I took a set off in April, giving me two weeks vacation. Part of that I spent, with Murphy, in Poulsbo with Allie, Jason and Owen. As I said in the last update, Murphy and Owen are getting along better than I could have hoped. In fact, Owen's presence has led to Murphy liking all kids better, though now he's not much of a fan of other dog, mostly the big ones...but I digress. Back to Owen and Murphy. Above we have the two of them trying to get out of the kitchen. They did this several times during the time I was there, anytime anyone was on the other side of the gate, but I never had my camera ready. Before I left Allie and I posed this one, which was no easy feat.

I know it's blurry, but it gives you the idea of how quickly both Owen and Murphy move, not to mention that Murphy wants to lick you anytime you're within reach! The other thing these pictures show is just how small a toddler really is:

Owen is 16 months old, and in the 90th percentile for height, but Murphy still towers over him. And he outweighs Owen by about 50%. Murphy likes to get right into Owen's face, mostly to inspect for something edible, and it amazes me that Owen is able to just push him away and laugh him off, when a cocker spaniel is still so much bigger than him. Then after he's taken a few steps back from Murphy he makes the sign for "more", wanting Murphy close again! He's also developed a word for Murphy, which sounds kind of like "Momo", or he just points at Murphy and makes a "woof" sound. Either way it's clear that he wants to see Murphy.

Murphy loves Owen's nursery as it's filled with all sorts of stuffed toys, socks, and other great smelling things. So any time the door was open Murphy had to go in to inspect it. Allie thought it would be funny to turn the tables on Murphy:

He was a little forlorn, but didn't seem to mind the crib too much. I suppose because it must feel a lot like his crate. The next picture, according to my friend Krista, makes it look like Owen was the one who put Murphy in there:

That is a bit of a devilish smile on Owen's face. After getting Owen dressed, and Murphy out of the crib, the two of them played a bit. More blurry pictures here, as the two of them were whipping around as only kids and dogs can:

It was absolutely impossible to get a good shot of just the two of them that day. But the following day we went on a little road trip back over towards Seattle to visit Krista and her son Luc, where we found the perfect tool to pose small kids and dogs together:

Owen's car seat and Murphy's seat belt kept them both stationary, and I, who was sitting in the back with them, was able to get several pictures of them hanging out. Unfortunately, because I was wedged in there with them it was hard to get a good shot of them both, so you're just going to see Murphy's head in these.

In Owen's hand you can see a cup with finger food. This got Murphy's attention. At first he was polite and just sat there, but as time passed (we were waiting for the ferry) he got bolder:

Luckily Owen thought it was funny that Murphy started to dig under his legs looking for treasure. Owen also got bolder, reaching out to pat Murphy, and letting Murphy have a sniff:

Strangely, Murphy didn't seem to mind the hat. Anyway, the four of us took the ferry, then drove to Krista and Luc's, for lunch and a walk. Luc is 10 1/2 months old, and hasn't been around too many dogs, so before we left I said to Allie; "I fear this might not be the best idea"...but everyone got along great!

Luc was very entertained by Murphy, and got a few pats and several kisses in. Below we have Luc moments after a kiss. How do I know this? Because he'd kiss Murphy with a big open mouth, then close it afterwards and smile!

Murphy loved their house, which has a circular path from the entry to the family room and kitchen, then to the dining room and living room, returning you to the entry hall. He made this circuit several times. He also loved their backyard, with a pond that by some miracle he only looked at.

Murphy was loving having two babies to scavenge food from, but he'd gotten so excited that I ended up leashing him down to a couch:

So after our lunch (Krista made a delicious spread of meat, dairy and wheat free foods to accommodate Allie and my food issues) we went out for a walk around their neighbourhood, and then we headed home. The trip back turned out to be a bit of a nightmare - the ferry was over 30 minutes late, leading us to spend over an hour in the lineup to board. Normally that wouldn't be so bad, but with two adults, a toddler and a dog in one small car, it quickly became annoying, to put it nicely.

Allie and I switched places so she could spend some time in the backseat with Owen, and I captured a few shots of Owen playing:

He stayed there for the ride home. This is only the second time he's ever been in the front seat, due to the risk of the air bag going off. He loved it, of course:

Notice, above, Allie giving him a pat. He had his pillow with him, so he snuggled right in:

But he also took the opportunity to scavenge for any other treats Owen might have dropped:

And then we drove the remaining 20 minutes back to Allie's. Murphy and I left the next day, and made it home in time for a groom before bed. That's it for April, so far at least!

Email me!

Meghan

Here's the link to the next update: May 2008
Here's the link to the previous update: January/February/March 2008

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