Before we dive in to this week’s blog topic of puppies vs. babies (Sounds like a pretty adorable blog, huh?), let me take a moment to introduce myself. My name is Chelsea. I’ve been with the Market Street team as a receptionist and technician since November of 2013. After having my first child at the end July of 2015, I have moved to a “behind the scenes” position. My husband and I live in Leesburg with our now 6 month old daughter (Hayley) and our 4 year old Great Dane/Lab Mix (River).
Now that we’ve got that out of the way, who’s ready for some super cute pictures of my pup and baby?!
My husband and I got River when he was 8 weeks old. If you’ve never owned a puppy, let me tell you, it is a lot of work. River loved to chew everything. He chewed phone chargers, blankets, carpet, plastic coat hangers, belts, clothes, speaker wire, the fish net, and many other things. You name it, he probably chewed on it. You could not let this dog out of your site for even a second or there would be mass destruction. There also was the issue of house breaking. Oh. My. Goodness. Without getting too graphic, let’s just say that River made the carpets in our apartment a work of art. Both of those issues, combined with the fact that he didn’t want to sleep by himself at night and constantly wanted to play with our other older dog, made for some very stressful times for us. But, alas, we survived the puppy stage and now have a much better behaved dog, although he still has the energy of a puppy!
Four years later, we welcomed our beautiful baby girl in to the world and became “real” parents.
But, you see, puppies and babies do have quite a few things in common. Or maybe it’s just that I have a serious case of “Mommy Brain” and get the two mixed up. Yesterday, for example, I told my husband that I had just laid Hayley down in her crate. Yes, I said crate, not crib. Again, “Mommy Brain.”
Hayley is 6 months old now and just discovering the wonderful world of food. My husband and I were recently discussing what kind of foods we should introduce to her and I automatically replied with “Well, she can’t have garlic, onions, or chocolate. Those are toxic.” My husband gave me a questioning look and said “Chels, she isn’t a dog.”
I also often refer to my daughter’s teething toys as “chew toys”. I may or may not have asked my husband why we can’t just buy her a Nylabone to chew on…
While I’m getting the hang of separating these things in my brain, there certainly are days when I have to stop myself and say, “No, Chelsea. That’s for dogs. Not babies. They don’t have the same rules.” I can’t be the only one like this, right? And even if I am, at the end of the day, my dog and my baby are both happy and healthy.
