Dog Days of Summer

I know I've mentioned it before, but Reed LOVES his "Da" (Dog with out the g). Since day one Reed has been enthralled by our beast of a dog. If Reed is upset about something you can always calm him down by taking a peek of Dodger sleeping outside or letting Dodger in the house for a play session. Reed's arrival has meant some compromises to Dodger's former way of life, but we've done our best to make sure he feels loved and included in the Family. Usually it is Reed and me walking Dodger, so solo Mommy-Dog walks are few and far between. The plus side of this is that on days when I'm too busy to walk Dodger, Jon will take him out for a run, bonding time for the "guys" that never happened pre-Reed. Dodger also used to spend most evenings in the house with us, now instead, he waits outside until we are done with dinner but gets to comes in to clean-up Reed's mess and usually hang out with us after Reed's gone to bed for the night. D-Money still gets to hang out with me when I'm getting ready in the morning and on the days I don't have to rush out the door to work he usually gets to hang out in the bathroom until he decides he wants back outside.

If you had asked me how I wanted my first baby to interact with my first born I wouldn't have been able to come up with a better scenario than we have now. Dodger is so tolerant of Reed. He lets him pull, tug, and grab him and in return we try to teach Reed about being gentle and Dodger benefits from some pretty good love fests. Dodger has never been allowed in Reed's room, but if he hears Reed crying he usually makes his way to the back of the house and waits patiently for me to take care of his little brother. This is what happened earlier this week and once Reed was up from his nap we had an impromtu play session right outside of his bedroom.