The furkids

Was reading my old posts (those written when AN was ER's current age) and realised I used to enjoy the furkids better then. AN was exposed to them much earlier as well. In fact, at this point, I wonder if ER knew we have 2 four-legged family members roaming around. Maen used to be noisier when AN was little but she's turned quieter now.

With our big sofa before we left for Tucson, AN was always out in the living room. ER is away most days with me at my parents' place now, and even when we are home, ER will be in the room. It's time soon, to place him near the furkids. The new sofa is too small for him to lie on. Floor has too much fur so we most likely won't be placing him in any kiddy seats near ground level..we'll see how we can work things out.

As titled, Baileys and Maen are great at adapting to different environments. They adjusted well to AN the first time (took them a while. Baileys marked the house at different spots during the earlier months then), adjusted well to the new home and hotel stays while we were in USA and did well at both my parents' place and then back to our own place.

With ER now and my sudden obsession over a clean floor, Baileys has also started to watch out for stains. I can't explain how he knew what had been going on but he's gone from walking very near the wall, back to his own bed to lick himself dry and clean before he'd go stepping anywhere else. And if I am anywhere near the toilet when he pees, he will wait for me to approach before he will step out of the toilet. HE expects that when I approach, I'll be wiping his paws dry, in case he steps out with pee-soaked paws.

Just these few days, I noticed him lying inside the pee area, after having carefully selected a dry spot on the papers, just to dry his own paws before leaving.

How does he know???? From the start, Baileys has always been smart and almost human if not for physically taking the form of a canine (he tried jumping at the doorknob to open the door when he was a puppy because he needed to take a leak at that time! Mr Liow and I stared at each other dumbfounded then!)

And now when AN makes me angry, both B and M will instinctively head back to their bed and stay there watching. The moment Maen sees me resting (after housekeeping or disciplining a misbehaving AN), she will approach to lick me and AN, as if to make peace. Baileys knows better than to step on timed mines. Maen cares not for so much though.

As noisy as Maen can be or used to be, she's making less noise now. She would usually bark at noises outside the house but the most she will do now is growl silently. I suppose she's trying to not wake the little human baby up with her barks.

She still walks about with pee-soaked paws after her business in the toilet. She's a 'bimbo with a lozenges on her head'. That little mark on her head is a mark for us to tap on when she needs to be reminded of an appropriate act.

I can tell whose paw prints they belong to from the trails the furkids leave behind after peeing in the toilet. You can too, if you know their character after some time. And given that they are creatures of habits, those paw prints are almost always at the same (almost exact) spots everyday (and I either clean those stains away immediately upon seeing them, or mop them at the end of the day when we come back from my parents' place). Baileys' paw prints stretch from the toilet back to their bed. And since he keeps as close to the wall as he walks, those prints will mostly only be found on the tiles nearest to the wall of our study room. Maen somehow has this habit of running to the kitchen after peeing. Her wet paws prints start from the toilet, towards the dining room (stretches along the dining table), right into the kitchen. And because she doesn't lick herself dry, her wet paws go into the kitchen, out into the living room again and all over the house. One will notice big puddle prints that get 'drier' and 'tinier' as she walks all over the house.

That's when I have to take slow and deep breathes when I see those prints. Just ONE pee time by Maen is enough to deem all efforts on my part to keep the floor clean, futile.

And while the furkids used to enjoy ransacking our stuff in our absence, they no longer do that now. At least they do not do that as often nowadays.

Having been out of home at least 5 of 7 days in a week since start of this year, i've had only 1 case of ransack by the furkids when they emptied the diaper bag of every single content but damaged only 1 facial mask that Shirley and Jing bought for me from their Taiwan trip. They damaged quite a number of AN's toys in Tucson but the number was negligible as compared to the things they would have damaged before the kids came, things not put away, and the extent of damage. If it was in the past, my diaper bag would have been torn into pieces and every item that was previously inside would have either been ingested, or shredded beyond recognition.

The furkids are no long destroyers, and their last few 'glorious' moments, they taught AN to keep her stuff properly, or else in her words: "Baileys and Maen will eat them up!". She still has those chewed up plastic blocks and half eaten plastic chicken and ketchup bottle in her toy kitchen set as a reminder.

Maen is turning 6 years end of this month. They are getting old.

Sometimes I wonder how different life will be without them. Maybe more peaceful, maybe not at all. If not for them, I'd not have come back home everyday after work in the past. I'd have gone out a lot coz Mr Liow used to be even more busy at work. Ridiculously busy. Will we still be married and have kids if I was never home coz he was always working?

I'd probably be out enjoying myself without him and because I can get used to life without him, it will make no sense that we have kids. And I will probably have died from depression taking care of our 1st kid if not for prior training taking care of B and M since their puppyhood days (having gotten used to whining in the night, clearing and smelling waste etc).

The furkids taught me a lot. They helped me get used to a lot of things to prepare me for motherhood. In fact, they were part of the reason our family remains whole and intact.

If there will be no one appropriate to look after the furkids, they will pass on as part of our family. I did mention that I dare not bring this topic up but I can't stop thinking about it. Just like I can't stop wondering which school to enroll AN in, or which doctor to bring ER to if Dr Tan is not around etc. As long as I'm still living, everything in this family will weigh heavily in my heart.