Two-Dog (and One-Boy) Night

Phew. I should get back to sleep, but I may have a sympathetic touch of...something. Suzy-dawg woke me up with a bout of coughing or dry heaving, and I leapt to my feet to put her in the kitchen in case she barfed. She didn't, but continued to cough for a while and seemed slightly down, like she was still not feeling good. I knew she'd been eating the new dog's food a bit, so I thought perhaps it wasn't agreeing with her. Eventually I went upstairs to the bathroom; she followed me and settled into her regular sleeping spot next to my desk, where she continued to hack intermittently and look depressed. I thought maybe she had a fur ball, but still nothing came up and after a while she curled up and fell asleep. Of course, upon my coming upstairs, the new dog, Slider, awoke from his position next to my son and barked at us once or twice. The little guy is still getting used to the new noises here; he alerts when he hears car engines start up outside, or when the neighbors' dogs bark. I suspect it'll take a little while for him to get used to everything. Hey, it took me a while, too. ;^)

Anyway, Slider's bark woke up the kiddo for a second; he sat up and said hello to me, then fell back asleep. Bless his little heart; I know he loves that Slider (named after a baseball pitch) wants to sleep with him. Suzy always wants to be wherever I am.

Now that the creatures are calm, I feel better, too. Still, it's after 5:00 a.m. and the sun is starting to rise. I may be up for the day. The morning birds are starting their one-note songs. I once emailed the Audubon Society to find out what bird it was, but after listening to audio files of the birds they listed for our area, I couldn't figure it out. I do know a black phoebe built a nest under my deck (and repeatedly pooped on the neighbor's car that was parked there), and I recognize the distinctive call of mourning doves, but the one-note song remains unidentified. I mentally attribute it to "the wakey bird" for now.

So the wakey bird is calling and I'm still up. The dogs will likely want to go outside soon, and I probably won't get any more sleep until tonight. But at least the little creatures are feeling better (or are asleep), and that's a good thing.