Headshot

Just the proud mommie's favorite pic of Kharma. She is just 12 weeks old in this photo and I think it shows how sweet she is.

At this age, it was hard to get her to stop moving long enough to capture a nice shot. She stopped chewing on the strawberry carton for a sec. This photo was one in a series of 38(!), most of which show a blur of activity and motion. Thank heavens for digital cameras--what did we do before?!

Me and the Mutt

She got her second bath this weekend and she looked so fluffy and clean that we couldn't resist taking lots of pix. We can't believe how much she has grown! She is now 14 weeks old and her legs seem to have grown overnight. Her body is much longer and she is finally putting on some weight.
I am afraid that I won't be able to cart around my "baby" much longer! She is such an adorable chunk of pup and we've enjoyed her cute puppy stage.

However, she is now officially in the "pain the rear" stage. She jumps up on us. She thinks our hands were made for her to put in her mouth as much as possible. She believes anything we are holding is a toy for her and she is entitled to jump and tug on it. She loves doing naughty things, like sneaking upstairs, because it is such fun. We love her anyway.

We are party poopers in her mind because we are telling her NO! constantly, but she loves us anyway.

The Witching Hour

You know how kids get really, really tired? And instead of sleeping, they get hyperactive? And the more they move around and get silly, the more wound up they get? And unless parents step in quickly and stop this process, the child will not be going to sleep without many tears and the parents will wonder why in the world they ever wanted children?

Every night from 8 to 9, Kharma becomes Wild Puppy. She plays crazily with her toys, running from one end of the house to the other, jumping up on us (a no-no), and biting everything (another no-no) from furniture to hands. Every attempt to discipline her or focus her attention on something different is doomed to failure. In fact, she openly laughs at us when we try.

But this is the cool thing--apparently puppy chemistry is not like kid chemistry at all! Kharma can act like a whirling dervish for the hour and then she suddenly will calm down, lie on my feet, and nod off.

It's magical!

p.s. She sleeps almost 11 hours now.

Single Mom

Life is good. Homecoming now feels right. I put my key in the door and the very first thing I do is get Kharma, give her an all-over rub and take her out to the lawn. It's so nice not to come home to an empty house.

However...

It can be a challenge to take a shower or clean upstairs or use the bathroom, because like all new moms I AM NEVER ALONE!

So I am looking forward to the puppy's daddy coming home tomorrow. Yes, I'll be glad to see him for his own sweet self, but I am also looking forward to having someone else to share the joys and responsibilities of puppy parenthood with. I hope to actually take a quick walk with my walking partner one afternoon. I want to walk upstairs without either banishing Kharma to her laundry room lair or outside. I want to cook without checking on her whereabouts every 3.5 seconds. I want to fall asleep watching TV and not wake up to find her somewhere she shouldn't be.

I am ready to resign my single motherhood and go back to being a two-parent family!

Sweet Sounds of Slumber

Kharma sleeps through the night! She goes down without a whimper even and doesn't get me up until morning. I think she is wonderful. She still hasn't had an accident, she is learning her name, she does great on car rides, and she is growing cute cinnamon-colored eyelashes.

I honestly think she is bigger today than two days ago. Her paws have definitely grown some and her legs are longer.

I'm not sure exactly what she does all night, but I know it isn't all sleeping. (She sleeps in the laundry room/downstairs bathroom.) Yesterday, I found a towel and magazine soaking in the toilet. Today the soap on the counter was knocked over into the sink. And handtowels move around the room.

The important thing is, I get my sleep! (But I plan to remove everything from every surface possible tomorrow. Come to think of it, I may even figure out a way to close the cupboards before she decides to look inside and play with the contents!)

Currently Blooming

• The first tulips have opened.
• We've had just enough warm weather for the cherry tree (fruit, not flowering) to burst into creamy white which always reminds me of Anne of Green Gables.
• The hyacinths which didn't do much last year, are striking this year in purple, white, blue and pink.
• The creeping phlox is spreading pink joyousness which I will probably remember when I begin wanting to get rid of the prickly little rascals later in summer.
• The daffodils are on their way out, but still give us sunshiny dreams.
• Ditto most of the peach blossoms, but we have hope that the lower branches will flower momentarily while we have weather that is actually above 70(!!!) degrees. We are hoping the bees notice and drop by for a little pollenizing 'cause I just love a totally ripe peach warm from the branch.
• The volunteer violas are blooming through the bricks. One had the honor of being the first flower destroyed by Kharma.
• The dandelions have apparently been informed that there will be NO herbicides applied in the backyard due to a new puppy and have reacted accordingly. Said puppy has begun to imitate her mommy and is industriously pawing at them and biting off their little golden heads. Good dog!

Name Game

Yes, she has a name.

I made a list; he made a list. We kept adding to the list and the list got longer and longer. I called her by various names each time I took her out to do her business, just to see what they sounded like in real life. The poor pup knew what "Do your business!" meant, but had no idea what her name was.

I began crossing off names. His list stayed the same. I would say things like, "She needs a name before you leave again." and "How can I tell her not to chew up the bentwood rocker if I don't know her name?" Right before he left, he told me his list was on the computer. And here I thought the name list was the lined tablet on the kitchen table. I told him to print it out (this was when I was velcroed to the pup and hard copy was preferable to a computer screen that was upstairs when her bed was downstairs, not to mention the lawn where the real business was done). He was walking out the door and asking if I'd seen the list. Right about then, being a single parent with a pup who didn't sleep through the night was high on my list of worries for the next ten days, NOT a cyberlist.

But I did finally look and I did print it out. I found some good possibilities and circled all my favorites. I even circled the good ones that started with a T, although I knew I'd never live it down if we picked one after our other dogs both had T names. I anxiously awaited his call. When it finally came, he was more interested in settling in since it was late and his flight was delayed over 2 hours, his car reservation went belly up and his non-smoking hotel room was stinky. Phooey!

I looked at his list again. People kept asking me what her name was. I finally began telling everyone that I was calling her Good Dog and my sweetie was calling her No. At least if I couldn't come up with her name, I could get a laugh. His nightly call came, I told him my favorites from his list. We batted them around, eliminated two, talked about them some more, and finally made a decision. One of the names on his list really had surprised me when I read it. It was not one I had thought of, but I had been using it. Remember way back last week when I posted the story of how we finally found the perfect puppy? Well, the title I used was one of the names on his list. The other names were good, but the coincidence was too much to ignore.

Now we can say we really do have good Kharma at our house!

p.s. I have been getting a full night's worth of sleep for the past three nights. Yes, I do get up with her around two or three and spend some time with her under the incense cedar where it's dry and very pee-able, but she settles down quickly and sleeps well. I love my pup.