Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Abby's First Kiss

Abby loves our dogs, Gordie and Scout. Most babies get startled or cry when dogs run their way, but Abby just laughs and laughs. She grunts and coos to get their attention. She can’t get enough. She thinks Gordie is especially hilarious. Laughing wildly every time he comes near. And Gordie loves it too, since most people push him away when he gets too close. She laughs hysterically when his little tongue licks her hands. And that’s as far as I ever let it go, being the germaphobe that I am. And Gordie sure loves to lick. I let him get one or two licks in, then immediately wash her hands with soap.

Then the unthinkable happened. I put Abby on her playmat on the floor, and went into the kitchen to make a bottle. For the most part, Gordie leaves Abby alone when she’s on her mat—he knows her toys and playthings are off limits to him. From the kitchen, I hear a BURST of hysterical laughter from Abby. She was laughing so hard that I actually thought she was crying at first. I ran into the family room and screamed. To my horror, Gordie was standing over Abby (who was on her back) tenderly licking her face, including the INSIDE OF HER MOUTH as she was laughing and screaming with delight. I haven’t seen either of them happier. Ever.

I scooped Abby up, and immediately called my mom (Granny Nanny) in a panic to find out if Listerine and/or toothpaste were safe for babies in an emergency such as this. She suggested that I wipe Abby down with a warm washcloth and be sure to get the inside of her mouth. I ended up just giving her a real, full-blown bath. But no matter how much I lathered her up, it couldn’t get rid of the picture in my head of Abby’s first kiss. Blagh.

2 comments:

The Jacobs said...

That's so funny, Pam. Haven't you ever heard about the dogs' mouths being cleaner than a human. Yeah, I'm not so sure- I'm pretty sure I've seen way more dogs eating their own poo. You have to check out these entries from my sister's blog. You'll love it.
http://curt-brenna.blogspot.com/2008/03/dirtiest-kind-of-kiss.html
http://curt-brenna.blogspot.com/2008/07/havin-blast-in-bath.html

Nancy Brashear said...

Well . . . we took Savannah to the vet's office today with two infected ears. Since the bill was so high, I decided to get my money's worth by asking an expert about important "things." I asked him about the danger of Gordie licking Abby's mouth with his delicate little tongue and Savannah washing her entire face and fist (which Abby then immediately pushed into her mouth and sucked on like a lollypop!) with her banana-leaf size washcloth-like tongue. He said that dog saliva was REALLY clean, in spite of their grooming habits, unless the dog had worms (and that's a different story!). Then, I asked him if it were possible that Gordy and Scoutie talked Savannah into stretching up to your counter, pulling off the loaf of bread, and sharing it with them. Yes, he said it was possible, and I stand vindicated! The visit was worth the information we got from the vet. We love you all!--Granny Nanny ;)