Peace on Earth

It's not exactly the lion and the lamb, but she sure loves that dog. Rebound is just getting to the point where he'll let Harper pet him or sit near him. He used to get up and move whenever she approached. Perhaps his new willingness has to do with the fact that Harper mostly eats table food now and feeds him pretty generously by way of the floor. In fact, we usually know she's finished eating when she starts throwing her food to the floor on purpose and then watching for Rebound to come and get it.
















It will be great fun for both of them when they can chase each other around. Rebound, in his exuberant playfulness has managed to knock Harper over once or twice. I don't think he's ever hurt her, but it does startle her. She'll cringe when he comes running into the room, even though he usually misses her. Since there aren't any other children or dogs in the house (and no plans for either in the near future), they are each other's best bet for built-in entertainment. Me, I only have so many hours of playing on the floor in me each day.

They act remarkably like siblings at times. Harper has recently discovered the joy of tormenting Rebound. The other day we gave her an empty tissue box to explore. She absolutely delighted in banging Rebound on the nose with it. He kept trying to bite onto it but mostly just ended up making his head bob all around. Harper found this uproariously funny. Since then she has found great joy in tormenting Rebound with any number of household objects. Last night it was the plastic spoon we use for pasta. He's a good sport. To be fair, she also tries to play with him in nice ways. Yesterday he was all curled up on the couch and she got a rope toy out of his basket and, with much effort, pulled it up onto the couch to give to him.

Once in a while Rebound does get jealous of all the attention heaped upon Harper. Usually he lets us know by eating one of her toys. We've discovered certain things we must put away anytime we leave a room. Like the Little People farm animals. Sadly the horse is no longer with us. Fortunately Fisher Price must have anticipated this exact situation and a set of replacement animals (a new horse for now, and the rest as insurance) will be on the way to our house shortly.

So they torment each other, tease each other, play with the other guy's stuff. . . but mostly they love each other. And if there can't be peace on earth, let there at least be peace in our living room.