The other day my Aunt Ann Marie asked me about how Nixon was
doing with Zoey. I guess I haven’t
really said anything about their relationship, but I would like to record it
because I think they have a pretty cute dynamic.
Judd and I never did the whole “bring one of your baby’s
blankets home before the baby so the dog can get used to it” thing, but I kind
of wish we had. I don’t know if it would
have necessarily changed anything, but maybe we will try it for Baby #2.
When Nixon and Zoey first met, I don’t think Nixon liked
her. They didn’t hit it off immediately
like you read about in books or see in the movies. I think that was partly my fault because I
was so protective over Zoey. I would be
sitting on my bed or couch holding this little life in my hands and then my dog
who had just been outside doing who knows what would come over and get all up
in her face and try to smell her and I would just push him away. Nixon and I have always snuggled on the
couch, but if Zoey and I were on the couch then he couldn’t even be near
it.
I know that I probably took the wrong approach to this but I
was so scared and nervous about being a first time mom that I wasn’t thinking
rationally. Anyway, after a couple of
weeks of behaving like this, I noticed that Nixon stopped coming near me. Not in the giving-me-and-the-baby-distance
sense, but because he genuinely stopped liking me. Even if I wasn’t holding Zoey and would try
to cuddle with Nixon, he would avoid me or escape my grasp once he got the
chance.
That really bothered me—especially since Nixon has always
been my little companion. I felt guilty
about the way I had introduced Zoey into Nixon’s world. I had never considered how having a baby in
the house would change Nixon’s life and I hadn’t respected him enough to help
ease the transition.
So that is when I decided to make a change. I would let Nixon come up and sniff Zoey
instead of my usual pushing him away. I
would spend more Nixon-and-me time by taking him on longer walks and playing
games like fetch and tug-of-war. And
slowly I began to see a change in Nixon.
He began greeting me at the door again and also started to
greet Zoey. He would walk up to her
carseat and sniff around. Judd and I
joke that he does that to make sure that we brought the right baby back. I also find him walking up to Zoey while she
is doing tummy-time and sniff her.
It looks like Nixon really has begun to accept Zoey as a
member of the pack. Especially since he
has started to cuddle up to her when they sleep. Anyone who knows Nixon knows that he doesn’t
choose cuddle partners lightly. So when
Zoey and I were lying in bed one morning and Zoey snuggled up to her instead of
me, I was shocked—in a good way. He has
only done it a couple of other times since then, but that alone shows me that
Nixon and Zoey are going to get along just fine.
We are still getting used to having Zoey in this world, and
with her changing so fast I bet we will never get used to it. But we wouldn’t have it any other way. I snapped these pictures this morning of
Nixon greeting Zoey when we came home.
They are pretty cute I guess.
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