Day 34 A.M.

I find small humans endlessly fascinating. Like puppies, children bloom in front of us. There are so many layers and nuances to notice — if we pay attention.

An advantage to being a grandparent is that one’s vantage point shifts — like a turn of the kaleidoscope. The same age child is suddenly an entirely different picture from when we were the parent.

Gone are the heavy burdens and responsibilities of parenthood and so you are free to simply marvel at the charming, incredible new person blooming in front of your eyes. It is amazing.

The benefit of time and age is understanding that few things in life are as serious as we think they are in the moment. The puppy will not turn into an ax murderer if she is not house trained by nine weeks or misses an episode of Puppy Einstein.

That doesn’t mean we should not do our best to shape an enriched and loving environment for children and puppies — we should. But if we forget to dremel the puppies nails one day — meh.

Expecting a 19-month-old to manage himself with small puppies is totally unrealistic — and unfair.

In the same way, expecting a puppy not to bite and chew is entirely unrealistic and unfair — and so you wear long sleeves, cover up your toes with a towel, and enjoy what is wonderful about small puppies.

Time will take care of the biting and chewing — and will also take away the small, cute, new puppies. It all goes together.

And it goes so so fast.

Knowing this invites us to cherish the moment and not sweat the small stuff — like tiny puncture wounds or puddles of pee or graham crackers EVERYWHERE.

Sparkle did get most of that graham cracker

Instead, we appreciate that there are puppies to bite us and grandchildren to leave soggy graham crackers in our coffee.

Nothing is forever — except maybe love.

This is the face of a little human who had to leave the puppies and head back to Boise. Sigh.

For those who remember about her health issues — Berkeley still has low blood sugar issues for unknown reasons. Her wonderful parents have figured out how to manage it through diet and frequent testing — and watching her affect, which changes when she is going low — but none of the specialists or the various tests have identified the cause. Hopefully, she will outgrow it…

Have a wonderful day!

EVENING: PHOTOS FROM THE DAY

The puppies will be five weeks old tomorrow and so it seemed like a good day to start eating “solid” food.

The meal was pureed cooked chicken and sweet potato. I want to make sure everyone gets their fair share and discourage them from feeling rushed while eating — and so they eat individually. Well, except Pete joined…

Karma and Lupine.

I bought this toddler extravaganza for the puppies but when I heard the small humans were planning a visit, I saved it for them. It was a hit for a day or two of their visit but like puppies, small humans like novelty.

Since the small humans have left (much sadness) — and it was raining today — I turned the living room into a puppy play area.