Yesterday was Dylan’s day. Today is for our little one-Baby Girl as I often call her- MJ, which stands for Mara Jade. In the trilogy of Star Wars books telling the tale of life immediately following Ewoks, Luke Skywalker is hunted by, and eventually falls in love with and marries a sassy redhead named Mara Jade. Being the nerds we are, Robert and I named our little red-tri puppy after her.
The happiness we had with Dylan for our first year led us to thinking we might want to add to our family unit, and it just so happened that Dylan’s birth mother had recently given birth to another litter of puppies. In fact, there had been another bitch (it’s ok to say it in this case because that’s what the word was intended for anyway, so calm down) who had a litter around the same time and there were many puppies to unload. Three of them were still available much past the usual time, so they were again “discount dogs.” We took Dylan back with us and he picked one of the two little girls because she didn’t annoy him as much as the other. She immediately attached herself to her big brother (remember that they really do have the same mom), but he wasn’t so sure. The lack of personal space sort of freaked him out for a while.
Dylan had a toy Green and a Blue
Eventually he learned to more than just accept her, and to actually love her. We knew this had happened when he actually brought her his favorite toy and best friend, Green. Green is to Dylan what that blue blanket is to Linus, so at that moment we knew he loved his baby sister.
MJ using Green for a sleep buddy, with Dylan’s permission
Even now, the two are inseparable, and Dylan puts up with quite a bit of abuse from MJ.
MJ can be a pain in the neck
You could say MJ had a troubled youth. I’m not sure if it’s because she knew she was a “discount dog,” or what, but when I took her out on the town for people socialization, she was always mostly interested in discarded cigarette butts. At home, she was always trying to drink Mommy and Daddy’s beer or wine. She tended to sprawl out on the floor in the most unladylike positions. She even resorted once to chewing a plugged in electrical extension cord (also two remote controls, a Blackberry, and a pair of glasses, though those did not electrocute her and cause her Mommy to panic).
It was clear she needed reform, so we enrolled her into Puppy Kindergarten, and she became the star pupil. With her troubles behind her, she has taken on new interests and hobbies, like chasing and catching the “flippy,” leaning against everything, and warning us when anything moves in our front or back yards. She has learned her left from her right, and has even attempted to take up singing, though she is not nearly as controlled and on key as her brother (though he does get “stuck” and stutter sometimes). She has also mastered the head tilt of curiosity and waking us up in the morning.
I think she fears she is still missing out on something…like having a tail, but she’s found a way around that, also making parts that fall off Dylan’s Green useful. She really likes “Green leg” because it has a squeaker at the end.
MJ is nothing if not resourceful
Yes, our little girl is all grown up now into a beautiful lady, but just as I as the youngest will always be my mom’s “baby,” MJ will always be my little puppy.
caverns of my mind 
I, as her father (MJ’s, not Terri’s) know all of these stories, yet I found myself laughing uncontrollably, despite the fact that P90X Core Synergistics happened yesterday.