chunk vs. the angry itch

My itches are less itchy every day, but to help me get better, I have to have special baths twice a week.

I don't really like baths.

It's not that I don't like the extra cuddles and kisses and snuggles I get after my bath, when the people tell me I smell so good. And I like doing zoomies around the living room with Eva Peace after we've both had baths and get all crazy. But I don't like being so wet and having to stand in the tub during my bath. The people turn on the bathroom heater so I'm not cold, and they put a special mat down in the bathtub so I don't slip around and get scared. So it really isn't that bad. I just don't like it as much as I like laying on my bed and chewing on my chewies.

Sometimes I act extra shivery and pathetic so the people don't make me take a bath. But that doesn't work so well. They just pat me on the head and turn up the heater and tell me I'm being a brave boy.

Here I am perfecting my I-am-so-pathetic-right-now look.

After I get rinsed off, I get all soaped up with medicated shampoo. Then I have to wait for five whole minutes while it soaks in. The people usually give me a massage all over while the soap is sitting, so this part I kind of like. (But I try not to let on. That would blow my whole pathetic routine.)

Me, getting un-soaped.

When the shampoo is done working, the people dump water all over me to get the soap off. They're careful not to get it in my eyes. I'm careful to shake and fling water all over, so that way the people have to be wet and soapy, too. I think it's only fair.



 After I'm rinsed, you'd think it would be time for me to get out of the bathtub. That is what happens for Eva, but it's not true for me. Because my skin on my tummy is still itchy and working on getting soft, I have a special medicated rinse that I have to use. It has to soak in for five minutes. I don't think that's necessary. It seems like so much waiting and soaking. But the people tell me I'll feel better when it's done. So here I stand.


Standing and waiting for the medicated rinse to soak in.



Finally, after they rinse me all over again and again, it's time to get dry. I would like this part, but the towel that Eva and I get to use is a big fluffy pink towel. That's when I'm glad the bathroom door is shut so no one can see me getting dried off with a fluffy pink towel.


Here you can see how thrilled I am with the pink towel.



After I get dried off in the tub for a long time and I'm not dripping anymore, New Mister picks me up and puts me on the floor. Then I get toweled on some more until I am mostly dry. I like to get toweled on my chest and tummy, where it itches the most. Sometimes my feet stomp because it feels so good. I also like to get my ears dried off, and I'll even help the people dry off my face by rubbing it on the towel and their pant legs.



Getting my ears dried off.



Me, getting my chest itchies itched with the towel.




This is the part where they call me the Queen of Sheeba.









Then, I finally get to get my shirt back on so I'm not so cold and naked anymore. The people tell me that every time I take a bath, I'm closer to not needing to wear my shirts. We'll see. I'm not sure I'm ready to let them go.









Then, when all the rinsing and soaping and rinsing and soaking and toweling is done, I get to have my favorite part of the baths... the COOKIES!!

chillaxin'

warm and wooly

Even though there's no ice and snow here in Cal-i-for-nia like there was in the Sad Place, I can still get cold sometimes when I go outside.

So New Mister and New Lady got Eva and me some warm clothes to wear. We get to put them on when they take us for long walks on rainy days and on cold mornings and nights when our breath makes fog in the air.
 

Eva and I modeling our new winterwear


Eva has a shiny brown jacket that matches her eyes and I get to wear a fancy-pants grey turtleneck. I think I am very handsome in my new sweater, and I wag my tail extra hard when I'm wearing it. Sometimes I get so happy, I even do my special little tap dance and show my happy-teeth.

The people show their happy-teeth when I wear it, too. New Mister says my sweater makes me look like a professor, and New Lady coos and giggles and follows me around the house with the camera when I've got it on.

Here I am smiling about how much I love my new sweater

Eva likes her jacket, too. She gets so frisky when New Mister and New Lady put it on her that sometimes she forgets she's not supposed to remind me how to play humpty-dump, and she chases me around the living room for fun. Sometimes I let her catch me, mostly because I know I'm so cute in my sweater that she'll lick my ears even though our people won't let her humpty-dump.

Me and Eva check each other's outfits before we go for a walk

Even though I usually get to wear tee-shirts around the house because I like to scratch my tummy a lot, wearing my sweater makes me feel different. Maybe that's because tee-shirts are every-day wear while my sweater is for fancy outings. And oh, boy, do I like going places!


Me taking time for a close-up while Eva gets bored waiting