The Day of 15 Dogs

I was recently having a rough week. Sofia wasn't into napping according to any regular schedule, or at all really. She was teething, she was sick, she was ready to run all over the place, holding my hand, whether or not I had the energy. Almost every night that week I had places to be and Manny had to work late to keep up with the demands of finals week. I was exhausted and strung out. 

But then there was the day of 15 dogs. After five straight days of this madness, Sofia miraculously re-learned how to nap - TWICE! That meant I got to catch up on all these projects that were dying to get done, like making the house presentable for people I was having over, trying to prepare for Christmas, having a moment of peace and quiet to recharge for the next bout of running all around. Don't get me wrong, the walking and eager learning is overwhelmingly precious, but it still takes energy to seep all that good stuff in! 

As Sofia woke up from her first nap, my friend came over with her baby girl for lunch. She is calmer and wiser and more delightful than me, so she was welcome company in a hectic week! But perhaps the most precious thing was the site of our girls together. Her little one is only 6 months, and Sofia is about 11 months now. They're not supposed to be too aware of each other or wanting to interact until they're like 5 years old. But I have a friendly baby. She is super into kissing and affection lately. But her kisses consist of opening her jaws as wide as possible, beaming a huge smile with her eyes, and leaning in for the kill. "Kill" here means placing her open, slobbery mouth on the target, such as the top of another baby's head. It is a little bit terrifying and a lot a bit hilarious and I can't get enough. Neither could Sofia's new little friend. There were big kisses followed by long trills of laughter from the both of them. And it just wasn't just one sided. Sofia has had some weight gain issues for a few months, so she's pretty tiny for her age. Tiny enough that she's smaller than her younger little friend, who is not quite as mobile as Sofia is now (though more mobile than Sofia was at that age). So while Sofia was crawling all around, pouncing on her friend with kisses, her friend was sitting up, a bit helpless to control all the excitement. But every now and then, when Sofia would get close enough, her little friend would come in with a good strong lean, both arms spread wide open, and collapse on her with a huge hug. Awesome.

After lunch, we took a few minutes to be quiet and recharge before we headed out to the woods for a walk. I have been taking her out for two walks a day for months, which has been great exercise. But the more active she is becoming, the less patient she is to just sit while I get to be the one moving around freely. Also, have I mentioned that Sofia loves dogs? So here we are on our little path through the woods, and we haven't even seen a dog yet, but she hears them barking from afar. So she orders me with her own little bark to let her out of the ergo to walk around and use her own legs for a change. We step from the wooded path onto the field and she's off, running all around in circles, still holding my hands, dragging me along behind her. Then one of the dogs notices the little person and heads our way. Even though the owner called him back, it got Sofia's attention, and she just had to see that pup. She started tearing off in the direction of the dogs, to find that it was not just one, but about 5-8 all congregating with their owners, enjoying the fine day. And there was little Sofia, in the middle of all of them, just about their same height, sometimes shorter, barely knowing which way to turn around and look, because in every direction, there were more dogs. 

Apparently this drew some attention, and all the other dog walkers out on the path or around the woods responded to the sound of the barking and fun and began to congregate. Sometimes multiple owners walking together with their one dog, sometimes one owner walking two poodles, and then the doggy daycare lady who had about 8 all strapped to her waist. I figure in the end, there were at least fifteen dogs Sofia got her hands on. 

These people don't introduce themselves, but they learn each others' dogs' names, and so Sofia also got introduced all around. One person's dog was 4 months, another was 12 years, and mine was 11 months - I mean . . . Everyone kept asking, "What breed is she?" heh heh - just like all the men at the grocery store that ask me which isle I got her in. 

All the dogs wanted to give her huge licks on the face, and my open-mouthed-kissing-Sofia just wanted to slobber them right back. To be honest, I was picturing in my mind the potential trip to the ER after five of them tackled or bit my daughter, but I was trying to play cool so that Sofia wouldn't learn to be afraid. And if I was showing signs of fear, she sure didn't pick up on them. She got along swimmingly well with her furry friends. She was in Sofia-Heaven! I wish I had had a chance to document this with pictures, but my hands were a bit full. It was amazing and totally worth the hives I broke out in later due to my dog allergy. 

That night my Manny came home with a Calculus exam off his back, and I closed out this wonderful day with the last session of an Esther bible study with some girlfriends. What a wonderful day! Praise God for joyful grace like this in a hectic season!