Cats and Dogs

The sky has been lighting up for the past two hours and I'm grateful to have made it home from my kids-are-in-bed-so-I-can-go-grocery-shopping-now run without being drenched.  The thunder sounds increasingly angry and I'm anticipating that it will be raining cats and dogs soon.

Speaking of cats and dogs, I was thinking the other day that Charlie is a little like a cat these days.  He takes little naps here and there, poops a lot, whines when he needs attention, and purrs.  I mean, and he likes to play with string.  Whenever he has drawstrings on his little shorts, or I have a tie on the front of my shirt, he is batting at it, clutching it, chewing on it, sucking on it, and practically playing cat's cradle with it (my apologies; I couldn't resist one more feline reference).

Meanwhile, Oliver's new thing is pretending to be a puppy.  He walks around with sad eyes, eyebrows raised, asking, "Woof?" in the quietest, sweetest voice he can conjure. And then I say, "oh, what a cute little puppy," and give him a pat on the head or scratch his back.  "Did you sleep well last night, little puppy?" I asked this morning when I saw his face transform into that inquisitive look.  "Woof, woof!" he nodded, and sidled up to me for a morning nuzzle.  I like Oliver as a puppy.  He is absolutely the sweetest, mildest and cuddliest form of him that there ever was.  If I ask him for a kiss, he gives me a very gentle peck on the cheek. But this morning, when I asked for a puppy kiss, he turned and licked my face. 

I had a thought this afternoon that perhaps I should be expanding on his creative play, encouraging his imagination.

"Little puppy," I said.  "Do you want some water to drink?"

"Woof, woof!" he said sweetly and nodded vigorously.  I took a bowl from the cupboard.  Michael shot me a look.

"No," he said, and shook his head, "no, do not-"

I filled the bowl with water and placed it on the floor, and my little puppy was far from breaking character.  He lapped it up as if he had been drinking out of a bowl since the day he was born.

Next I shall teach him to fetch my slippers.