Saturday, September 26, 2009

Sibling Rivalry?

Announcing we are pregnant to friends and family has been one of the most enjoyable parts of this whole experience.  Naturally everyone wants to know the due date, how Jenny has been feeling, whether we know if its a boy or girl, and if we're ready for an eight pound, two ounce wrecking ball to demolish our sleep cycle.  Okay, maybe not the last one.  But in our particular situation - as the initial excitement wanes a bit -another question inevitably follows:  How is Hamilton going to react?

Of course we are inclined to say that Hamilton will LOVE having a baby in the house. After all, species differences aside, it will be his little brother/sister, right?  Truth be told, we have no idea how Hamilton will react sharing his home with an attention hogging, midnight wailing, can't-play-fetch-worth-a-darn-with-those-teenie-tiny-baby-arms bundle of joy. 

Although we don't know for sure, Hamilton has given us some - albeit little - insight into how he will cope.  Our greatest consolation has been his manner with his one-year-old cousin, Mckynna.  He absolutely loves her, and despite his tendency to be a little...well, um..."enthusiastic," he has always been surprisingly gentle with her.  He has nestled up beside her while she slept, sneaks kisses whenever he can, and obsessively follows her every move. 

So we're in the clear, right?  Not so fast.  As soon as we saw the faded pink "=" on the pregnancy test, we embraced and we cheered and we danced about (but in a manly way, you know).  Hamilton had a slightly different reaction.  He crept into the bathroom, located the pregnancy test instructions, took them into his mighty jaws, and then ran wildly around the house tearing them to shreds.  Yes, this really happened.

Now, Hamilton is and never has been a destructive dog.  Energetic, a bit obsessive, terribly spoiled...yes, but he's never even so much as gnawed a tennis shoe.  As most of you know, he is very intelligent and constantly amazes us with his intuitiveness.  Therefore we are a more than a bit concerned that this was no random act. 

Was he acting out in symbolic protest of losing his title as "baby of the house?"  Only time will tell. 















He that is not jealous is not in love- St. Augustine

1 comments:

Anonymous said...

Happy birthday, Soon to be Daddy. When Lindsay was born, we had a samoyed. We were worried because she was our first baby. They told us at the hospital to bring the dog out tothe car when you get home from the hospital and let the dog bring the baby into the house. It worked because she was great with the babies. She wouldn't let anyone neat them and slept under their cradles. Good luck. xoxoxoxo Terry