Mommy Can't Blog

As you can see, my Mommy has not had time to channel me into writing in almost a year! She said between moving to a new place, traveling to amazing places, and having Baby K, who isn't a baby anymore!, running around wild just like a normal toddler should, has kept her veeeeeery busy and away from the computer to blog. Nevertheless, she said she'd try again. Afterall, it's important to remember the great doggy vs toddler days :) Here's to a better blogging year!!

Beach Dreams

Have you been on a tropical island vacation before?  I've never been either. The closest thing I've had was running on a Gulf Coast beach, and that was mighty fun for a doggy like me. But my Mommy says it's even more beautiful and amazing everyday on a tropical island beach. One day, she says we're going to have a place at the beach so I can run around free on the sand and play in the water and sniff the salty ocean air.  My Human family goes on beach trips a lot. That's because Grandpa scuba dives and so does everyone else. When my Mommy comes home, she always smells like the sun, and salty water. I can bet I've smelled some fish and crabs and all sorts of beach crawlies in her suitcase too. Smells amazing. I can't wait for the day we all move to the beach so I can go dig and chase after those. My Mommy's been to a few places, but she says the most beautiful place she's ever been to is Raja Ampat, in Papua Indonesia.  The Raja Ampat islands are a large bunch of islands off the west coast of Papua. It's a nature reserve, so the local government works really hard to conserve the marine life by not allowing people to fish there and things like that.  Eco-Friendly resorts are common in places famous for snorkeling and diving. Perhaps it's because of the nature of divers and travelers who are generally more eco-conscious.  At the place Mommy stayed at, there was a really long wooden jetty that goes out waaaay over the sea. Along the sides of the jetty were corals, hard and soft colorful corals with fish in rainbow colors in the water, with a bunch of bright turquoise starfish here and there.  When Grandpa goes scuba diving, Baby K goes on the boat with everybody. And he even gets to swim in the ocean, in between islands! Mommy got to go boat jumping, yeah, it's a new term she made. She said it's when you chase shoals of fish, jumping in and out of the boat trying to catch up with the fish.  She said there's nothing like being surrounded by a vast number of fish moving so swiftly in front of your very eyes. The glittering silver reflection of the sun's ray on the backs of the fish, and the speed at which they're moving is fascinating.  Mommy also swam with the mantas; being up close to them is a thrilling feeling. Amazing graceful creatures.  Mommy also went on countless of boat rides. She said she loves the salty ocean breeze blowing on her face and seeing the waves breaking on the side of the boat.  Being able to go on a tropical island vacation is truly amazing. My mommy said that if any of my doggy friends haven't been, then you should try at least once in your life.  I mean, look at these pictures! I would love to be at the beach again... I'm looking forward to the day my Human family moves to the beach. I can't wait to lay on the sand on my old doggy years, absorbing all that warm sunshine and smelling all the wonderful smells of the beach....

Little Boy and Nature

Today was just another day for baby K.
The boy loves playing outside, just like us dogs. 

He loves to feel the wind, run around in the sun, and splash on puddles of water. 

Try a piggyback ride on Lightning's back, or ride the wooden tricycle passed down from a Great Uncle.

Today he collected dry leaves on the ground. 

And placed them gently in his secret hiding place.

Do you know what it is?

It's a drain pipe from the gutter on the roof. 

Just the right shape and size for stashing special secret treasures. 

We found it though :)

Little boy loves nature, and so do we.

The Global Fluffy What?!

Well you wouldn't guess what Mommy did this time.

She participated in what's called the Global Fluffy Bum.

Whats that? Oh, it's a diaper cover that has traveled around the world, and it's made it to us. 

Mommy said it's a global effort of cloth diapering awareness towards mothers.

Unfortunately, there was nothing a doggy could do with the diaper. 

I couldn't sniff anything interesting out of it, Mommy said it's because they have very specific caring instructions, so I wouldn't be able to smell any of the smellies doggies like to sniff. 

And I obviously cannot chew on it. Mommy would put me on time out! Bummer.

It was around for about a week or so, and one day, Mommy and Auntie Lisha decided to take some pictures of Baby K in the diaper.

Baby K loved playing with just a diaper on!

I, of course, couldn't get the hang of it. What's the deal with this Global Fluff anyway?

Auntie Lisha thought that Mommy should be dressed in a batik skirt and a kebaya top, to show some Indonesian tradition.

She took pictures of Baby K and the *strange* stiff holey dachshund.  Mommy told me it wasn't a real dog, it was a mancala. Whatever that is. But I knew something was off! As, aside from the stiffness, and bloated head, it has some reeeeally freaky whiskers. 

Mommy said that back in the old days, little children played mancala every day with their friends. It was a favorite traditional game, along with marbles and other traditional child plays.

So, while they took some pictures, I decided to bring out my rubber toy bone, that is, well, not really a bone anymore, since I chewed the edges off! Maybe they'd want to play with me, instead of doing this boring photo shoot! Oops. Caught on camera.

 

Well, at least Baby K wanted to play with me a bit.

And I almost munched on colorful beads. Mommy played a trick on me and told me they were yummies. But my sniffers prove they're not! Almost.

So yeah, Mommy and Baby K and Auntie Lisha were pretty excited over this whole Global Fluffy Bum thing. Mommy said it's great to be a part of things like this to share the excitement and let people know that wearing cloth diaper is fashionable, cute, environmentally friendly and economical.

If you ask me, I'd rather someone play with me and my poor little rubber bone. But hey, at least I got to be in the pictures!

Now that it's finally done, after a bit or cuddle time, and a little conversation with the Teddy,

It's cleaning up time, Mommy! Look at those beads scattered all over the floor.

It wasn't my mess Mommy :)

So there was my unusual doggy day!

PS. Thank you for the beautiful pictures, Auntie!

A Day at the Pool & Park with Baby K

Mommy, Daddy, and Baby K went to the pool one sunny afternoon...

 Baby K was ecstatic! He loves the water!

Daddy blew bubbles for Baby K. He quite liked it, and even tried to do the same thing!

He ended up taking a gulp of pool water. Which he did enjoy!

And then there was some snacking for Baby K... 

All the splashing made this little guy very hungry! 

Grandmama shared her french fries with the hungry bub.

Look at that belly!

After all that swimming and splashing, they went to the park. 

Mommy loved seeing Daddy and Baby K walk on the grass...

It was a beautiful sunny afternoon for a family outing!

Everything in Four Months

There has been many things that happened in the last four months.

Somebody can drink out of a straw... 

Why it's Baby K, of course!

We finally moved to a town on the mountains. 

The weather has been a lot nicer than the city. The air is cooler and cleaner.

The view out is quite different from what I'm used to in the city. Here's what I used to look out to at our place in the big city...

As promised, Mommy takes us on regular walks in the afternoon when it's sunny out. We usually take walks to the lake. There's a clearing nearby, and Mommy would let me and Lightning run around. We don't run as much now. Old age is coming, I guess! Although, I have to admit, the cats roaming around the area still get the blood rushing and makes my heart race really fast !

Baby K started walking! Eeeek! Yes, he now has the freedom to chase me around whenever he wishes to! But he and I seem to have a mutual understanding that I don't want to be bothered. So he prefers to go goo-goo-ga-ga on Lightning. I truly suspect there is something going on between them.

Mommy lets Baby K snack on crackers sometimes. So, I usually follow him around and stare right in his eyes until he gives me a crumb or two. The stare tactics also work when he's on the highchair. See me in action?

Ha! More yummies for me! 

And, if he doesn't give me any, I'll have a quick look around, make sure that Mommy isn't watching, and I pry that cracker out of Baby K's hands. Gently of course. Ahem. Yeah.

Baby K is also really fond of using my water bowl as his own splash pool. And he seems to have mistaken my food as tiny edible balls. He's obsessed with balls. When I see him wobbling towards my food, I rush to beat him to the bowl and start gulping as much as I can, and growl at him to protect it. Fortunately, Mommy doesn't think it's a great play activity for him either.

And at last,

Mommy, Daddy, and Baby K went on a vacation to a small group of islands far off in the Eastern side of Indonesia. Near the big island of Papua, they said. It's called the Raja Ampat. Daddy and Grandpapa went diving together, while Mommy and Grandmama snorkeled. Baby K even got to 'snorkel' in the ocean. They said it was amazing. Mommy promised to post pictures later.

Okay, so that's it for now.

Stay tuned for more updates!

Patience and Trust

 Now I'm ready to start writing again. Baby K has been so curious about the world ever since he started crawling. He still takes one to two naps a day, but sometimes not without a fight. Mommy and I get our quiet times at night now, after baby K goes to bed. Never thought we'd become night-owls...

Anyway.

Meet Lightning. My ever-so-calm furry bigger sister; big fluff of hair. Loves to bask around in natural light, connecting to her inner peace. Might be mistaken as a carpet at times.

If there was ever a patient dog...she is one.

Now, see her in her hiding spot? or so she thought. 

I'm sure she's figured out that it isn't so much of a hiding spot anymore now.

Did I mention that baby K is a pro crawler now? Yep. And if there is ever one thing that is unbearably intriguing to him; that would be my hairy sister. Who could resist a big wonder-of-fluff?! 

So when he spotted her, guess what he put in his internal GPS target destination?

Yep. You guessed it. He went after her.

She has the patience of the saints.

Extremely submissive and patient. I'm not saying she's not going to snap at one point, but she is definitely more tolerant than me in the patience department.

Wow. A moment after that she even let him pat -looked more like pounding to me- her on her chest.

She did run to Daddy after that, asking for refuge.

Still...her patience is to admire for. 

As for me, I peer from between the tall curved legs of the chair, shivering to imagine when that day dawns upon me... I can only hope for more patience, and enough trust in me.