Qori can't do that!

A few weeks back, while I gave my golden retriever my dinner scraps, a bean went down the wrong pipe and in one mighty cough and heave, he chucked the sucker out. From the left, an unexpected hearty chuckle came out of Diego. His laugh was so uninhibited that it made me laugh, for understanding the punchline.

I am amazed at his understanding and ability to find comic relief in so many things. They say that dogs retain at the reasoning level of a 4 year old child for their entire lives, but Mokee has never laughed at Qori for choking on a bean before. You have to understand that prior to Diego, my only mothering skills were those associated with caring for my golden retriever, and my Pomeranian before him. And to this point, I have found so many things to be so similar: The way I talk to him in baby talk, the way I show him affection, the way he needs me to be on top of his feeding schedule, the way he explores his surroundings. Of course my dog never needed diaper changes and to be fed with a spoon, but those are just the details.

Now, he is beginning to do things that are more "human" in nature. These new mannerisms are quite frankly scaring me silly as they are confirming after 8 months that I am a mommy to a human baby boy. I've spent so much time comparing him to my experiences with Qori.

He shredded some papers; Qori always does that. He cries for attention; Qori always does that. He's chewing on his toys; Qori always does that.

Now that he is surpassing Qori's level of development, I feel as if I am entering a new world.

He used his two homo sapien fingers to rip a long sticker off of a pillow; Qori could never do that. He grabbed my purse and started taking things out with his hands; Qori could never do that. He accidentally called his grandmother on my cellphone; Qori could never do that. He laughed at something funny; Qori could never do that.

Just yesterday while I was editing a video blog and Diego was quietly sitting on my lap, I almost forgot he was there. Until he started laughing again. I looked at him, and he was looking at the screen. I had unknowingly freeze-framed on me making a funny face. Each time I moved the frame, leading to yet another funny face, Diego would burst out into laughter again.

Qori could never do that.

But Diego still doesn't crawl or give high-5s. So don't worry Qori, you're still in the running for now!