一个宝宝+一条狗=两个破坏王 One baby + One doggy = Two destroyers

When I was in university, I read the bookFrom Baghdad, with Love, which told how a US military officer picked up a stray dog in Iraq, brought it home across the world, and lived with it.

上大学时，我读了《来自巴格达的爱》，该书讲述了一位美国军官在伊拉克捡到了一条流浪狗，之后如何辗转世界各地将它带回家，并生活在一起的故事。

I was really moved when I read that the dog, named Lava, slept with the officer's baby to protect him, just like the father did to the dog in Iraq. How I dream to have a pair like that of my own!

这条狗叫拉瓦，为了保护军官的孩子而和孩子睡在一起，就像孩子的父亲在伊拉克的时候对它那样，读到这些的时候，我深受感动。我多么希望也能拥有这么一对属于自己的孩子和狗啊！

Yet when I had my dog and my daughter, I found the difference between novel and reality. My dog, a half Yorkshire and half local Chinese in blood, combined the naughtiness of the former and the unlimited energy of the latter. Even before my daughter came to this world, this hairy kid had already shown its genius in making a mess out of everything.

然而当我有了女儿和一条狗之后，我发现小说和现实的天壤之别。我的狗有一半约克夏血统和一半中国土狗血统，结合了前者的顽皮和后者的无限能量。在我女儿出生前，这个毛茸茸的小家伙就已经是一个把一切搞得一团糟的天才。

Since the day it came to my house, I have never worn a pair of shoes without holes in them.

从它来到我家的那天起，我就没穿过一双不带洞的鞋子。

It has twice bitten my expensive sofa, so I had to buy a cheap one.

它还两次咬坏了我昂贵的沙发，最后我只好买了一个便宜的。

Whenever we are have supper, it sits beside us, eyes full of expectation. I try to persuade it that its own dog food is made with careful calculations for nutrition, that human food does not fit a dog, but it just sits there, waiting for something.

每次吃晚饭，它都会坐在我们旁边，用期待的眼神看着我们。我试图说服它，它自己的狗粮是经过仔细的营养计算的，人类的食物并不适合它。而它还是坐在那里，似乎在等待着些什么。

One year after my wife picked the dog from the street, my daughter was born, who quickly showed her own genius in making mess.

在我妻子把这条狗从街上捡回家的一年后，我女儿出生了，很快就展现了她捣乱的天赋。

My daughter is good at waking up about a dozen times at night, a common phenomenon among babies. My wife and I both have worn black rims around the eyes for more a year. Every morning, when we wake up, we jokingly call each other “Mr. and Mrs. Panda”.

我女儿晚上总是醒来十几次，这是婴儿的常见现象，导致我妻子和我都有了一年多的黑眼圈。每天早上我们醒来，都会开玩笑地叫对方“熊猫先生、熊猫太太”。

I try to save a little energy at first by letting the dog sleep beside her cradle, so that the dog will wake me up if the baby moves to the side of the cradle and risks falling. The dog did a very good job – too good. It barked whenever there was the slightest wind in the room, and I was awoken every 10 minutes. I thanked my dog and gave up the plan.

起初，我试着让狗睡在女儿的摇篮边，这样的话如果宝宝滚到了摇篮边缘或者有摔下来的风险，狗就会叫醒我。狗做得很好——简直是太好了。每当房间内有一丝风吹草动，它就开始吠，这让我每隔十分钟就会醒来一次。我感谢了它的工作，然后放弃了这个计划。

When my daughter grew older and started crawling here and there, the naughtiness of the two was combined: The dog joined her in crawling and the two showed enormous interest in detecting every corner of the house.

我女儿长大一点后，开始在地上爬来爬去，两个小家伙一起顽皮起来了。狗和她一起爬行，他们都对探索房子的每个角落非常感兴趣。

Under the table is my daughter’s favorite place to hide, and every time she crawls there, the dog will follow. The two will play happily there and chat in a language that we adults do not speak. To drag them out will be a endless battle. When we drag either out and go back for the other, the one already out will have crawled back in. It often takes five to six rounds to get both out.

桌子底下是我女儿最喜欢的藏身之处，每当她躲在那里时，狗都会跟着。他们俩在那里愉快地玩耍，用大人听不懂的语言聊天。把他们拖出来是一场无休止的战争。当我们拖出来一个，准备去拖另一个的时候，已经出来的哪一个就会再爬进去。通常我们把他们拖出来都需要五、六次。

If a face tissue falls to the ground, that's a joyous minute for the dog, because it can play a game called “tearing that up”. My daughter soon caught on, and the two now love tearing every piece of face tissue that falls off the table.

如果看到纸巾掉到地上，这就到了狗的欢乐时光，因为它可以玩一种叫“撕碎”的游戏。我女儿很快就追上去，现在两个人都喜欢撕碎从桌上掉下来的每一张纸巾。

When it is time to walk the dog, it is the baby who is more excited, because they can both play in the meadow, until both are covered with mud and grass.

每当遛狗的时候，宝宝表现的更兴奋，因为他们可以在草地上玩耍，直到浑身沾满了泥土和草。

Now my daughter is three months from her second birthday, and in a year she will go to kindergarten. Maybe then the dog will feel lonely, but I plan to ask its help with accompanying her to and from kindergarten.

现在我女儿两岁零三个月，一年后她就要去上幼儿园了。可能到时候狗会觉得孤单，所以我打算让它到幼儿园陪她。

It really is tiring to play with two little destroyers, but I wouldn't trade it for the world.

和两个小捣蛋鬼一起玩真的挺累，但是无论如何我也不会抛弃他们。