A tete-a-tete in which I break the news to her that she still isn't as smart as the dog

Dan and I had a conversation last week about Eleanor’s intelligence vis a vis a dog’s. He claimed she was approaching the intelligence of a Border Collie. I pointed out that Eleanor couldn’t herd sheep or sort colored objects or do anything so sophisticated. Dan scaled back his claim and stated that maybe Eleanor’s intelligence level was more like Belly’s. I pointed out that Belly, unlike Eleanor, can go down stairs without faceplanting.

So she’s still not as smart as a dog but she does enjoy many canine pleasures. We play a lot of fetch (indoors and out): I toss a ball or pinecone or Cheerio and Eleanor tears after it and brings it back to me for another round. She also enjoys eating the dog’s food, each piece of kibble perfectly sized to occlude a 14-month-old’s esophagus. Like a water-happy Retriever, she enjoys splashing in Belly’s water bowl and making a mess. In fact, Belly’s food and water bowls are so interesting to her that lately she has been seeking to become one with them. With amazing tenacity and focus, she will work to smush her bottom into the food bowl, bring her knees to her chest and hug them and give a smile that can only be compared to that of the cat who ate the canary.

While not as happy-making as a bum in a bowl, the old hand-in-sippy-cup is still pretty thrilling

What are they saying about Belly as of 9am this morning? Well Dr. Bisel of Cannon Valley Veterinary Clinic is full of thoughts about our canine friend: “Belly has a pus-filled, abscessed anal gland on her right side”. “The right gland was lanced and released thick glandular material and pus, and we also lanced it open and drained out pus”. ‘What about the left side,’ you ask? Oh, don’t worry, here it comes: “The left side was full of thick material; I expressed it”.

Absolutely. Horrifyingly. Disgusting.

I’ve never seen the vet’s progress notes included on a bill before but I sure do love it.Who wouldn’t want the interior monologue of your vet as she is sticking a needle into your dog’s anal sac on their invoice? Now I have a copy of a bill and something that can trigger nausea. A handy reference, to be sure.

Luckily, Belly doesn’t seem too badly off after her experience this morning; she’s full of doggie painkillers and treats. We’ve put her in her crate to contain the mess and Eleanor is going to wake up from her nap and think her biggest dream has finally come true: the dog cannot escape from her. If the baby still has 10 fingers by tomorrow, I’ll consider the rest of today a success.

Here is a picture of Eleanor to cleanse your mental palate:

But the (germ) clouds appear to be lifting. Eleanor has perked back up and more or less returned to her happy ways. One positive side effect of Eleanor’s run of illness is that she learned to put her head on our shoulders. We hadn’t realized that this wasn’t something she had done previously until she did it. And it’s very cute and satisfying:

One of her favorite pasttimes these days is to crawl into the study and look at us through the glass doors. Cuteness ensues:

She is considerably more…um, gentle in her approach to looking through glass than another baby we know.

In other news, I am teaching Monday, Wednesday and Friday. That’s right: I have to work three days a week. Actually, it is rather exhausting since I’m teaching two new classes, Ethics, which is squarely in my area of expertise, and Modern (i.e. 17th/18th C philosophy), which is squarely not. I’m familiar with all the texts I’m teaching, but as anyone who has taught before knows, there’s knowing a text and then there’s knowing a text. I am in the midst of the transition from knowing to knowing (real scholars of the subject then move on to knowing).

Having a baby changes everything. Just ask the dog. Belly used to climb into bed in the morning and sleep until we would rouse her, often well past 10am. These days, Belly makes it out of bed with great alacrity shortly after the on-duty (I mean on-priviledge) parent takes Eleanor downstairs. What has brought about this change? A sudden affection for the baby? A sense of protectiveness? Not quite:

One party to this exchange is sated. The other is amused. Symbiosis at work.

After a few minutes, Belly shifted slightly, causing a sleeping Ellie to flop over and bury her face against Belly.  Of course, the first thing Em did was reach for the camera. Amazingly, Ellie didn’t stir.

Finally, Belly got up and I spent about 30 seconds pulling dog hair out of Ellie’s face.

The whole series of pictures is here.

In other news, we have been so happy having so many visitors. It’s a real joy to see Ellie loved by so many good friends.  And, if you’re still not sated, here’s yet another album of pictures.

And thanks to LBA for the use of her awesome lens.

“Wolves indeed!”

(In case you’re wondering, Belly sounds very much like this.)