the pups

Molly, Mike Mulligan and Moline

have opened their eyes!  i needed this sign, this reassurance that we're making progress and thriving, despite some challenges.  Molly had a difficult time after her surgery, running a fever and being lethargic, but she's on the mend.  the poor puppies, however, traveling back and forth to the vet with their mama, picked up something they didn't need and have been congested, making nursing difficult and exhausting for them.  they sound like pitiful baby snuffelufegus.  snuffelufegai?  (if you don't watch Sesame Street, you'll have to use your imagination on that one.)

Moline, exhausted from all that growin'

despite the stuffy noses, they're growing fast, so at 10 days, they weighed in at 2.4 ( Moline, white ) and 2.2 lbs. ( Mike Mulligan, y-chromosome ) with Vera and Roxy ( blue and brown, respectively ) at 2.0 lbs each.  oh my gosh, they're adorable little piggies.  they struggle against the meds and nose drops, thrashing like fish to get away, flinging their tiny heads from side to side, so it hasn't felt like i've been building some kind of relationship with them.  they just want to get the hell away from me.  so, we were having the usual gagging and writhing last evening when Mike Mulligan suddenly went still and i realized that he had opened his eyes and was trying to see me...actually reaching toward my face with his, adjusting distance for clarity, the way i do when i've lost my readers.   it's a heart melting moment, being present for the dawning of awareness.  i recall having seen it on my own babies' faces, long ago but it took me off guard.  there was a shock of recognition, to see the experience occurring in a puppy's smeary little eyes.

Mike Mulligan Can't Sit Still

it interrupted my busyness.  it upset my schedule.  it hauled me up short and brought me back to center.  that glimmer of wonder and confusion, that leaning forward into perception, did something to my heart.   awakened it, maybe, from numbing routine and jaded old age.  i felt a swelling in my chest, heard a whisper in my head that said, namaste, little one.  the light in me says hello to the light in you.