sleeping with the enemy

willoughby and i have been together since he was 4 months old. he truly was my "first baby". (he still is!) and the two of us lived together in a little brentwood apartment in los angeles. it didnt even have air conditioning, but i wound up installing a unit, so willoughby wouldnt be so hot in the summers. he came everywhere with me. in LA....its not a problem to go places with your dog. so he went everywhere from the gap to neiman marcus to barneys. he even sometimes came to work with me. (that is.... until he bit the ups guy!) so....suffice to say, i was never going to ignore him once we added on to our family. first with dan and his two cats. then with hayden.

since the day we brought hayden home from the hospital, willoughby was cautiously curious of him. and regardless of his jealousy, he was never too far away from baby hayden. he always slept next to him. (despite my mothers attempts to bar this behavior. she had paranoid thoughts of willoughby possibly attacking him. she also thought my 5 pound cat, who is afraid of her own tail...would suffocate him in his crib! yeah...we know shes crazy.) anyway...when hayden would cry, willoughby would get upset. he was very protective of hayden. then hayden started growing, and using willoughby as a toy. he sort of just "tolerated" hayden as he pulled on his ears and tail. their relationship changed, and continues to change.

so its been 3 1/2 years since willoughby met hayden, on that night we put his little baby carrier in front of him. he is still somewhat intrigued by haydens "doings", but generally steers clear of his advances. willoughby is still growling at him. as a matter of fact, all hayden has to do now is just look in willoughbys direction, and hell automatically growl at him. i call it a "love growl", because i know he would never hurt hayden. the other thing that remains the same, is the sleeping arrangements in the house. during slumbering hours, willoughby is always right where hayden is. i used to think it was because he just liked haydens blanket. but i soon realized that no matter where hayden was sleeping...be it the sofa, floor, my room, his bed...wherever; was where willoughby plopped down.

so why am i boring you with stories about where my dog sleeps? well...i dont know! i just really like how my dog pretends to dislike my kid, but secretly really loves him. its always been a bit of a "love/hate" relationship. when i have a chance...i might blog about the relationship between my dog and my two cats. why? i dont know....just cuz!

*note: these are the kind of things you blog about when youre stuck at home all day and stir-crazy with a sick kid. :(