The Wild Wild West

In a scene reminiscent of the shootout at the OK corral, they meet upon the field of battle; fierce competitors bent on conquest, eyes locked on one another with an unflinching determination to claim what both believe is rightfully theirs.

You can almost hear the theme from The Good, The Bad and The Ugly playing softly in the distance. Soon the maneuvers will begin; each exploiting the other’s weaknesses. The old guard eyes suspiciously the Johnny-come-lately who seeks to challenge tradition and upset the balance of power established long ago. Although the young one brings to the battle a feisty passion and nimble quickness and spirit, experience is wielded by the old-timer.

BAM! In the blink of an eye it’s over. As the dust settles, the rookie looks toward the horizon to see his foe riding off into the sunset. In a moment of sheer frustration and panic he sounds his mournful battle cry: “MOMMY!?!?!?!?”—as the dog chomps down on the peanut butter sandwich that he had just snatched from Manu’s little hands.

Hey, you win some, you lose some. That’s how it goes in the Wild Wild West that is our house; it’s every baby and animal for himself! Manu has become increasingly irritated any time the dog comes near. Not that he’s afraid of Casey, but he knows Casey wants whatever Manu’s got, be it food or plaything. A stuffed animal becomes a chew toy quicker than you might think. One treat of Manu's that Casey isn't interested in is ice. Yep, just ice. For a while now he has shown interest in drinking out of a big boy cup, and occasionally we let him sip out of our water glasses. Well, our cups have ice, so he wants ice too! We have a little ice cube tray that makes tiny little cubes; cubes that are too small to be a choking hazard (we watch him carefully anyway mom!) We'll put a few in a little cup and he's content to chomp on them like they're candy. I guess he doesn't have sensitive teeth! We figure with all of the crap out there he could be snacking on, ice is a pretty good compromise. Cutest part of it is, every time we open the freezer door, he starts shouting, "ithe ithe ithe."

Fierce competitors for sure!

Big shoes to fill.

Joe Cool.

How did you find me down here?

Studying for the advance placement exams.