Homer's Boy...or "Puppy"

One of our major concerns when we decided to get pregnant was how our pets would handle the drastic change. Those of you that know us or are regular readers of Life Begins at 30 are aware that Kate and I adore our animals. They really are part of our family. But a baby was, of course, a tad more important than hurting the feelings of two dogs and a cat.

We guessed that Clara would just do what cats to--if he presents an opportunity for a warm spot take it, leave Jack alone as long as he leaves her alone, and just generally go about her business. Frankie generally just goes into denial when something doesn't go her way. She seems to have the attitude that if she ignores something long enough it will go away. So far Clara and Frankie have done what we thought they would. But we did not count on Homer's reaction. We figured that he would be good to Jack and eventually grow protective, but we never dreamed that he would immediately become so possessive of him. He is not about to let anything happen to this baby.

Here are a couple of anecdotes after just a couple of days.

• If Jack is in his bassinet and makes a little noise, Homer rushes over and checks on him with what could only be a worried expression. It's an ear position that we had not seen until Jack came home.
• Actually, anytime Jack is crying Homer comes running over and snuffles him to see if he is okay.
• The first night home, I was having trouble calming a cranky baby while Kate slept. Homer sighed, walked over to a sleeping Kate and nudged her until she woke up. I guess he thought it was something only Mommy could do?
• We had Jack on the floor for Tummy Time and Frankie came over to see what was going on. Homer ran over and would not let Frankie sniff Jack until we reassured him in a soothing voice.
• Homer keeps an even closer eye on Clara around him. He really does not trust her around Jack. There were a few times during the day when Clara peeked in the bassinet at a sleeping Jack. We shooed her away the first time. The next two times, when Homer saw her put her peek in, he ran over and chased her off. Then, in the middle of the night while Kate was feeding Jack, Clara started to climb in the bassinet. From the other side of the room we heard a low, menacing growl telling her to back off.
• Finally, he was rather upset that we took Jack away (to the Pediatrician) this morning. When we got back he had to keep snuffling Jack to make sure that nobody did anything to him.

When we gave Jack his bath, Homer couldn't watch. He just stared at the wall and sighed.