Meet Kusi

Meet Kusi. She is about 12 weeks old now, the only female in a litter of 5, born to a street dog who had been adopted by the previous tenants of our house and then adopted us. Didn't realise she was pregnant at the time! Mommy dog has a really calm temperament; I have only seen her bark at crows who come into her air space, cats who walk along the fence, and a man who was begging at the gate (But by that point he was being rather annoying and persistent.) I chose Kusi because she has been the most social of all the puppies and because she has some spirit. She was the first to learn to climb down off a foot-high concrete barrier in the garden, thus giving her almost complete access to the rest of the space. Kusi means happy in Nepali.

We are still trying to find homes for 2 of the pups, Tiger and Sleeper, and in the meantime all 3 have started on their medicines and vaccinations. Once Kusi is the only one left, she will be allowed to come into the house, but until then she is bunking with the other two in the garden. Mommy dog has been trying to wean them completely so she only visits once a day but it is still good to see her then. I am not sure we can keep her inside; even when she is well fed she seems to need to get out. Maybe she just needs to get away from the kids!


I don't know why he's climbing in there. I don't think he knew either. Then he had to figure out how to get out. It was much harder after Noa closed one of the cupboard doors!

Toby and Noa are doing well, except for a couple of nasty colds recently. On January 14 Nepalis celebrated the coldest day of the year. Now we are apparently in spring! And really, it feels warmer! Both kids are talking more, but especially Toby. His newest word is book, to add to: bus, hot, up, down, tractor/ doctor, duck, juice, cookie, cracker, car, ball, numnum, and Nanu, which is Nepali for little sister and it is his name for Noa. Noa is much quieter (a surprise to all who have known her since birth!) but I have a feeling she will talk in the same style in which she walked: no trial and error, she will begin by stringing 2 words together.

Noa continues to be such a little helper around the house. She wipes the table or the floor whenever she has a cloth. (I know, I have to lighten up...) She carries her dirty dishes to the sink. This morning she brought Toby's clothes for him. And this afternoon when we arrived home she brought the shopping into the kitchen item by item! She understands a lot, and definitely sometimes chooses to ignore me! She can go down one step without holding on and can almost run. As you can see from the previous post, she loves to colour. The inside of their cardboard box playhouse is covered in crayon. She is a really good eater. No problem with a spoon or a fork and minimal spilling from a cup. Toby prefers his drinking box and even eats soup with his fingers but I am sure he will learn.

That's all for now. We have power cuts for 16 hours per day now so I am trying to take advantage of the internet when I can.

Love
C T N