My OLD baby and my NEW baby

A little over 4 years ago Ryan and I decided to get a puppy. We weren't really looking per say but I happened to check online and found a litter of 6 week old Pit Bull mix puppies for a steal of a price of $50. I couldn't help myself, so I called. About 20 minutes later we were dog owners.

She stole our hearts to say the least and quickly became our little princess. We spoiled her rotten, making trips to PetsMart or Petco after every payday. We trained her perfectly. She was house broken by 6 months of age and never chewed up ANY of our shoes, clothes, furniture, etc. If I do say so myself we have done a wonderful job with her!



Then..........., we had a baby.......

We were thrilled about our growing family but I'm sure Nala wasn't. She was pushed to the number 2 slot and was not allowed to be close to the baby. More by my choice than my husband's, but in my eyes my baby was precious, fragile and clean whereas Nala was a shedding, rambunctious, dirty dog. I had all the worries you could imagine about our dog coming close to the baby, that she would lick him on the mouth, hands, or anywhere for that matter (which still grosses me out!) or that she wouldn't know to "be nice" or listen when we would tell her to calm down if she got too excited.


But then I realized I was blind to the fact of how well trained she is and how she's smarter than we (I) imagined. Now that Nicolas is older and understands the words "no" and "careful" I don't have to worry (as much) when Nala and baby want to play. Of course, because I'm (a sometimes overbearing) mom, I'm never too far away. There are the times when Nala just wants to play play play (after all she is a dog), when Nicolas and Nala confuse one another's toys, or when Nala rolls all over the carpet making the floor hair infested (BARF). We will always run into the occasional hurdle here and there but I am proud at how far I've come with the mingling of my two babies.

I know that when Nicolas gets even older and can understand and appreciate the everlasting love a dog has for their owner, they'll be best friends forever!