Making progress

When I was a little, bitty baby, my mama would rock me...oh, sorry! I was just thinking about what it was like when I was very small and that reminded me of the song mom used to sing to me.

As I mentioned, I weighed just over 1 pound at around five weeks of age, when my mom first took me to the vet. My siblings all weighed between 4-6 pounds, so you can tell I was the runt. Since I was blind and so wobbly I fell over every couple of steps, I couldn't shove my brothers and sisters aside so I could nurse, and I missed a lot of mothering and I also missed the nutrients I needed to develop and grow properly. That's why I couldn't see or walk, according to the doctor. That's why I still have trouble dealing with the big, wide world, too. Dr. Amy says I can't filter out the stuff I can safely ignore, like some noises and smells and sights, and so all of it hits me at once. That's pretty darned scary, let me tell you!

Once dad put me on a bottle (yep, it was dad's idea) with canned mother's milk, I started to get better fast. Because I was so old, even though I was way underdeveloped, mom knew I needed stimulation and play. The problem was, she had trouble finding toys for tiny guys like me. She wound up buying me some kitty cat sized tennis balls. They were perfect! I loved them! I still love tennis balls!

Mom and dad sometimes moved the little food bowl (yes, it was a kitty cat bowl) away so I had to walk a couple of steps farther to get to it. I liked eating, oh, yes, I did so very much like to eat! So I would follow the bowl, smelling for it until I found it. Pretty soon, my vision started to develop and I could see the bowl and follow it around when mom moved it, and so I learned how to walk better and better.

In the beginning, I almost always fell over into my bowl after only a couple of bites, but gradually that problem resolved, too. Mom and dad were so proud of me the first time I cleaned my bowl without falling into my food!

Mom says she wishes she'd taken some video of me back then. She says I was so funny when I found my food. She says my ears would wiggle just like Dumbo's, whoever that is. I don't get it, but she says it was hilarious to see. She says she kept expecting me to fly. Silly mom. Dogs can't fly!

My ears still wiggle a little when I get excited, but mostly it's a whole head kinda thing. Mom thinks it's cute, except when my head shakes because I'm upset or scared. Luckily for me she can tell the difference and she knows when it's okay to smile at me and when I really need to be held and comforted instead. I depend on my mom a lot, but dad's real good at helping me calm down when I get overwrought, too.

For a long time, I was afraid to try to jump. Whenever mom set me on the sofa or in a chair, I just stayed there, even when I could see. She says she sometimes misses being able to park me like a car. She's just joking. I think.

Now that I'm almost a year old, I hardly ever fall down anymore, and mom thinks I can see pretty much normally, though she says she suspects I have a little trouble with depth perception. I don't know what that is, but sometimes I feel like I have to jump real far just to get down from the couch. Getting up on the sofa is a little hard, too, but not just because I'm still awkward. That cranky little dachshund, Doll Baby, likes to get under cover because she's always cold, and I have to be real careful not to accidentally step on her. Dolly gets very, very angry when you step on her! I love Doll Baby. I like to give her lots of kisses even though she never kisses me back or plays with me. That's okay. She's an older lady, about three, and I don't expect her to play puppy with me. I have other friends for that, like Jasper. Mom calls him her "leetle mophead." Jasper stands on his head and is terribly silly, but I like playing with him.

When I was little, mom slept with me close by and she always kept a close eye on me so nobody would accidentally step on me or get mad if I fell down too close to them. All the dogs are patient with me, but when I got steadier and bigger, they were afraid to play with me! Bailey - who nobody else will play with - started playing with me first. Finally, the others played with me, too. Well, not Zipper. Zipper is the boss after Bingo. Neither of them play. I guess you have to be serious when you're the boss dog.

Speaking of playing, I'm off to play with Brother. More later!