Animal walk

We stayed far too long at my parent's house last night, but we couldn't really resist. It was our last Sunday dinner at their house in who knows how long! We have only 9 days left before we get on the plane; I'm kind of nervous.

We had a yummy dinner, a short FHE, dessert, and then played LIFE: Pirates of the Caribbean.

At around 8:30 I finally finished. I think I lost. Patrick won big time, and Rachel was being difficult so I didn't even count up my money.

Not only was Rachel tired, but she really wanted to go outside, so we went on a walk.

When we left the house, Rachel saw Winter, the mean kitty at my parents' house.

Usually when she sees an animal, she'll point at it and say, "Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh!" This time she just looked at it with her angry eyes and when she noticed that we weren't stopping for her to pet it dissolved into a fit of rage. It was definitely past bedtime.

"That's the mean kitty," I told her, "She eats little girls for breakfast,"

It didn't matter. Rachel wanted to pet the kitty.

We made Josie grab Lahki out from under the car so that Rachel could pet her. Lahki is a nice kitty--she just closes her eyes and lets Rachel do whatever she wants. Rachel gave her a few hugs and kisses and some nice pats. As soon as Josie let go of Lahki she made a break for it, which Rachel was fine with because she had gotten her way.

Having gotten her kitty-petting out of the way, Rachel allowed us to contine on our walk.

We walked past the Rytting's house--they were out on their front porch. We waved and exchanged a few niceties before continuing on our way.

"That's Marin Rytting?" Andrew asked.

"The older girl is," I said.

"Wow!" he said, "I remember when I was older than her!"

"You still are," said my mom.

"Oh, yeah," said Andrew, "What I meant was, I remember when she was still in Primary!"

Just then a family with a little dachshund walked by. Rachel, now in a better mood, pointed and said, "Ooh!" instead of dissolving into tears. Then she started running as fast as her little legs would carry her in order to catch up with the dog, even braving a street crossing by herself. We had to hurry and catch up with her ourselves before she got too far into the street!

She tripped on the curb, but there was nothing stopping her. Without crying, she got up onto the sidewalk and was after the dog again in no time, using Grammy for extra balance. Still, she just wasn't fast enough.

Luckily for Rachel, the family turned around at the corner and started coming back up our way. She couldn't have been happier. She stopped walking and just stood pointing at the dog going, "Ooh, ooh, ooh!"

"She's been trying to catch up with you so that she could see your dog," my mom explained.

The family stopped so that Rachel could visit with the puppy. She took a few steps closer to the dog and then ran back into Grammy's arms. She reached out her arm to touch the dog, but just when she was about to touch it, she pulled it back in and cuddled with Grammy. I held her hand and she got really close to the dog, but then ran away.

She really wanted to visit with the puppy, but was just too scared to do it.

After several more failed attempts, we thanked the family and continued on our walk.

I really don't know why Rachel is so afraid of all dogs. I mean, I know that I am afraid of dogs but not all dogs. I don't even know how Rachel knows that a dog is a dog. Dogs come in such different shapes and sizes that sometimes it's hard to know if they are even dogs (at least, my friend Becca's baby has a hard time with it).

Cats just look like cats, whether they are long-haired or short-haired and no matter their color, they just look like cats. Rachel loves cats.

She really would like to love dogs, too. She just can't bring herself to. Whether the dog is big or small, she'll love it from a distance and cower from it at close range.

The only theory I have is that dogs' mouths are perpetually open, showing off their teeth, while cats mouths are usually closed, hiding theirs. In Rachel's world, anything with teeth growls--lions, sharks, alligators, etc. Teeth are a little scary, and dogs always seem to be baring theirs.

I wish that Rachel wouldn't be afraid of dogs--it's a little debilitating at times--but I totally understand why she is!