Ari (the Puppy) and a Colicky Baby

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I enjoyed reading your comments on my last post about my daughter needing to be rocked to sleep. It was interesting to hear how so many of you handled the issues of new baby and new momma. Someone's comment reminded me of our dog “Ari” and his reaction to having a crying baby around. First of all I should explain his name. We saw a sign for free puppies. We needed one (we thought ) so we got one. I was pregnant and we disagreed about what to call this cute bundle of black fur. He ended up with the name “Aristotle”. It was 1969. Jackie Kennedy had recently married Aristotle Onassis (a greek like my husband) and he thought it would be a good name for our dog OR our son... I accepted the name for the dog so my son if I had a boy wouldn't get the name.. And I had a Girl... I had postpartum depression. I didn't know until our daughter was a few days old and I asked my doctor about it. He explained it to both my husband and I so we could deal with my unusual feelings and sadness together. So Ari the puppy became a part of our family a few months before the baby showed up. He (the puppy) was gentle with the baby but really didn't like her crying. (Colicky babies cry a lot) Some times with my depression I had a hard time dealing with the crying. I would hold her in my arms and walk around our house singing to her and cuddling her and sometimes I would I just join in with her crying... And then the puppy would start to cry... Do you have any idea how hard it was to cry when the baby and the puppy were crying with me? It made me laugh out loud and certainly did stop my crying for that moment anyway. I think Ari knew I would stop if he cried with us so he did that often those first months. It was comic relief for me. The vacuum also stopped my baby from crying...but it made the dog bark...no rest for the wicked.