Faux Baby?

So yesterday my friend Lori brought me a babydoll that belongs to her daughter, Carly.

My idea was to use a doll to give Al a quick lesson in diaper changing! He has never changed a diaper and as the average baby goes through 2,100 diapers in a year, and we are going to have two babies, he is going to be doing more than his fair share of changing 4,200 diapers.

While he will figure it out pretty quickly when we are in Vietnam I decided I'd break him in gently on a doll, and then graduate him to Gracie, one of our dachshunds, because she would hate it and wiggle around, which would give him good practice with a squirmy kid!

Anway, this doll is very realistic looking plus it makes all kinds of baby cooing and giggling noises. When I get home with the doll I decide that it will be a good thing to prepare our dogs for the new babies too. So I walk around the kitchen with the dollbaby over my shoulder, patting its hiney and rocking it. The dogs are pretty interested but are polite. I sit down on the sofa and our dachshund Gracie decides she doesn't like it, so starts barking at it. This was good because it gave me a chance to correct her and show her that everything was ok but that she shouldn't bark at the baby.

Oliver, our other dachshund, decides he very much likes the baby. He doesn't think it is a toy. He thinks it is alive. He gently licks its cheek and then licks its hand and laid down in front of it as if to protect it. This was great.

So as if our lives aren't kooky enough, I plan on spending some time each evening burping and cuddling a babydoll so that we don't have any issues with our two current babies (Gracie and Oliver!) when the two new babies (Maia and Ilona) arrive!

Thanks, Carly, for the loaner!

Love Tina