raisin's brother

What would a blog about Raisin be without giving props to his brother Norman?

Norman is the best dog ever. Ever. There's only one problem -- he's a bit of a sad sack. As our first child, he's been lavished with love and attention in the form of multiple daily walks, runs at the park, special treats, a comfortable bed, countless toys...the list goes on. How has his life changed since little e's arrival? It hasn't. Except for the fact that he now enjoys the plush comfort of the sofa too.

Before we had our son, everyone told us, "Just wait, after you have the baby, you won't care about that dog at all." We refused to believe it. And now that the boy's here, we still feel the same way. He's just as special as ever (not in a paste-eating way). We even made a pact that after little e came along, we weren't going to gyp Norman out of his walks and such. And I'm happy to report that we haven't, but you would never guess that by looking at him.

The looks this dog gives you can instill more guilt than the entire Catholic religion. If you're so much as 15 minutes late with his morning walk, he assumes the L&N position (short for long and narrow). He gets as thin and long as he can. This position is usually accompanied by the pouty lab face resting ever-so delicately on the front paws as his sad brown eyes bore a hole into your heart. Then there's the crying and the moaning that sounds much like everyone's favorite wookie, Chewbacca. "Someone call the ASPCA, nobody's pet, played ball with or walked Norman in like FIFTEEN MINUTES!!!!"

He may be a dog, but he is indeed Raisin's brother. Consider these things they have in common: Raisin spends about 75% of his time with a dog toy in his mouth. They're both obsessed about the ball. They both love to go for walks. They both charge after their mama or papa on command. And they both have us wrapped around their little finger -- er, and paw.