Running shoes

Skylar has been playing with one of my old sneakers.  I gave it to her pretty soon after we brought her home.  My thinking was that if she was going to be a chewer she'd eventually discover shoes.  It made sense to me that she would be more inclined to play with her own shoe rather than hunt down another one.  Over the past few months she would sporadically play with it.  She'd pick it up and walk around with it in her mouth only to discard it when she would find something more interesting to play with. Her bones and balls and stuffed toys and socks and sticks and Tellie were all more fun than the stinky old shoe I gave her.  Until about two days ago.

I think she figured out that when she tosses the sneaker in the air it makes a delightful thud when it hit the floor.  She found out that it is a great chew toy; she realized that the sneaker tongue made a great handle to grab so she could flip it over her head.  She likes the tast of leather and has begun gnawing on the rubber sole. (Did you notice I got in a clever Beatle's reference?  Rubber sole, Rubber Soul?)

She has taken to running furiously around the table in the middle of the TV room with the sneaker in her mouth.  She runs until she gets dizzy and collapses on the floor.  After she catches her breathe she'll pick it back up and look for her boon companion, Tellie.  She'll poke her in the face with it in order to entice her to play.  "This is a really cool toy and I want to share it with you.  C'mon, let's play.  You take it and I'll chase you!"

Jersey used to run around the table, too.  She would explode for one reason or another and scramble, and skootch and scratch like a crazy dog chasing it's tail.  She would run even harder if someone would clap for her or try to chase her.  Jersey would run so hard around and around and around that the floor would shake.  She'd then blast off and run the circuit from TV room to kitchen, through the dining room and down the hallway, over and over and over while Alexa and I would encourage her with shouts of "Go Jersey!"  We would reach out to try and touch her and she would zig-zag away from our fingers. She would run and run and run until she, too collapsed on the floor panting and breathing hard.

I miss the rumble and shake of the floor.  As Skylar gets her run on, I see Jersey.  It's times like these I realize how much joy there is in the simple things like running in circles and chewing on sneakers and the connection it affords me to my Jersey