Lily

So my puppy Lily is the cutest and smartest dog ever. I tell her all the time that she must be one special dog if she can get me of all people to like dogs. I HATED them growing up. They scared the crap out of me. Even as an adult (up until I got my own doggie) I did not like being around dogs at all. And now that I like dogs (especially little ones) Lily is still the only dog that I love. Sure the neighbor's four puppies are extremely cute and I like holding them and having them kiss my face with their teeny tongues, but they only dog I LOVE is Lily. She is so precious and wonderful.

She is so smart and funny too. Usually when it is bedtime I say to Lily "Lily, time for bed. Go to your room." She totally knows what I'm saying, but obviously would rather stay up and play. And if she does want to go to sleep she wants to sleep in our room with us. So when I tell her it is time for bed, she looks and me and walks over to our bedroom door. "No, Lily. Go to your room." And she just stands there starring at me hoping I'll let her in our room. Then Ryan comes over and says "Lily! Go to your room." And she listens.

At first this made me sad. I'm her mommy and I want her to listen to me. But she won't go to her room unless Ryan tells her too. Sigh. (Though I will tell you when Ryan is working late and I put Lily to bed while he's not home, she listens to me just fine.)

Well, last night Ryan was the one to tell Lily it was time for bed and she needed to go to her room. She wouldn't listen. She just stood by our bedroom door hoping she'd get to sleep with us. Then when I said "Lily! Go to your room." she listened. It was so cute. We realized it wasn't that she didn't want to listen to me; she just wants to hear it from both of us before she'll believe that she really has to go to bed.

Ryan made the comment that he hopes our kids aren't like that. But the more I thought about it, the more it sounded like an okay thing to me.

"Maverick, time for bed."
"I don't want to, Mom."
"Maverick, go to bed."
"Dad, do I have to?"
"Maverick, listen to your mother."
"Okay, goodnight."

That doesn't sound like such a horrible exchange, does it? The kid (or puppy) doesn't want to, but as soon as they know there isn't an option, they listen and comply without complaining. And if only one parent is home, they listen without arguing. I can handle kids like that.

I just love how much personality we can see in Lily. You can almost hear her side of the conversation.

"Lily, time for bed. Go to your room."
"Really? Please can I stay up?" or "How about I go to your room and sleep there?"
"No Lily, go to your room."
*Looks at other parent* "Please can I stay up/sleep in your room?"
Other parent: "Lily, go to your room."
"Fine. Good night."

You really can tell that is what she's thinking. She's so cute!!!!!!
I love her!!!!