December 15, 2010

White Dog totally sympathizes with her brother, Quinn, and his need to sometimes just have "alone" time. Because of his gentle nature and even temperament he seldom tells his sisters to stopping tailgating him. He lets them push into his time for pets. He sits back and allows Nuka, in particular, to take his turn during treat handouts. When it gets too overwhelming TOWD puts his head resignedly in your lap (until AWD or SAWD come to investigate what he is doing)...then he simply wanders off to his own space.

Even "his" space has been changed since the arrival of the new kids. Quinn, when he first arrived in March, quickly claimed the office closet for his "pup cave." We put some blankets on the floor and he was happy and comfortable in that space.

Then Nuka came and we put her bed in our bedroom where she happily slept for the first couple of weeks. But she developed a sweet habit of laying at the edge of TOWD's blankets in his closet and staying part of the night there. Slowly AWD moved closer to him and tried to cuddle. Quinn is not a cuddler...and he slowly yielded more and more of his space. We moved AWD's bed into the office near Quinn's door in hopes of setting boundaries. Finally, one bedtime we noticed Nuka sprawled in what was formerly Quinn's space and the calm boy curled under my sewing desk.

I have cleaned out a Quinn sized space that he can call his own and we bought him one of those dense foam camping mats so he can rest off the floor. He didn't seem sure about the arrangement at first, but last night after we turned out the lights, we heard him "nesting" in the space. This morning the mat showed marks from being clawed and there were little foam bits all over, but our big zen boy was cozily curled on it snoring away.

I have also found that if I turn the computer chair so its back rests against the sewing desk when I leave the room that it provides privacy and blocked entry for TOWD's fort! And we all know nothing makes boys happier than their own secret clubhouse.

The CountUp: This is actually our 1,994th post. When listing yesterday's count, I mistakenly took the published count, which did not include that post.