so sniffly, this little piglet. sniffly and beginning to get a little snotty. my little boy had a runny nose! i tissued it off, and immediately made an appointment with our veterinarian. luckily, they could get me in on thursday.

elle wanted to stop by that evening, as she had gone with brian to the kennel and wanted her boyfriend to meet our new addition. she and her boyfriend arrived with presents, little things her frenchies had outgrown. i was advised against the ills of rawhide (which i did not buy for the puppy....he was sent home with a baggie of these, too), the need for high nutrient puppy food, the fabulousness of greenies and nylabones.

"he's so sniffly," she said. "i think he has a cold."

"i know. he definitely has a cold. i have a vet appointment for thursday," i replied.

"yeah. puppies get colds, they get all kinds of stuff" she forewarned.

that night, my sister in law, heather, came over to help me out. i was so overwhelmed, and brian had left hours ago. i felt like i couldn't leave the puppy alone for a second, like our apartment was a landmine. what if he chewed a cord? swallowed a penny? got scratched by the cat? i frantically attempted to puppy-proof. i tried to speed read the remainder of _the art of raising a puppy_ by the monks of new skete. we ordered in.

i attempted sleep. i knew the first night would be the hardest. i didn't want him to sleep with me- what if he fell off the bed?- and i had no way to block off an area, no method of tethering him to the bed on the floor, as the monk's suggested in their book.

i stuck his crate beside me on the bed. i slipped my fingers into it, and attempted sleep that way. so long as he had contact with me, he didn't cry. he sniffled and sneezed all night. i didn't sleep a wink. i loved him so.