Howling

Calvin howls.

I howl with him.
We howl together
during meals,
while reading books,
when feeling silly.
Faces raised,
mouth in an o,
always with a grin.

Yep, I went out of town for a few days to present some of my research at the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference in Houston, TX a couple of weeks ago, and when I got back Calvin was a regular howler. I think Grandma Janice was (rightfully) a bit confused about what was going on. I hadn't prepared her for this new skill; he hadn't developed it yet. But during those few days he became a pretty good howler. He lets out an aaaaaooooowwwwwww while raising his face and pointing his chin up in the air. Then he grins and looks at me sideways and aaaaooooowwwwww's again. It's impossible not to chime in.

Granted, he's been exposed to howling for many months now. There are a surprising number of children's books with dogs howling, many of which are in Calvin's library:

Dogs by Sandra BoyntonMy Mother is Mine by Marion Dane Bauer Owl Moon by Jan Yolen
Pond Circle by Betsy Franco

And when ever we get to those pages, I usually provide a demonstration: aaaaaooooooowwwwwww, ao-ao-ao-aaaaaooooooowwwww. I thank my dad and uncles for that skill (camping out in the tree house as a kid was always accompanied by strange howling and owl calls in the middle of the night).