Bad dog, Carl!

Mikah is my bookworm.

And her current favorite series is:

Carl the dog books.

If you're not familiar with these books, they are stories about the adventures of a Rottweiler and little baby with beautiful pictures and words only on the first and last page...leaving parents to make up the rest of the story.

Ironically, the little baby even resembles Mikah.

Now originally, I loved these stories.

We have at least 6 of these lovely Carl adventures.

But the more I read them, the more I regret ever bringing these books through our door.

As cute as Carl may seem...

he is a very BAD DOG!

Let me explain, in most of these stories, the mom to the little baby specifically asks Carl to watch the baby while she leaves...

going to a masquerade party,

shopping In the mall,

tea in the park with her friend.

(I mean if only dogs really could be babysitters!)

On top of this crazy idea of a dog nanny,

I've realized this darn dog is teaching Mikah all sorts of bad tricks.

Months ago, Mikah started crawling out of her crib;

every parent's worst nightmare.

It wasn't until my mom pointed out that Carl helps the baby out of the crib in several of the books that I put the incidents together.

Then, while playing outside one day,

I look up to see Mikah and Liv walking around with sticks in their mouths.

I pulled it out of Mikah's mouth only to hear her quickly yell,

"Carl, Carl!"

Yep, you guessed it;

in one of the books Carl teaches all the kids to follow him around carrying sticks in their little mouths.

I mean come on Carl!

Then, during a walk through our neighborhood, we saw someone walking a dog...

that looked exactly like Carl.

Mikah pointed it out immediately.

And when that dog turned the opposite corner as we did,

Mikah cried for Carl,

ALL THE WAY HOME.

I've always loved books.

But I had no idea they could have such an effect on such a little girl.

Don't get me wrong,

I still like the Carl books.

And I love the smile they bring to Mikah's face every time we read them.

But just know...

A book you might think is just an addition to your child's book shelf,

might just turn into every night's bedtime story...

the book you know every word to...

and the book your child just can't get enough of.

Here's to hoping Mikah outgrows these Carl books before the author decides to add more to the collection.

I promise this pictures wasn't posed.