

B.R. 6/18/08

The baby was quite sad this morning when she saw that I was getting ready for work. I think she had expected that I would stay home again. Maybe she thought it was the weekend? After all, I normally stay home two days in a row, i.e. on the weekend, so wouldn't it make sense that I'd stay home again since I did so yesterday? Of course, this logic hinges on the belief that the baby is (1) able to tell one day from another and (2) count. Maybe she does. I mean, she is "the accountant" and is able to account for all her toys. In any case, sometimes I wish she could speak if only I can ask what she's really thinking -- though depending on the topic that could be a scary proposition.

Anyway, by the time we'd gotten ready to take our evening stroll, the weather had changed somewhat so that it was actually a bit chilly out. For that reason, I had the baby put on a shirt to prevent her from catching a chill. And thus ↑

Two notes of interest from our walk this evening. Firstly, the baby and I encountered a miniature dachshund who was about her size named "Lucky" who wanted to say "hi" to the baby while we were on the Promenade. The baby, who is not really into other dogs, did not greet Lucky with open paws but rather snarled which sent Lucky scampering away. I was somewhat e, but the baby, who is normally quite shy/scared around other dogs -- so much so that her tail usually goes from an upright position to a lower, not quite between her leggies position -- seemed quite proud of herself as her tail started wagging manically. This crazed tail-wagging continued until we ran into two slightly larger dogs a few minutes later. Oh well. Secondly, the baby went off-leash! We played tag! In Cadman Plaza! Well, we kinda played tag -- it was basically the baby running in circles around me, daring me to catch her. I wasn't so concerned that she'd bolt and run away, because she always been very good about sticking right by me wherever we go and seems to look to me for security. Also, the park was semi-enclosed so even if she did wander off, she couldn't have wandered off into the street. And, we'd played a version of this type of tag before in the hallways, where she circles me like a piap on crack but will come to me when I tell her to. Anyway, I was v proud of the baby, and she was proud of herself because her tail was upright and wagging both throughout the game and also afterward as we were on our way home. I should mention that for a good period before the game, her tail had been tucked under because some loud trucks and an unexpected garage door had put the fright in her.

Live baby report: She's been trying to get my attention for the past 20 minutes or so, circling my chair and looking at me with her big, wet eyes. Now she's lying next to her bone and pleading with her eyes. I guess we're playing fetch now.

B.R. 6/17/08

The baby had a very eventful day in that I kept her company all day by working from home. I think she was pleasantly surprised, esp. since she had to wait an hour or so from the time she got up to when I finally got out of bed. As we do every morning, we played fetch for a short while, after which I fixed her breaky that she gobbled up. as I am wont to do while she's eating, I snuck off to the b-room to shower. However, I had to interrupt my shower -- I'd just conditioned my hair -- to come out and clean up after the baby who had taken the opportunity to yump. She was confused that i returned to the shower instead of following her out of the b-room for a game of fetch (her spirit is always high after doing her b-room business).

While doing my work, I kept the France-Italy game in the background. I was rooting for les bleus while the baby was rooting for the azzurris so it was rather tense afternoon. Unfortunately for me, France lost and I had to endure the baby's dance of joy for the Italians. Bleh.

The other thing of note during the afternoon was an accident that occurred right outside our building. Sadly for us, we couldn't see anything because it happened on our side of the street. The only thing that we could see were the looks of shock from the pedestrians across the street. And boy, were there a lot of gawkers. Here's a sampling:


Later, after dinner, the baby and I took a lovely stroll around the Heights where we encountered a puppy wearing Pawz, a type of rubber bootie. I see a trip to the pet store in our future.

B.R. 6/16/08

The baby was very sleepy this morning and it took some efforts to rouse her from her sleep. Every time I woke her up, she would collapse back down and curl up into a little ball. However, when she finally realized that we were going to wake up -- i.e. when I got out of bed and started to move around -- she hopped off of the bed, stood by the door, and looked at me as if to say "what are you waiting for?"

Once she emerged the baby and I played a short game of fetch before digging into a bowl of chickum and kibbles. Afterwards she pranced about a bit trying to get me to play some more, but I was somewhat resistant because she hadn't done her morning sinkle. For this reason I proceeded to ignore her and set about to make myself some breaky. Sure enough, as soon as she saw that my attention was elsewhere the baby ran into the b-room and where she sinkled and yumped. Very good girl. She was rewarded with a vigorous game of fetch.

I think her general sleepiness must've carried on through to the afternoon, because what did I find when I returned home but a little baby who was sitting on the couch looking at amazement that I was home again. Since the weather was about to turn into something nasty and wet, I quickly got the baby outfitted for a stroll and we headed out the door. I had anticipated that we'd probably have to shorten our usual walk since the sky was becoming ever more menacing by the minute, but I didn't realize just how quickly the weather would turn against us. Nonetheless, the baby and I managed to make it this far before the wind got a bit too crazy and I had to carry the baby while walking swiftly home. The baby had been somewhat frightened by the change in weather because all of a sudden the wind was howling, people were running, leaves were flying and the day turned very dark. I think she thought something was chasing her.

Luckily the wind quieted down somewhat, and the baby managed to walk the last block and a half home. Though I think she thought that something was chasing her still because she pretty much ran the entire way home. I'd never seen her move so quickly -- she didn't even mind the dogs we ran past on the way home!

Weekend Revisited

The baby had a moderately exciting weekend. We first started things off with a long walk on late Friday night. She had some minor excitement when a little dog came up to sniff her butz, but the baby's snarling attitude put a quick end to that.

Saturday was somewhat of a disappointment as the weather was hot and humid. The baby had a great big day planned what with dueling fairs at Brooklyn Pride and also the Renegade Craft Fair. But alas, the weather was non-cooperative and a storm ensued just as the baby and I were contemplating heading out. Perhaps we should have just stayed out when she and I left earlier in the day for our weekly jaunt to the local farmer's market. Oh well.

After a disappointing Saturday the baby and I were cheered by a promising change in the weather. It was much cooler today and not so horribly humid. We were to have accompanied Enn to the last day of the Telectroscope; but alas, as soon as the baby, Enn and I stepped out on the sidewalk the sky unloosed great big drops of rain. Seeing how heavily it was raining, we took refuge at bus shelter where I tucked the baby into my bag, unsheathed our umbrellas and returned home. After waiting out the rain, the baby and I chucked the idea of seeing the Telectroscope (since we'd already passed by it several times on our walks) and instead accompanied Enn on a little MTA adventure on the 4/5/6 to visit Ephanie. The baby played at being little stowaway in my bag; but, as one can see, the only thing she managed to hide was her left ear:


Enn wanted to show the baby how she rocks out on Guitar Hero. I think the baby was duly impressed as she couldn't keep her eyes off of Enn. Either that or she was fascinated by the bit of rice hanging off of Enn's shirt.

B.R. 6/11/08 (abbrev.)

The baby was actually excited about another dog! Will wonders never cease. On our way out of the building today, the baby and I encountered another little chi -- a sandy-brown, long-haired girl who was maybe 2/3 of the baby's size (so I'm going to guess a little 3.5-4lb teeny pup). Anyway, the baby, who until now has never gotten excited over another piap actually got excited enough tug on her leash as she moseyed with waggy-tailed excitement over to the little pup. Of course her excitement melted when the little long-haired pup got hip to the baby and turned around to do her own sniffing. As soon as the other puppy got interested, the baby backed off. That said, I'm nonetheless encouraged that one day the baby may have her own puppy friends -- so long as they were smaller and calmer than her; a tall order!

Anyway, the baby and I had a nice walk with a slightly different route. It's about 10-15 degrees cooler than the last few nights so that made a big difference. The baby seemed much more enthusiastic throughout the walk, and I wasn't drenched in sweat. Hopefully, this "cool" spell will last or the baby and I will be taking some late evening walks for the next couple of months. She'll probably like that as we'll encounter fewer dogs.

the baby's version of the foxtrot

B.R. 6/10/08

As per usual the baby awoke an hour earlier than I did. Quite horribly I refused to get out of bed when she returned to wake me up, and to show her displeasure the baby took it upon herself to curl up on the pillow next to my head. I think her butz may have been pointed towards me, so I was quite thankful that she didn't poot. Anyway, I should have listened to the baby because had I listened I would not have overslept by an hour. Whoops. After scrambling out of bed, I fed the baby but not before she guilted me into a game of fetch.

Then later, upon my return home, the baby again guilted me into a game. However, she was somewhat lackadaisical about chasing down the toys, which led me to believe that she must've just woken up. My suspicions were confirmed by her frequent yawns. The baby must've been catching up on her beauty sleep during my absence. Hmm. To wake her up, I took the baby on an early evening stroll. As indicated by our route, the stroll turned out to be somewhat abbreviated because (1) it was still quite hot and humid so I didn't want to overexert the baby, and (2) the ground was still warm to the touch. On the way back I took care to walk the baby on sidewalks with lots of tree-cover as well as grass (even if it took us through a slightly busier route).

Live baby update: After an abortive attempt to get me to play, the baby has taken to her pillow and has shut her eyes. A short while ago, we were playing her new game of tip-the-glass-for-treats as demonstrated below.

B.R. 6/9/08

After an exhaustive weekend of enduring sweltering heat, the baby awoke with renewed energy this morning ready for the new week. Sadly for her it took me about an hour longer to get on the same page. So upon stirring, I let the baby out of the bedroom and into the living room. I had thought that she'd sinkle while I was remained sleeping, but she had not. In fact she did not sinkle for over two hours upon waking. This made our early game of fetch somewhat difficult because she'd often stop in her tracks and look at the b-room and forget that we were in the middle of a game. I tried my usual trick of tossing her bone towards the b-room but it did not work. That being the case I made sure that the baby did not get overly excited lest we end up with an accident. After some abortive play, I decided that maybe a little breaky would help the situation and so proceeded to feed the baby. And, still nothing. It wasn't until a short while later after we resumed a lazy game of fetch that the baby bounded off to the b-room to do her morning sinkle. As per usual, the baby was v proud of her sinkle skills (as she should be), and after allowing me to dab her marshmellow she and I returned to a rousing game of fetch (now that she wasn't hampered by a full bladder).

Upon seeing that I was ready to leave, the baby did something she has not done -- she started jumping up and down on my leg. I'd like to say that I saw through her rouse and did not allow her to delay my departure, but that would not be the truth. Although I recognized her desperate play for attention, she was too cute to resist and I stayed on for just a while longer to rub her belly and plant kisses on her head. She is a tricky vixen.

When I returned the baby danced about shortly before running directly for her bone. After a rousing game of fetch the baby had a quick dinner, more fetch and then a walk around the Heights. I had been worried that the ground might be too hot for her little paws for our walkabout but happily enough the ground was cool to the touch. The lesson? Walk the baby at night.

caught.

B.R. 6/5/08

That's the route we took today, but more on that later.

The baby had another one of her slow-starting morning. I think it's probably my fault. She's usually ready to WAKE UP by 6 or 7 a.m. Unfortunately for the baby, I'm not, so I make her stay in bed with me until 8, or 9 if I oversleep (oops). I think sometime in the intervening hours she must lull herself into sleep because quite frankly what else is there to do when she's trapped on the bed in the bedroom with me? So by the time that I'm ready to wake up, she's probably just gotten herself back to sleep. No wonder she's super-yawny and not really in the mood to play. That said, it take but 15 minutes or so before she's fully awake and ready to go.

Since I worked from home this morning, the baby and I had plenty of opportunity to play this morning. I was even here for her morning yump, which I've missed the past couple of days. It was very firm and had a nice sheen, which made me v happy because I know that her digestive system is working a-ok.

When I got home today, I took the baby for a long-ish walk because we missed out on walking yesterday due to rain. It was a terrific walk, and something wonderful happened during on our return leg -- the baby sinkled while we were walking through Cadman Plaza Park; as indicated by the lightening bolt! It was unexpected because (1) it's been a LONG time since the baby has sinkled in front of someone, and (2) for the entire 7 months she's been with me the baby has never, ever sinkled outside! I was so very proud of her. Yay!

Here's the baby posing outside Empire-Fulton State Park -- OUTside, because piaps are prohibited from entering (boo):

Stinky!

For someone with such a little tummy, the baby is a powerful pooting machine.

It's particularly disconcerting when one doesn't expect it.

I think she knows it too.

I can hear her laughing.

Sneaky baby.

B.R. 6/3/08

The baby did something unusual this morning: she did not want to play fetch. She seemed as if she was excited -- tail wagging, eyes shining -- but when I would throw the bone she'd just look at the bone as it slid away and then look at me as if to say "whut?" I didn't know what was going on. After a few failed attempts, I gave up and proceeded to fix her breaky which she begrudgingly ate. I say "begrudgingly" because instead of her usual dance of joy around me upon hearing the sound of a spoon hitting the sides of her food bowl while I mixed her breaky of chickum and kibble, she didn't seem interested until I called for her to come over to me. Very odd indeed. Other than that, the morning was somewhat uneventful. That said, the baby did have the biggest sinkle I'd ever seen her do. It took up half of her wee wee pad; not an easy task for such a little bladder.

While on my way home, I stopped by the local natural foods store to stock up on some rawhides for the little baby. She'd just about gone through the last batch and was down to about a 3-inch bit by this morning. I never quite like it when she gets down to the nibs with the rawhide sticks because one never knows when she may decide to get fancy and try to swallow it. Anyway, upon my return home, the baby seemed quite eager to play (unlike this morning) and so we did. Then she did the dance of joy while I made her dinner (unlike this morning). Afterwards, she did another dance when she saw the new pack of rawhide sticks. Then, after getting a good start on a new stick, we walked Enn to the train station and then continued onto our nightly stroll.

Live baby update: She's running back and forth between the l-room and the b-room. The reason? A few minutes ago I turned to see what the baby was doing and she was in her play pose and pawing at a little speck that I thought was a piece of fuzz. Upon closer inspection I realized said speck was in fact an insect! The baby is ridic. She won't play with other dogs but she wants to play with a bug. Anyway I took said bug and threw it in the toilee. Now the baby is running to and from looking for her little friend:

B.R. 6/2/08

The baby had a good night's rest, which is not surprising given that she had the bed more or less to herself. As embarrassing as it is for her, I think it's time to let the truth be known... the baby is becoming a bed hog. She used to curl up into a little ball in a not-so-inconvenient spot on the bed and stay there the entire night. Lately, more specifically last night, she has taken to sprawling out. It's amazing how much space she can take up when she wants to -- despite her 5lb size. Her favorite place to sleep is in the middle of the bed and she likes to sleep in a way that always has a part of her body leaning up against me. That is, until she gets tired or too warm or something and then decides that she wants to sprawl out next to but not touching me. And so it was like this last night. First she slept up against me, then she turned a couple of times and put her rump next to my face, then she got up and moseyed a few inches over and sprawled in a way that prevented me access to the rest of the bed.

This probably explained why she was much more awake at 8 a.m. than I. So, I ambled over to the living room, opened the shade and shifted her pillow, and made a spot in the sun for her. Then I returned to bed and slept for another 30 minutes while the baby lay sun-worshipping.

When I finally got up, the baby was at the ready and looked at me as if to ask why I was taking so long to get on with our game of fetch. I then played fetch for about 20 minutes with this demanding pup, at which time I fixed her breaky and escaped to the shower.

I think she knew something was up, i.e. I wouldn't be staying home with her all day, because she kept on me like a little four-legged shadow. This played to her
disadvantage though because she made it that much easy to scoop her up when I cleaned out her ears this morning. Though even that incident did not dissuade her from continuing to track my every move.

All day I wondered what the baby was doing and hoped that she was not too sad to have to spend the day by herself.

I tried to make things up to her when I got home by playing rousing games of fetch and then taking her for an evening stroll. The path is somewhat convoluted because I tried to make this a tail-up sort of walk, which meant avoiding other dogs (very hard to do in Brooklyn Heights). We, of course, ran into lots of dogs, and when we did the baby handled herself exquisitely; but like I said, to make this a tail-up event I had to, at times, walk a rather circuitous route.

B.R. 6/1/08

The baby had a good day today, somewhat. Weather-wise it was a beautiful day -- clear skies, warm but not hot, kinda breezy, etc. -- but alas I did not get out of bed until well after 10 a.m. and then after putzing about it was already mid-afternoon. That said, the baby and I did engage in several games of fetch throughout our morning and early afternoon. So that's something. Anyway, in the early evening, the baby was rewarded with a long walk. It's always interesting to note that she exits the building with her tail high up in the air, but it's always on the droopy side by the time we are deep into the walk. I don't know if it's the traffic sounds or loud pedestrians -- she equally dislikes motorcycle mufflers and loud teens -- but she gets particularly skittish when unexpected sounds occur. Nonetheless, as soon as she realizes that we are on our way home her tail always perks right back up. It used to be that she didn't realize that we were nearing home until arriving at the steps in front of the building, but nowadays she's well-aware a block or two away. She is quite the little smartie, despite what Enn says.

Live baby report: Passed out!