Property Of Rhapsody

This may be our first baby but this is definitely not our eldest child. That title belongs to our 2 year old Boxer, Rhapsody. She's extremely happy yet manipulative, sulks when she doesn't get her way, loves to lick everyone and everything and prefers apples and popcorn to ordinary doggie treats. It's an over-zealous 8 week old puppy stuck in a 24kg body with a whip for a tail.

Dogs usually pick up on pregnancy but I thought it would be Buttons, our Jack Russell, who would start acting weird. Lo and behold, it was Rhapsody who decided that I was the new center of her universe. Suddenly, Trevor was the just the other guy in the house who fed her. He even started feeling a bit neglected because she no longer meets him at the front door and, at one stage, refused to listen to his commands.

She follows me EVERYWHERE! She's trampled, stood on and even sat on Buttons to prove a point or just to get Buttons out of the space she wants next to me. (Thank goodness Buttons is a hardy dog accustomed to Rhappy's roughhousing *phew!*) Rhapsody insists on sleeping right up against me even if I'm taking a nap on the couch and checks whether or not Trevor is home like a Secret Service agent. It gets a bit much sometimes but it's adorable that I have my own bodyguard/ninja shadow.

My favourite moments though are when she comes to cuddle up next to me and carefully places her head on my belly as she falls asleep. After all the usual drama, I get a good fuzzy feeling that when this baby is born, they're going to be best friends and she's going to love and protect it with the same intensity she's shown me.
Good girl Rhappy, good girl...