So we had this baby, Lucy, who was the center of the universe: Planet Lu. We were so in love with her, so entranced with her every gurgle, her every poop, we couldn’t imagine having another kid. At least one of us (Kate) couldn’t. Life was busy! Gah! Lay off already!

Except you know that feeling when you see a puppy, and you think, “Oh, a PUPPY. I want a puppy!!” But you have to ask yourself: do I want a dog? Because it’s a puppy now and it has that sweet breath, but soon enough it’s just a DOG.

Now we have a very darling milk-breathed puppy named Milo. And someday soon enough he will be a dog. A dog who will expect to go to college. Oh well. He’s cute. He likes us better than anything on the planet, and, really, that level of enthusiasm is worth all this effort.