BFF-It's Gagworthy. Really.

Ethan's relationship with Fenway has been a slow building one.  When we brought Ethan home, Fenway would run and hide from him.  After a few weeks, he would slowly approach Ethan to sniff him out, and usually only if we were right there to tell him it was ok.  He was very patient waiting for his turn for love, but he wasn't sure if he wanted to learn to love and protect someone else.

        

He finally decided that it was ok to join us for naps, even if he didn't sleep...

         

And then he decided to up the ante and join us during feeding time...

Pretty soon, Fenway was allowing Ethan to tug his ears, pull his hair, and discover what it means to have a pet.  Ethan fell in love with him, and I think that Fenway has finally fallen in love with Ethan too.

They've learned to tag team play with each other.  Fenway will distract me to allow Ethan to escape towards something he isn't supposed to be climbing on.  Ethan will steal one of Fenway's toys so that I will throw it just to keep it out of Ethan's mouth (a fantastic manipulation from the dog to play fetch) and chase each other.

Up to NO good.

Guarding the house.

True BFF

Fenway has even started allowing Ethan to pull to standing using his back, although he doesn't like it.  Fenway will growl and snarl the entire time, but he won't move a muscle, knowing that Ethan would fall and hurt himself if he did.

One pissed pup.

Hugs and Kisses.

So why is it gagworthy?  These two are TOO close sometimes, and this past week just about did me in.  Fenway has been housebroken for a really long time now, and the only accidents we have had in the past year are completely and totally my fault.  AKA, Fenway rang the bell to go out and I ignored him for way too long (Puppy Mom fail).

I'm not sure what happened this week because Fenway had not rang his bell to go out.  I came into the office in hopes of catching up on my blog and instead ended up with the absolute worst experience of my life.  If this is what comes with being the mother of boys, please pray that our next child, and every single one after, are girls.

Ethan took off out of the office, as normal, to start his navigation.  I had already closed off the doors of rooms he didn't need to be in (or aren't baby proof) so I wasn't too worried.  I call out to him every few seconds, he giggles and comes crawling back.  It's a fun game we play that allows him to explore without being followed constantly, but keeps him out of trouble.  

I called out to Ethan and he didn't giggle, he didn't come crawling back.  I got up, sans glasses, to find him sitting in our living room floor.  Just sitting.  Not playing, just hanging out.  As I got closer, I realized that Ethan was holding a dog turd in his hand and mashing it between his fingers.  I gagged.  I picked him up, sent Fenway to his bed, and rushed to clean him off.  Once I get the HORRIBLE, disgusting mess under control, I called Jason.

"Oh dear Lord, I'm having the worst experience ever.  Your dog has crapped in the house and your son has decided to play in it."

I can hear that Jason is trying really hard not to laugh, but asks if I need help.  I tell him no, by the time he gets home, the mess will be long gone and there's nothing that can be done.  At this point, all the poop is off my sons hands, his outfit is off, but that awful smell is lingering.  

And that's when Ethan started smacking his lips.  

And that's when I started heaving.

"Oh my gosh, Jason IT'S IN HIS MOUTH.  ETHAN HAS EATEN DOG POOP!"

I hear a quick, "I'll be there in two minutes."  He hangs up, and I'm not sure how I didn't stop from gagging.

Ethan was getting extremely angry at me for trying to fish the poop out of his mouth, and he began to fight me.  Thank goodness Jason did actually come home, because he was able to help hold Ethan while we finished cleaning his mouth, and proceeded to brush his teeth and rinse his mouth for at least 20 minutes.  

I never imagined that I would have to Google, "My child has eaten poop."  My search engine was flooded with info, and thankfully this disgusting occurrence is fairly common and not at all harmful as long as large amounts are not consumed and the dog does not have worms.  Fenway definitely does not have worms, and I'm 99% sure that Ethan didn't swallow any of it.  We haven't seen any complications yet, although my stomach still hasn't quite recovered.

As for Fenway? I haven't quite forgiven him yet either.  It's a good thing Ethan loves him so much.