The unbearable excitement of being at Gram’s house.

She was like this for days. DAYS.

A lexicon of beaglery.

Today my Facebook friend Deanna posted a link to this article in the NYT: “Good Dog, Smart Dog,” a look at changing ideas about the cognitive abilities of the canine set, the point being that, hey, they might be smarter than those brainiac science-types thought.  My layperson reaction? “Finally, some scientists who actually live with dogs.”

A beagle I once knew and still love (not a breed that ever makes the “smartest” list, by the way) would purposely sit and stare intently at our French doors, squeak to go outside, let the younger male mutt assert his dominance by rushing out first as the door opened… and then drop to the ground to indicate that she wanted to stay in, thank you. As soon as the door closed, she would hop to her feet, head to the middle of the rug and do the rolling, squirming dance of beagle joy as the mutt stared bleakly inside through the glass, gaslighted yet again into losing possession of the indoor realm.

Do dogs think? Of course they do, about dog things and in dog ways. That beagle changed my ideas of the capabilities of canine manipulation and the effects of sheer doggie force of personality. We developed an entirely new vocabulary to describe the machinations of The Beagle Known as Alice.

I’m beginning to see the light

And the resemblance. Seriously. Cindy told me last week that Nora is starting to look like me, particularly her expressions. I have to say, I’ve never seen it – she’s got my mother’s coloring exactly and every now and then, the pouty lip comes out and she looks a bit like my youngest cousin Brandy (who’s a fine girl, and what a good wife she would be). But any genetic combination unique to me appeared to have passed her by.

I just saw these pictures.

"Oh, please."

Take me to the river.

Nora , me and some very aggressive minnows.

There were a couple of rather healthy nips among the nibbles, at least on my fingers. Those lines of rocks create several good-sized, slow-flowing shallow pools perfect for three-year-old exploration.

The weather was miraculously temperate. We drove through a line of thunderstorms around Kerrville and emerged on the other side at Junction and South Llano River State Park. It was cloudy at first, but of course the water was warm, and in the middle of July in South Texas the temperature didn’t rise above 80° all day. Also, because of the ominous weather earlier, the river was beautifully uncrowded.

I don’t think Venus looked like this…

Maybe Godzilla. Or a friendly manatee.

Video at last!

done

Thank you, thank you. I have no idea how the opening shot of the menagerie and the closing shot of random camera movement got in there… still figuring out the editing software. But the middle was on purpose!

In case you don’t remember how cute my kid is

Supahstah!

Waterbaby.

Oh noes, I lol’d Nora

Thank you, Dean, for the caption.

Quick progress pic: Ishtar with crown and regalia (warning: NSFW if you’re a total frickin’ perv)

Lack of posts, crazy busy, excuses, excuses… toddler update

Have I mentioned that Nora is two? Very, very two.

Notice the sweet potato on her chin. She knows it’s there. Her grandmother knows it’s there. She knows her grandmother knows it’s there. She is suspicious…

… and rightfully so. The wipe! The dreaded wipe!

The reaction:

If that’s not a two-year-old face, I don’t know what is.