my favorite picture ever.

i know i've mentioned that avery's a huge fan of ollie and that he's by far her favorite animal of the house. but she's really into all of them, toby aside because he's a cranky cat.  side story: the other day i sat down in the chair near toby and he got up and walked away, not surprising.  i called his name and he stopped, turned his head and looked at me and hissed.  for no reason.  see? mean.

anyway, ollie and the dogs are doing fine with the baby.  henry's gotten over his jealousy from the beginning and both of the dogs will greet her when we come home from places and give her the occasional lick or sniff just to say hi.  she's really into feeling different things right now, the couch! the pillow! the stroller! the blanket! and the animals are a favorite because they're so soft.  occasionally i'll get down on the floor with her next to them and just let her pet them for a bit.  dunkin usually lasts longer because he's dunkin and will do just about anything that charlie or i ask of him.  she was petting him tonight and got tired and decided just to lay her head down on him and rest for a bit.  pretty much the sweetest thing i've ever seen.  

before i was pregnant and before we were even thinking about having kids charlie used to say, 'we have to have kids before dunkin dies'.  i'm pretty sure it's because of moments like this.  he is such a great dog and i hope that avery grows up to have the same appreciation for animals that we do.  as much as i love my baby(and believe me the dogs don't come anywhere close to that) i love the dogs, too, and i can't imagine a home without a dog.