Before Stanley gets his chance to say anything, I thought I better do some talking first, because Stanley’s story does not start just with him, it starts long before him.
Apologies let me introduce myself, my name is Matilda. In fact my full name is Matilda Frutessa Principessa Richardson but I would have needed a bigger house to have all that above the door. So I go by Matilda or Matty.
As you can see I have some neighbours and of course I know there is some wizard boy who lives in a cupboard under the stairs, but I have a number and a letter on my front door. It is a highly sought after property, the only one in the neighbourhood and has access to some great local amenities including a lovely bit of grass to race about on and I don’t have to worry about any bills.
That is taken care of by my humans, of course I must have humans, don’t all dogs, but they are not a bad bunch. I share my space (or more accurately they share mine) with Carol, David, and Molly.There used to be a Robin but he moved out to his own place recently. I don’t expect he has his name on his front door, do you? There is also Boots and Geraldine, but enough about them.
I like to be with humans and sometimes I get to go to other places with other humans and experience their bits of grass to race about on whilst my humans are busy.
This was a lovely big bit of grass to race about on and I had a lovely time at this human’s house. She was impressed with me and I was very well turned out as you can see and well-behaved. I had a lovely day.
I also on occasions get to go and see the odd boyfriend or two. It makes me sound a bit of a slapper but us dogs have needs you know. I am quite fussy though and really only want to be with someone with a bit of class. Best of Breed at Crufts apparently is pretty classy so I was more than happy. Fonzie was his name, although I don’t think he could start a jukebox with a click of his paws or hangs around in diners but he does care about the way he looks.
Of course we were not careful, but apparently that was okay. Generally you should be careful the majority of the time, because you need to be prepared for the consequences especially if they are not planned. Apparently this was planned, not that I had much say in the matter, but I did enjoy myself.
Now my humans were most pleased, although apparently they were ever so slightly miffed about the idea that it was only going to take 9 weeks and not 9 months like them. There is no way I could have coped with 9 months.
At one point I thought I was not going to be able to fit into my house
It did get a bit much for me to be honest, but apparently 9 weeks is easy and I should be grateful it isn’t 9 months. Look, you have no idea what it has been like for me at all. I felt quite exhausted some days.
All mothers say it is worth all the hassle in the end. And I went from the above photo to the photo below fairly quickly. Look away now if you are a bit squeamish…..
That is when I arrived into the world, my name is Stanley and I am in that photo, I am number one son, but arrived second. My sister Buffy arrived first, she had some trouble and wanted to enter the world running, but everything was okay, because my mum’s human is a midwife. Another sister, Stacy followed me then my little brother Teddy who you can tell in this photo because he is the little scrawny one.
Lots and lots of humans have been to see me (well all of us really) but apparently we cannot all stay together forever. One human came to see me when I was not even a week old and I think she took a real shine to me, she said I was warm and cuddly. She was warm and cuddly too.
She came back to see me again a week later, this time I thought I would show everything that I had. She still seemed to like me, even when I made my mark on her. I did it again as well to another human, but I have decided to do it only on the best humans. 
Of course I am always being watched by my mum. She is making sure along with her human that we are all going to good homes, it is worrying not knowing where I am going but it will be an adventure whatever.
I am not sure what happened to my dad he doesn’t visit, but to be honest, there are that many visitors I would be confused if he did. Apparently I am going to get a new type of dad, a human one, he was a bit reluctant at first, but I think secretly he is very pleased and cannot wait.
The best bit is I get to play in that lovely big grass place that my mum has visited. But I am not allowed outside yet mainly because I am not very good on my legs and paws yet. I have to make do with playing indoors and with all the humans that come and see me (and my siblings).
Every week I get bigger, apparently this is a good thing. I have heard some of my human visitors say that they don’t like getting bigger, but I don’t really understand about that yet.
My new humans cannot visit all the time, but they send another human to look at me and poke me and talk to me. Apparently she says I will have a nice time where I am going. And that she will visit me and look after me as well. It seems there are lots of humans who are going to be watching me, so I will not feel so bad when I leave my mum. And the best bit is I know I can go back and visit her.
There is more exciting things going on now and my brothers and sisters all get on really well and play, but apparently I can be a bit boisterous, but I am only seeing what I can do (and get away with!).
There is always plenty of time to rest and I find this position quite comfortable, apparently those humans that seem to feature quite a lot in my life are not allowed to lie about like this. But I don’t understand about that either.
Now I have got to four weeks, I am allowed to eat different things, my mum was providing my food initially, but apparently that cannot go on forever. When I can though we all still try and see what mum has got for us. So I am learning to eat new things. It tastes quite nice so far and will be good for me to.
My new human says I might need to learn some manners and dining etiquette, but I expect she will help me with that.
That is enough from me now, it is mighty tiring introducing myself to everyone, but I will be back soon.
The Book Jotter 