A House Full Of Talent

I like to brag on my dog. Sometimes she is really smart. Dont get me wrong, sometimes she is a complete fool and I wonder how she functions… but I think that all dogs have that gene. I swear though, sometimes she is a genius.

Rookie loves ice. She thinks it’s a treat, which helps us save a buck or two on Milkbones and Scooby Snacks! But sometimes she’ll come to the fridge and act like she really wants a piece, and then she’ll just drop it on the floor and walk away. So I say, “No ma’am. You asked for that ice, you’re going to eat that ice. Now come here and get it.” And she will. She’ll put her head down and slowly walk to the ice and start chomping away. (And please don’t tell me that ice is bad for their teeth. She’s been eating ice since she was a puppy and the vet always tells us what great teeth she has. So you’re wrong.)

My favorite Rookie trick is when I tell her to go get Stephen and she does. Sometimes she is more successful than others, I think she’s learning that she has to fuss at him, she can’t get run over to him and stare. We don’t read minds.

Last night I took a nice warm bubble bath. Of course it wasn’t too great because I’m the size of a hippo and hippos aren’t meant to sit in standard sized bathtubs. So while there may have been warm water and bubbles, only about 35% of my body was submerged. At one point I needed Stephen to come in there. (We’re married. He’s allowed to see his hippo in the bathtub.) I knew from the sounds I heard in the background that he was doing the dishes and there would be no way that he’d hear me yell his name. However, I also knew that Rookie gets really nervous when I yell and starts fussing, I realized I could use that to my advantage. “STEPHEN.” I yelled. Rookie came running to the closed bathroom door and started fussing. “Hey Rookie. Where’s daddy? Go get Stephen! Go get Stephen.” And off she went, her little toenails tapping on the tile floor. I could hear her fuss getting further away.

About 10 seconds later I heard Stephen’s voice, “What’s wrong? Show me. Where’s Chelsea?” He got closer to the bathroom. “Chelsea? Are you okay?” I was grinning ear to ear, “Did she really just go get you?” He told me that yes, she walked into the kitchen and started fussing at him and walked this way. Seriously, that never gets old.

But I’m happy to say that Rookie is not the only one in Hurst Castle that can do cool tricks. Turns out, this little bun in my oven has a fun party trick. (Although, due to the nature of the party, Stephen will be the only one invited.) At this stage in my pregnancy, he’s pretty fully developed. He can hear and taste. He can feel temperature. He’s like a real human baby, only he’s trapped in my uterus. I’ve read that sometimes they’ll respond to your voice or other sounds at this stage. While that sounds cool, I didn’t believe that it would be true.

It’s true.

As I was soaking my hippo body, I popped my toe against the side of the bathtub. I like to do this. I’m a habitual knuckle cracker. When I did, my belly jumped. Up until that point, Jansen had been pretty still. I was almost certain that he was asleep. But I knew I saw my belly jerk and I wondered if the timing was a coincidence or if he heard me pop my toe. So I tried it again. I popped my thumb under water. Sure enough, he jumped again. I was giddy. Besides me pushing on my belly to get him to move, this is the first real interaction I’ve had with him. He hears me and responds! So that’s when I called Stephen. I knew I couldn’t just tell him about this and not try to show him. You just couldn’t believe how cool it is.

Once he arrived in the bathroom with Rookie, I told him what happened. I tried to do it again but all of my knuckles were popped, so Stephen decided he’d try. He knelt down and stuck his hands in the water. I laid really still and he popped his finger. It was a quiet pop and there was no reaction. It wasn’t enough to scare him. (Is it mean that we get our kicks from scaring our child??) So he tried a thumb. Popping a thumb under water is loud, and it proved to be loud enough to make Jansen pop up from his nap and jerk my belly up.

It was amazing. I can’t even put into words how cool it was. He is like a REAL baby with REAL reactions and emotions (anger… I’m sure he experienced some fierce anger). It was just so fun to see a direct cause and effect with him. It totally made my night.

Now can anyone figure out a way to translate to him that the same evil woman who is scaring him during his precious nap is the same women who is housing and feeding him? I can’t have my child hating me already, that’s what the teenaged years are for.