From Facebook, November, 2009
People who bring their dogs with them to Petworld must have the same feeling of legitimacy that I feel bringing Lydia to Babies R Us

Upon entry, we nearly held Lyd up for the store to see her. “Look here! We have a baby. Last time we were here we did not have a baby. But now we do have a baby. Make way for a proud Mama and Papa! Coming through! See? See? We have a baby here! The first baby every born, the most important baby in the world! Step aside please. We need to buy another box of diapers—you know…for our baby.”
Lydia wasn’t even a month old. This was pretty much our first time leaving the house as a family. It was horrible. Every driver was a maniac, even the ones sitting in parked cars. It was November and Lyd was so tiny. That breeze could give her pneumonia—that breeze could kill our brand new perfectly healthy baby!
Okay, we parked, and we’ve walked the parking lot. Whew, now we’re in the store. A store full of germs and the lighting, it could hurt her eyes. Oh my God! Is she still breathing? Okay—Annie just gave me a look. I better calm down. I’ll just push the cart and let Annie toss things into it (of course every item requires two minutes of discussion). There’s another Dad. Hey man. I see you have a baby. So do I. See? Right here. It’s cool, we’ll just nod to each other and keep walking on. I’m pretty certain as soon as we passed each other (being cool) we were both bent over making silly faces at our little ones and letting her hold onto a finger. She’s holding my finger! She must like me! Who likes their Daddy? WHOOOO Likes Daddy??? There’s another Dad (clearing the throat). Hey, ‘sup? Just me and my baby here. That’s all.
She changed me. She made me feel fully realized.