Truckie

Lets talk about Truck... no not that thing that drives and has wheels.... This Truck:

As much as I thought he was the cutest fluff ball ever and that we just NEEDED to have him. I was also on the fence about the decision. We had a bad experience with the last pup we brought home. No amount of training was going to fix his food aggression and he wasn't a safe dog for a family. He was a sweetheart, but a switch would flip on him when he would smell food and he would turn evil in a second. It scarred me. It scarred Ryan too (and probably Bailey our older dog as well).  Ryan kept saying, " You know what happened the last time we got a puppy, it didn't end well."    But something kept telling me it was a great idea... and it was!

Truck fits in so well. He and Colin are like best friends. They follow each other all over the back yard. They wrestle and play chase. They are like brothers and I just love it!

  Bailey is still on the fence about him, but they play and have a good dog romping session every morning. He follows her everywhere too and she isn't too fond of that. She likes her space and does not like to snuggle. But she is getting old and grouchy. I sit on the swing in the backyard and pet and brush her while the two crazy boys run all over. It works out splendidly!

Truck is such a happy goofy dog. It is funny when we are in public he acts like a saint and very calm... but he isn't calm at all at home!

I didn't feed the dogs together for like the first month because I was soo paranoid. Turns out truck doesn't have a food aggressive bone in his body and Bailey is the top dog and eats her food and his and he doesn't know what to do so he just barks at her!

We took both dogs camping this past weekend and they both did amazing. Bailey is a pro at camping, but it was Truck's first experience. He picks up fast, stayed close to camp and didn't fuss.

He is sleeping in a crate at night in the house with Bailey in the laundry room.    The laundry room doors don't shut so he can't be free because he would escape. Bailey on the other hand goes and lays in her bed even though she knows the doors are open and sleeps all night.

I just love that goofball of a pup and I'm so glad we brought him home!

His only issue is he is a chicken. He is afraid of everything and especially other dogs. I don't understand that but we may need to take him to get some training on it. I've recently discovered he is only afraid of dogs that are bigger than him, which I suppose is understandable.  He growled at Bailey for the first day he was here and then decided she was his BFF.  I took him for  a walk at the park last week and to the dog park and he did really good with the small dogs, but growled something fierce at the big ones. So I think it is just that he is afraid!

Also I thought he was going to be a giant dog and he isn't. I think he may end up to be a little bit bigger than bailey, but that's it. He has white Shepherd and Golden Retriever in him, but he looks like a golden version of his mom and she isn't very big.

So there you have it. My little Truckie.

Mommy Wars

Can we talk about mommy wars? I hate them. Maybe because I don't follow mainstream parenting and people are always acting all judgy on me, but I hate them. A lot. 

I'm sure people think that because I'm all pro breastfeeding that means I'm anti bottle feeding. That is not the case. My job is to help people breastfeed as long as THEY want to, not tell people when they should stop or why they should start. That is a very personal choice. One of my really good friends here bottle feeds. Do I care, heck no! I won't judge her if she doesn't judge me for nursing an almost 3 year old! Ha!  

Anyway. Why do mothers feel the need to start wars? I just don't get it. Parenthood is hard. Soo hard. Moms struggle. It isn't easy. Some days it takes everything you can to make it to bedtime.  We are critical of ourselves we worry constantly if we are screwing up our children... Do we need other mothers butting their noses in to tell you that you are indeed screwing up? NO! Heck No!! We need to lift eachother up. Support eachother, no matter if you agree with what the mom is doing or not. It is not your monkey or your circus... BUT another mom who probably needs a pat on the back (or a drink) instead of kick in the teeth or a punch in the throat.  Don't tell her she is wrong, don't tell her she is doing things badly or not how you do them. Tell her she doing great. She is doing wonderful and to keep up the great work.  Some days just keeping the kids uninjured and fed is a huge victory and we need to remember that.

Yes we are still breastfeeding. Yes we are still waking up at night. Yes we choose cuddles over sleep training. Yes we have a flexible bed time. Yes we practice gentle parenting and lots of love. Am I a bad mom. Nope. Do I need work? Don't we all? I'm doing my best and I know you are too. Please don't tell me I'm doing it all wrong and instead tell someone they are doing it all right.  Because you know they are trying their very hardest to be the best they can be to their babies. Let's end these stupid mommy wars and support eachother or at least bring them a big bottle of wine! ;)