Tessa loves to crawl on your lap while playing. It’s a safe place to be. She’ll grab a toy and shake it around, then scooch back until she can sit her bum on you, then continues happily munching on the toy.

The girl has jaws of steel, already. I remember when we got Oreo we had to search for an extra-soft toy just so she could squeak it. Her favorite became a little rubber dinosaur, because it was the only one she could squeak (until she killed it). Tessa, however, delights in finding the “sweet spot” in Oreo’s toys and then just squeaking the hell out of it. All you’ll hear is SQUEE-ka, SQUEE-ka, SQUEE-ka, SQUEE-ka, SQUEE-ka. Jaws of steel, I tell ya.

I’m utterly amazed at how well Oreo and her get along. Oreo growls and snarls when Tessa gets close… and Tessa barks and barks back. But when Tessa backs off, Oreo steps closer and nudges the toy she’s holding closer to Tess, as if to say, “Come on! Come get it!” It’s very cute. Also, they switch toys indiscriminately. Oreo will step away from her toy to go see the cat, and Tess will swipe it. So Oreo will just snag another toy and walk away happily. Oreo has chased Tessa around a few times, some playfully, some not. But even when she’s snapping and snarling, she could easily pin Tess down and bite her - but doesn’t. Yesterday Oreo was just laying on the couch and Tess was barking at her and bugging her. Oreo leaned down and SNAP, jaws close well away from Tess in an almost pantomimed motion. I get the feeling most of her growls are just for show.

Angel, however, is really not thrilled. It’s funny, because Oreo can walk right up to him, and Angel just cranes his head to try to see around her at the evil little puppy. I find it amusing. I mean, how can anyone be afraid of something that bites its own tail and trips over its own feet? Angel sometimes lays down in the hallway, preventing Tessa from getting through. Angel will smack Tess if she gets too close, and she knows it. Whether or not he uses his claws is unknown, though she’s never gotten actually hurt from any of his smacks. Most of the time I’ve seen it, his paws don’t have that lightning-fast attack speed that cats use to deal out damage. It’s more like a warning swat. Oh good grief, right now Tessa is under my desk and Angel is on top of it, hanging over the edge to keep an eye on her.

Tuffy is the one who seems least affected by the whole upheaval. He doesn’t give two shits about the new dog, any more than he does the other two. All he wants is to be left alone, and he’ll just walk around anything that gets in his way. Apparently he learned long ago it’s the only way that really works. Too bad he can’t teach Angel.