When I first moved to China 5.5 years ago, I was so homesick that my husband decided to buy me a dog to keep me company as he traveled a lot for work. My little brown weiner dog (Dachshund) became my constant companion. Raising her as a little puppy was much like having a newborn. I had to wake in the middle of the night to take her out to the balcony to use the bathroom. We wanted to train her to sleep by herself so had put her in her own bed in her own room and had to let her “cry it out.” However, we were weak and couldn’t bear to here the whimpers, plus it was winter and cold so slowly she moved her way into our bed. And so it was for the past 5 years. Kaycee traveled with us everywhere in a little backpack much like a baby carrier. She went to restaurants with us and learned how to sit at the table and not whine until we were done. She was our baby.

That is until our real baby came last October. When we first arrived home from the hospital, Kaycee had no idea what was going on. She used to be all over the couch over the bed anywhere we were, she was. Now, if we were on the bed with Tanner, it was “No! Off Kaycee!” If we were on the couch with Tanner it was “No! Off Kaycee!” If we had just washed our hands anticipating touching Tanner and Kaycee came by for a quick lick, it was “No! Off Kaycee!” Soon, Kaycee learned that someone else had taken her place and she slowly stopped climbing onto our laps and slowly learned how to snuggle herself on her own.

As sad as it sounds, it’s so true for so many new parents who had animals, that you love your animal like your own child until you really do end up having your own child. Now we worry about taking Kaycee out for walks because she comes back with so much dirt from the outside that she immediately gets carried inside and straight into the bathtub for a bath.

On a happier note, now that Tanner is 8 months old, both he and Kaycee have found a new playmate. Tanner gets such a kick out of Kaycee running around with her toys and will call for her when she is playing beside him. He’ll see her on the couch and smile at her and wonder why isn’t she smiling back? Kaycee loves licking Tanner all over and while she still hears “No! Kaycee off,” She’s better at realizing that every night at 7pm when Tanner goes to sleep, Kaycee becomes baby #1 again. And she still gets to sleep in our bed, even though Tanner doesn’t. So I guess that’s 1 point for Kaycee.