The weekend before Grant was born, we were a little desperate. George was on a week of overnight call and Henry had a few rough nights, waking with a fever, coughing, and crying. Knowing my due date was coming up, I knew I needed to call in some reserves. So I shipped Henry down to Iowa for the weekend to stay with my parents. My sister, Jessica, also went to my parents house with her new little dog. Here's her account of the weekend.
Henry and Clover's first meeting was tentative. Not on her part, but definitely on his. At first Henry didn't know what to think of my little 3.4 pound baby. It was probably Clover bouncing on his legs that made him shy away. She wanted to love him, and he wanted some space. Grandma and I reminded him of her name, and Henry tested it out every way it could be pronounced: Clov-er, CLOVer, clOVer The funny part is, sometimes he would forget her name and just call her Tator anyway.
I was glad to see that Henry was over his dog kicking phase. It seems he's moved on to the let-me-help-you-up phase. Grandma told him he could pick Clover up if he was gentle, so that is what he did. Gently he would put her on your lap, or on a chair, or from one step to another. After a while I'm sure Clover just wanted to not be helped so much.
The best part of the weekend was the night that Clover decided she didn't need to sleep with mama, she could substitute with a 2 year old. I was getting ready for bed and couldn't find Clover anywhere. I look in on Henry, and there she is, curled up next to his front. She underestimated Henry's sleepy roll over, and gave a little grunt when she was steamrolled. That didn't deter her from sleeping next to him all night. What a cute pair! I wish I could rent a small child to sleep with her every night, it was my best night sleep since I got her. Although the commotion the next morning was a bit of a shocker - Clover was up and ready to play, even though Henry hadn't woken up yet. There was a bit of screaming, crying, and "No, Clover! Down, Clover! No!" Clover mistook his thrashing for vivacious play, and continued to be in his face.
Despite the early morning playtime, Clover and Henry seemed to hit it off well by the end of the weekend. He even took to telling her where to be and what to do. A lot of, "Clover, c'mon" and "Go, Clover, go." If nothing else, he at least helped establish her name. Lucky dog.
