Doggonnit!

There was a day when Mabel was our only child. When people came over to visit us, I'm sure we were annoying. We'd actually compare our dog to their kids. And sometimes Mabel would win the Best Kid Award. I mean, she had some pretty impressive tricks when compared to some 1 year-old humans... (would sit on command, could stand up, cleaned the floor, didn't need diapers, etc).

Before Joel and Jamie came along, Mabel would have been the highlight of this blog. Oh, how times have changed. I realized about a week ago that Mabel hadn't even been mentioned, yet. And it took me another week to get around to mentioning her. I think she knows she's been demoted. Yet, I think it happened gradually enough that I can't point to a particular moment or time when she seemed to protest it. She's always been the Omega dog in the family, so maybe it was a relatively easy transition. Or, since her sleep has been just as affected as ours by the new kids on the block, she's too tired to worry about one-upping them.

Alas, she's as patient as ever. She loves us still. She remembers her tricks, even without frequent practice. And, like us, she lives for the kids' bedtimes when she can resume her place on the couch curled up between us.