All My Children

My son's youngest cousin, my soon to be one-year-old nephew, appears to be allergic to dogs.  The dogs at my parents' house come around him and his eyes immediately start to turn red, and water.

All while my son runs tearing by, holding out a squeaky toy so the dogs will chase and jump on him.  It makes me really bummed for my nephew.

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A fish called "Melmo".

My husband and my son took a very special trip to the petstore after school this afternoon. It was decided that the little man is old enough to pick out a pet.

Obviously, there were severe limitations on his choice. While the baby bunnies were adorable, lagomorphs are simply a bit too high-maintenance. Ditto for psittacines (who are also too noisy). No, baby boy was allowed to pick out a betta splendens. He picked out a spunky little male with a pink body and purple fins, and named him "Melmo" (how he says "Elmo").

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Post exchange: Insert dog-related pun here

Sorry, but saying "8PP is going to the dogs" seemed way too easy. Something about me possibly catching fleas? No? Eh, I'll come up with something good as soon as I hit the publish button. That's the way it always works.

Anyway, I want off by revealing something a little personal and embarrassing (but in a cute way.) As those who know me in real life can attest, I love aquariums, and my husband and I have been keeping many for years now. One of the things he does to crack me up is to provide dialogue for our fish's "conversations", often with different voices and accents based on the fish's appearance. (At one point, we had a french rainbow shark, and a puffer with a lisp.)

That was why I had to laugh out loud when I stumbled across Fluffy's Day Off. It's a blog written by a stay-at-home shih-tzu. Alongside complaints about cats are lamentations about getting fat and needing a bath. It's very cute stuff.

Also, my son is at the age where he has major puppy love. This weekend we visited a greyhound rescue event, and the workers complimented us on his good manners and general easiness around dogs. (He got really happy and giggly when two greyhounds besieged his face with kisses.) Then, at our friends' Super Bowl party last night, he made fast buddies with their 6-month-old pitbull puppy. (Despite breed stereotypes, staffordshire terriers are great with kids, so long as they're introduced at an early age.)

So when I find blogs like Fluffy's Day Off, I can't help but think how much fun it will be in a few months when my son will be entertained via stories narrated by a doggy.

How to Tell if your Toddler is Hyper-Masculine (or Feminine)

I remembered not long after submitting my last post that I'm acquainted with far too many people with far too little sense of humor. That's why I feel the need to follow up here and assure you: No, I don't really think my son is gay. (Again, I think he's still only, you know, 1, so it's probably a little early to tell one way or the other.)

But, in the interest of presenting both sides of the grime-encrusted coin that is my boogery little toddler's personality, I present to you all the ways that I fear my son may actually be too masculine:

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