This is the dog's water bowl.

It's hard to tell from this photo, but this bowl is actually huge. We purchased it the first summer we had Gunther because I got tired of refilling his water bowl every two hours and then watching him push the bone dry bowl across the kitchen floor with his nose, as though that would somehow cause it to refill itself.

Nicholas loves this bowl. To him it looks like a tiny bathtub. Whenever we're in the kitchen I have to keep an ear out for that "splish splish" sound that means Nick's up to his elbows in water and dog spit. I am constantly reminding the boy to leave the dog's water alone.

The other night Nicholas was practicing his backwards walk. This is walking backwards, usually while one of us is asking him to do something else, such as come to the table for dinner, which would require him to be moving forward. Not surprisingly, Nick tripped over the bowl and fell in. He ended up sitting right in the middle of a very full water bowl. Being the loving, caring, and supportive parent that I am, I immediately started laughing. It only got better when I realized Nick couldn't get out.

Thank goodness his diapers are super absorbent.