Bad Memory = Hungry Baby

So I was sitting at the computer while watching the Olympics and chomping on some cheerios when the baby positions herself directly in front of me and stares with these unblinking eyes. We'd just returned from our walk and romp in the park and I'd already played another 10-15 minutes worth of fetch with her so I doubted that she was seeking attention; could've been, but probably not. Anyway, I thought that she was just begging (silently) for some food. No way was I going to feed her fruity Cheerios what with the sugar and the corn content. "Feed her", for some reason those words stuck in my head. I suppose it was then that the wheels in my head started turning and I wondered if I fed her -- that is since this morning. I thought I did, but...

It was then that I recalled how she kinda hoovered the treats that Ric the concierge had given her. Hmm. But I must've fed her, no? It was already 10:30 p.m. which was waaaay past her usual dinner-time. I thought hard, and could envision myself feeding her. Or was I just remembering this morning???

Slowly, I started to doubt myself and had a sick feeling that I'd forgotten. For a final confirmation I went to the kitchen to check on the amount of chickum I had left in the 'fridge, and sure enough everything was as I'd left it THIS MORNING. Oops. No wonder she was looking at me stuffing my face with Cheerios as if I was holding out on her, cuz I was! Yet another instance of where it'd have been really helpful if she could've just vocalized the reason for her discontent. Aiya.

Midnight Snack

It's a couple of hours after the baby and I finished our walk. I was feeling a bit peckish so I made myself some popcorn with butter, salt and sugar. Of course the baby wanted some, so I made a little ramekin-ful of unsalted and unsugared popcorn from which I fed the baby. That must've goten her stummy juices going cuz then a little while later she went around to her kibble bowl and finished off all the kibbles that were in there. This isn't too unusual since she often likes to enjoy a little midnight snack, but what I didn't expect was that a little while after she cleaned out her kibble bowl she'd go back to check to see if some kibbles magically appeared while she wasn't looking. Since she seemed hungry still (and the vet did say to me once that I should feed her as much as she wanted to eat cuz she was a bit underweight -- now, I don't know if she's still underweight but since she's always hovered around 5 lbs ever since I've gotten her I'm going to assume that if anything she's not overweight) I fished out the remnants of her chickum that she would've gotten as her breaky (along with some add'l chickum cuz there really wasn't enough left for a meal) and fed it to her.

I'm getting ready for a yump party either tomorrow morning, or more likely, while I'm at work. Better paper the bathroom.

B.R. 8/6/08 -- muchos mosquitos

Nothing too unusual this morning -- we woke up at our usual time, played fetch, ate breaky, and then I left while the baby played "find the treats".

The real news, or at least the item of note, is that there were ALOT of skeeters around tonight. Maybe they're always there but the baby and I are always moving too quickly for them to bite, cuz I've never been bitten on a walk before, but tonight's walk was a different story altogether. While the baby and I were in Cadman Plaza I got bitten three times on my right leg, one time on my left, and once on the back of my left hand. I didn't see any welts on the baby, which can only mean two things: (1) she did get bitten but doesn't have the same reaction as I do, i.e. huge azz welts, or (2) they left her completely alone while they chowed down on me. In any case, at least one of us (if not both of us) will be itching our way through tonight. Stupid bugs.

B.R. 8/5/08

A day of normality after last night's emotional turn... and sadly for the baby that meant I had to run off right after feeding her some breaky and playing some fetch. However, she didn't seem to mind as we've started a new game of "finding treats when mommy leaves for work". This game is played by me cutting up some jerky treats and hiding the cut up slices of jerky around the apartment with one hand while I hold the baby in the other (so she can't see where I'm hiding the treats). I don't make it too hard for her because if I do she won't be able to find it, but it's I don't leave things out in the open either. From a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being the easiest and 10 the hardest, I'd say that most treats are hidden with a difficulty level of a 5 while some are 7 or maybe 8. Anyway, we've been doing this for about a week now, so she knows that me leaving = treat finding time.

Upon my return she greeted me as she always does, which was with lots of jumps and licks and jumps and some nuzzling and some more licks -- then run to the bone so we can play fetch. After some dinner and fetch, the baby took our evening walk. I had expected to carry her into the elevator since she seemed somewhat traumatized by it last night, but she seemed ok with getting on and off by herself. One thing of note during our walk is that we saw some cray man running after his pug up Pierrepont and then down Willow. The baby was very much interested by this cray pair (probably because she's a nosy little girl) and insisted on following the two in a brisk, but dignified manner. She's such a rubbernecker.

Near Death Experience!

We had a slight incident on the way back from our walk this evening.

We'd just entered the elevator when the baby, frightened by the closing doors, ran back out. While I was still holding onto her leash!!! It was like a bad movie. I let go of the leash and watched it slide lower and lower down the crevice of between the elevator doors as the elevator rose higher and higher.

I tried shoving the leash through the crack but it wouldn't go.

I heard a high pitched yelp and imagined the baby getting lifted up and getting her little breath squeezed out of her.

I started jamming all the buttons and pulled the elevator alarm and stop buttons, but by the time that the elevator had stopped I was already on the 5th floor. At least by then I noticed that the leash had been sucked away, though in what state I knew not. I quickly got out my cellphone and tried dialing the front desk -- though in my panic I misdialed several times before actually getting the correct number. I must've sounded like a crazy person as I blurted out "I'm in the elevator but my dog got stuck outside, could you take a look at the elevator to see if she's ok???" All the while I imagined that the baby had been the victim of either strangulation or a gruesome death of getting turned into puppy jam. I was prepared for a lifetime of regrets... but luckily the front desk replied that he had her and she was safe if a bit freaked out. She did not enjoy getting on the elevator to get back home but I hoped the hug and the treat when get got home helped.

I need a sedative now.

B.R. 8/3/07

The baby can't nelieve it's Sunday already. The weekend came and went so quickly -- Saturday was kinda of bust what with the torrential rainstorm; but today was a just gorgeous. Too bad for the baby I had a horrible headache for most of the day. Still, we managed to head back out for a vigorous run in the park and a leisurely walk in the cool summer evening. I think I did good cuz now she's passed out cold:

B.R. 8/1/08

Very briefly, here is the route to today's walk: la la (look where we went).

Now that's out of the way, I'd like to take this opportunity to highlight the baby's sometimes ridic poses. I know she likes to be comfortable, but sometimes she takes it a bit far and can be a bit precious with her poses. Here's one from today -- the leg cross is just too ridic:

Edith Piap

B.R. 7/30/08

Once again the baby tried to wake me up. Sadly for both of us it was at 6:34 a.m. Needless to say I did not get up, despite the baby's best efforts -- jumping on me, licking my face, doing a dig-dig by my armpit, etc. It's a good thing that she gives up after a few minutes. *And* that she had a big sinkle the night before so none of the little sinkle shenanigans of the previous day.

When I did finally get up, she was of course overjoyed. However, because I think I may be unintentionally spoiling her by playing with her immediately upon entering the living room I waited a few minutes before playing fetch -- and by "a few minutes" I meant as long as it took me to wander around looking for my glasses. I think she was absolutely confused by this little bit of delay. Not to mention, I probably looked a little crazed and aimless as I was still sleepy and couldn't really see anything since I didn't have my glasses on.

Later in the evening -- after getting back from work -- the baby and I took our usual walk around the Heights. After running around Cadman Plaza like a crazy person, the baby very nicely followed me around the running path while being off-leash. She really is very good about being off-leash as her attention did not sway even when we passed a group of annoyingly juvenile construction workers who tried to get her attention by whistling and beckoning in high, sing-song voices.

Live baby report: Digging around her blankie on the floor, perhaps in search of a treat (since I sometimes hide treats there to encourage her foraging skills).

B.R. 7/29/08

The baby tried very had to wake me up this morning. Even though I'd gotten up earlier than usual it still wasn't early enough for the baby. In fact she made two separate trips to the potty for a total of 1 sinkle and 2 yumps in an effort to wake me up. The first time I just wiped her marshmallow and went back to bed. She did not like that very much. I guess this may have influenced her to try for a second time. I don't know where she got the wherewithal to come up with a second yump timed so closely to her first, but she did, and I took this as a sign that I should probably get out of bed (work beckoned anyway). Sadly for her I dashed off after showering and feeding her a quick breaky. Bet she didn't expect that.

Upon my return this evening, I noticed that she hadn't gone potty all day long. Makes sense as she'd probably squeezed out everything she had in her little body during the morning. That said, she did have a very large sinkle that covered up a good third of her wee pad about 2 hrs after I got home. Mind, she only sinkled after she realized that I wasn't going to play but rather take a nap. I'm beginning to think that she uses her potty skills as a tool to get my attention.

Anyway, we were having a lovely day overall until the baby made two unfortunate infractions later during our walk. The first occurred when we encountered a little westie who had been out walking with its owner. The westie had started behind us, and the baby allowed it to pass us only to chase after it for the next half block. That was bad in itself, but the worst part was that in her initial chase she tore her leash out of my hand. The second infraction occurred when we were on our way back. The baby tried to sneak some chickum that'd been thrown on the sidewalk. Bad girl.

Happy Barfday

The baby wishes Enn a very toothy happy barfday:

Manhole Drama

So the baby and I were watching tv a little earlier this evening when we heard a loud crashing sounding coming from the street below. Like good litte rubberneckers we ran to the window to check out the source of the disturbance. I had expected to find an auto accident because I definitely heard some sort of crashing metal sound, but instead saw this:


Well, actually this pic was taken a few minutes after I looked out the window. When I first looked out the guy who's standing next to the hole was down the street getting out of his suv which led me to believe (quite correctly) that he was the one who knocked the cover from the manhole. Anyway, after walked back to the hole, he picked up this long metal beam (seen in his hands), all the while looking really confused.

At the same time this was happening, these two older ladies who'd witnessed the whole thing tried to get the attention of two police officers to address the large gaping hole in the middle of the street. The two officers spoke with the ladies, shook their heads, and walked away:


Luckily, another officer who was dressed like court officer from the courthouse down the street came up and started to block traffic so cars wouldn't keep falling into the uncovered manhole. He also started rolling the overturned cover back to the hole. A short while later, I heard a lot of commotion -- I'd turned away to fix the baby's dinner -- and looked out again. Evidently someone called the fire department who seemed a lot more responsive than the NYPD:


Overall it hasn't been a very good day for the NYPD. Just saying.

B.R. 7/27/08 -- Weekend Wrapup

The baby had a very busy weekend with KJ and BP. The pair had come up for the weekend on Thurs, and the baby had her paws full playing hostess.

On Friday, she showed KJ and BP the Promenade, as well as her athletic prowess as she dared those two to catch her in a game of tag on Cadman Plaza -- they couldn't! While at Cadman Plaza, the baby also met two piaps -- Brownie the dachshund and Collin the bichon frise. Although the baby seemed initially frightened by these two piaps, she soon settled down. She even tried to sneak a sniff or two at both Brownie and Collin -- that is, as each walked away from her. The baby doesn't seem to get that the play pose only works if one is doing it to someone else's face, and not their bum. And what happened when one of these piaps would turn around when the baby got into a play pose behind their respective back? The baby would turn tail and run away. Even still, I think her socialization skills have improved a great deal within the past couple of months. Hopefully by the end of the summer she'll be comfortable enough other dogs that she may even play pose them to their face and not their butz.

Then on Saturday, the baby led the three of us to Aunt Ephanie's for some Bon Chon chicken (and sushi for me) and cupcakes -- all in the name of Enn's B-Day celebration. The baby is amazed that Enn is able to move as well as she does for being as old as she is, but I guess as compared with her 16 months Enn's 384 months must seem quite ancient. And although the baby had a terrific time at the party, she was quite sad that no one wanted to share knuckles with her. That said, she did get to have an extra large piece of chickum in honor of her old muhmuh.

I think the baby must've been tuckered out by the activities of the past several days, because she was -- quite frankly -- a little slow in getting up this morning. Although she got out of bed when I did, I noticed that she deposited herself upon BP's aerobed promptly upon entering the living room. Then later, as I returned to the bedroom after my shower, she took the opportunity to sneak herself back into the bedroom and onto the bed. All day long she's been somewhat lackadaisical in play. She was even a bit slow as we started out on our walk today; though she did put some zing into her steps when we ran around Cadman Plaza like crazy people.

Live baby report -- passed the s out.

A Little (Big) Visitor

Outside the window yesterday... I thought one of the neighbors had thrown something awful outside, like a ciggie butt, but when I checked I found a very pleasant surprise:

B.R. 8/23/08

Thank goodness for the baby. If it wasn't for her I probably wouldn't have gotten out of bed until well after what was acceptable for work. Turns out that I forgot to set my alarm last night, and with the noise machine on it wasn't like I was going to hear the traffic or anything else that would've woken me up. But never fear, there's the baby. Twice she came into the room to jump on my body/face. I thought she was just getting antsy, since she settled down after the first time and curled up for a little while (I think -- can't be sure cuz you know, I drifted back to sleep). When she did it the second time, I thought that I might as well check the time cuz it seemed as if I'd been asleep for a while. Also, I wanted to check if the baby had sinkled or anything else. As it turned out, she did -- twice! Some bell should've gone off in my head cuz she only acts "pesty" when she wants me to come with her to the b-room so that she'd get praise for going no. 1 or no. 2. She's good that way.

Well, once I check the time I got a little freaked out because it was late!

After a quick breaky for the baby and a little breaky for me -- and a quick game of fetch as a reward cuz she did wake my azz up -- I got to work.

Knowing that it was going to rain today -- supposedly all day though as it turned out it was only early this morning and then again in the evening -- I took the baby out a little earlier than usual for our daily walk. Since it was still daylight out, quite unlike our usual walks, I brought along a camera in case the baby was feeling like posing. She did! Here's the baby on the Promenade (a little Vertigo, dontcha think, that is if vertigo was horizontal and not vertical, well whatever, you get the point) ------>

B.R. 7/22/08

The baby is recovering from a weekend of heat and humidity. However, ever the trooper, she was up for a leisurely stroll this evening. I don't know what the weather people are complaining about, I thought it was perfectly nice out even if the temp was around 85 degrees. There was a nice breeze, esp. by the Promenade.

The baby had a pretty good time I think. We ran into a little fawn colored chi who looked like her mini-me -- a little smaller and a little squatter. Well, actually a lot squatter. Mini-me's muhmuh even said, pointing to the baby, "see, that's what you'd look like if you exercised"; oh, snap. Then later we ran into some other pups from our building: a pit bull named "socks", a great dane named "pansy" and a futz lab whose name I did not catch. The baby did not play with these pups, but rather hid behind my legs. Oh well. At least she didn't growl and snap.

Now the baby is passed the s out. Sometimes when she does this her face gets all smooshed like this:

Two Walks

Yesterday.

Today.

Different routes, similar items of note:

(1) The baby ran like a crazy person in Cadman Plaza.

(2) The baby has a penchant for jumping off of the curb in search of edible or potable garbee.

(3) The baby is still not interested in other dogs except in circumstances where she can sneak up behind him for a stealth sniff.

Yumptastic!

The baby is not one to yump or sinkle in front of anyone. In fact, she will not even enter the b-room to do her business if I'm in there; and if she comes in not knowing I'm in there, she'll turn around and wait until I'm done before coming in. So it was with great surprise that she assumed the yump position during our walk. At first I thought she was just sitting, but then I realized she wasn't sitting but rather squatting -- and that meant one thing and one thing only: YUMP! For those curious as to where this event occurred, just look for the tell-tale sign on the map to the left. Anyway, luckily I had a bag with me as I always bring one just in case the baby ever decided to do her thing outdoors. I wish I had brought a wetnap with me as well, cuz the baby's umm you-know-what wasn't so clean. In addition to feeling happy that she felt comfortable enough to yump in public, I was also quite glad that she did her business outdoors because her yump was not the firmest and I would've hated cleaning that up indoors. Hee.

B.R. 7/10/08

Evidently I did a bad job of hiding the baby's stuffed pig today, because she found it while I was at work and tore the poor thing up. That's one thing about the baby, she loves to chew a couple of holes in her stuffed animuls and then rip out their stuffing. I sometimes wonder whether she's simulating ripping out the innards as she might should she ever get the chance to eat a whole animul, or whether her interest is limited to disemboweling stuffed animuls. Luckily for the two of us, I don't think I'll ever find out the answer to that question. Anyway, since I had a meeting after work, Enn came over to babysit the little beast and so it was she who discovered the remnants of the baby's slaughter of the pig. However, because Enn was so horrified at her discovery, she left the crime scene for me to clean up so I too got a chance to see the terrible scene. Although I cleaned up the wads of stuffing, I'm sure that I'll be finding little tufts of polyfill for days to come.

Although she was a naughty baby, I nonetheless took her out for our nightly stroll -- it's not her fault that her animal instincts have been reduced to the slaughter of stuffed animuls. For a change, we headed towards the park first. I thought that since we were getting such a late start to our walk (it was already about 10:20 p.m. by the time we headed out) I should probably tire her out; and what better way than by letting her run around like cray person in the park (which she did).

We've been back for a little over an hour, and she's still going strong. I wonder if part of the reason is that she's a little hopped up on the bits of coffee she managed to lick off of the street. I know, it's horrible and disgusting, and it's something that's she's only started to do the past couple of days -- that is, find random food items that's been thrown or tossed in the street. Since she used to be so shy about everything and was so easily startled by new things, I tended to let her sniff about at will and explore the various scents we'd encounter during our walks. At first I thought that there'd be no harm in letting her sniff coffee ut now I know that I've got to keep a close eye on her because goodness knows she's not very discriminating.

B.R. 7/9/08

The baby asked for an early release this morning, so I obliged. Who knows what she was doing outside the bedroom for the hour or so? I do, actually, so it's not really rhetorical. You see, the baby returned to the bed to wake me up and when she does that I know that she has something to show me -- and sure enough, she had a lot of potty to show. After receiving her praise, she ran to her bone and gave me a look that said, "well, I did that, so now you do this." And so I did. That's how this morning went.

When I returned home, the baby -- after doing her dance of joy -- seemed rather anxious about something. She played a little fetch, but I could tell that her heart wasn't in it. She did a lot of sighing and looking, and the only thing I could think of was that she might have wanted to go outside. Unfortunately for her, there was heavy rainstorm on its way from Philly, so we had to wait that out. It wasn't until a little after 9 p.m. that the two of us managed to make it outside for our walk. She went a little cray while we were in the park (as denoted by the circle on the map), and paid the price when we returned home by passing the s out for a good hour.

While this is not from tonight, it is illustrative of what one means when one says that the baby is passed the s out: