A dog to the mix

We fostered a beagle yesterday.
For a month or so, we've been toying with the idea of getting a dog. Doing the rounds of the SPCA and other adoption agencies, we found that dogs are (a) expensive and (b) rarely ideal companions for a toddler. The closest we came to adopting, oddly enough, was a massive German Shepherd named Papa Buddy, who we discovered at the SPCA down the street. He is 75 lbs. overweight and 8 years old. Despite his very passive - and somewhat depressed - personality, PB presented too big a risk due to the size of his jaws. Even though he was so gentle, he could easily take Hadley's head off with one gulp. Yikes.
Alicia enthusiastically sent applications to all sorts of agencies and the one that got back to us first was a Beagle Rescue organisation. Instead of paying the adoption fee, we decided on fostering first, to see how it goes.

Her name is Chloe. She's pretty Beagle-y, but very good-natured and is calm around Hadley. Hadley, in turn, is being pretty good to Chloe. I think there's always the risk of toddlers pulling dog ears or jumping on them. Hadley's not physical in that way, though she may develop those instincts soon enough. Instead she talks to Chloe (Bow-Wow) and follows her around. Of course, Hadley's fascinated with the elements of Chloe's relationship to us that mimic her own: Bow-Wow Poop, Bow-Wow Food and Bow-Wow Cuddles. These are all words she uses. She can say 'dog' if she really wants to, but prefers her own words instead. Just like she says 'beer' instead of 'water', or makes a gutteral sound (ungh-gngh) instead of saying 'book'.

I worry that Hadley, or we, may get too attached to Chloe and then lose her in an adoption. But this seemed like the wisest way to go about introducing a dog into the family. It's too bad the cats aren't nearly as stoked about Bow-Wow.

Sugar Baby

It seems like the topic of sugar has come up a lot lately in our home. I don't think I've ever really taken the time to work through my own wishes re: Hadley and sugar, though I'm fairly certain I'd like her to avoid it.
Sugar was raised initially when Hadley and I went to a 2-year old birthday party and cake was involved. I had a piece, Hadley saw it, but she showed absolutely no interest in eating. The host, on the other had, was feeling exhausted because her [now] 2-year old had eaten a bunch and was all hyped-up. She expressed regret that her child had been exposed to sugar at so young an age - by other family members - and that she now has a taste for it.
I've never thought of sugar as something you "have a taste for", that is, you don't want it until you've had it. But I suppose there must be some truth to that idea. Hadley has had sugar in some baked goods and cookies but never asks for sweet stuff. In fact, her idea of an awesome treat is a slice of cucumber or a leaf of kale. Doesn't mean, though, that she'll never crave sugar.
Now I have to ask myself what the fear is. After all, I eat sugar from time to time. I know I want to avoid giving her mega-sweets (chocolate, candy, icing) because they can cause an upset stomach. They also rot teeth, make you fat and contribute to poor health later in life (read: cholesterol).
People talk about hyper-activity and sugar, but I'm not convinced. Not to say I don't think sugar partially plays a role but (a) kids are pretty hyper on their own and (b) sugar has never made me hyper.
Oh man, it's really raining hard outside. I'm going to close the windows and finish this later.