Dog Days

Do you see a dog in this picture? Do you see Joe? Yes, that is Joe; OUR Joe, standing close enough to this dog to TOUCH him! No, I did NOT photo shop this photo. It is not a trick .
You may be wondering why this is such a spectacular feat in our family. You might know that Joe’s favorite toy is his stuffed white dog lovingly named "Doggin." And you might know that Doggin is the ONLY dog that Joe would allow to share the same space with. Joe has been crazy afraid of dogs, ever since Snickers "the monster puppy" sent him and Emma to the ground. Two staples in his head and four years later, every dog encounter since has been met with Joe trying to scramble up to the nearest, highest available person or cowering in the car or spare room when a dog is near. Our ultimate challenge has been with our dear, patient neighbors who put Joe on the bus many mornings. They have 3 dogs - lovely, people friendly dogs, who happily and expectantly welcome us when our car enters the drive. But just as they are bouncing around the car door and hoping that THIS is the day they will get a little Joe-sniff, incessant cries for HELP! MOM!" , and he is crawling up the back seat to jam his body between the back dash and the window instead. Finally, after prying him out of the car and lugging all 60 pounds of him to the door, he is safely plopped inside the house.
Until ........ Amanda came along. Little did I know the payoff for letting her take Joe to the neighbors. Somehow, big sisters have very little sympathy for screaming scrambling little brothers. Amanda would simply yank Joe from the safe confines of the car and through the sea of happy, tail waggin', shoe sniffing dogs to their door. Finally ..... breakthroughs - Smiles. Dog head pats. And a little boy who says, "Guess what I want for my birthday?"
Move over Doggin.