Quality Little Brother Time

It's hard to get my little brother to hold still, these days.  He is usually speed-crawling around the house, pulling himself up on everything, and scattering his toys about.  Once in a while, he has to sit and drink some milk.  If my human lets him sit by me, she can get him to drink almost the whole thing in one sitting.  I don't mind just hanging out.

Did I mention that my little brother likes to scatter his toys around the house?  He is also nice enough to share them with me, even though I know I'm not supposed to chew on them.  I'll take any attention I can get, so I just go with it.

It's Almost Summer!

Now that it's almost summer, and my human got a new laptop (last month) that isn't painfully slow, it's time to get back to blogging.  We had some hot weather this week.  Luckily my human came home one day with what looked like a giant tub.  My little brother was enjoying it, and I really wanted to cool off in it, but I was also a little suspicious.  It looked a lot like a bath to me.  I enjoyed it after the humans went inside, and I couldn't be tricked into getting clean.  Look at the way that little boy was taunting me!

Yesterday my friend Jet came over and ran around with me for a while.  I was so tired and hot afterwards that I tried to hide out on the cool bathroom tile.  I think my little brother was trying to get me up to play, but I was having none of it.  I slept for the rest of the day!  My human has threatened to shave me this summer, but I have assured her that I can cool off just fine!

Caramel and Cruzan Came to Visit!

My doggie cousins came over to play today!  I don't really know if we're cousins, but our humans insist that we are.  I just play along.  They brought their human, Heather, whom I insisted on jumping all over.  She was wearing black and I needed to coat her in dog hair...as is my custom. 

Cruzan I met last summer, but this was my first time meeting Caramel.  They were both a little afraid of me at first, but in the end, they warmed up to me.  I taunted them with my toys and tried to get them to chase me.  Their legs are so short, that I think I had an advantage.  I had to be careful not to step on them with my big feet.  They both loved my little brother.  Caramel especially loved licking his head.  We didn't really run around all that much, but the excitement of it all wore me out.  I've been napping ever since they left.  I hope they come back to visit soon!

 Checking out what my little brother was chewing on

 

 Caramel and me, cleaning strawberries off his face while our humans were too busy taking the picture to stop us!

 

They approved of the comfy couch.  It put them right at my eye level, so I could tease them more easily.



Fashion Friday

Welcome to my first Fashion Friday post!  My human likes to dress me up, and I don't really mind, as long as I get a treat.  I figured I might as well model some of her outfits. 

 

My human wore this shirt and scarf today, paired with some jeans (which did not fit on my dog body, no matter how hard she tried).  The shirt is actually from Motherhood Maternity, but obviously is a comfortable shirt to wear, even when you're not pregnant.  The scarf is from Target.  It's tied in the back, to make it into an infinity scarf.  I never really saw myself as a pink-wearing dog, but I think this color is flattering on me.

What I Ate Wednesday

This is what I managed to scrounge up off the floor, this week.  I used to not like people food, but I'm acquiring quite the taste for it.

Carrots.  Eh, not my favorite.  In reality, I really just like chewing them into pieces and leaving them all over the floor.

 See that spoon?  It has yogurt on it!  This is why I always hang out by my little brother's high chair while he's eating.  Yogurt is one of my favorite human foods!  I cleaned that spoon off in about 2 seconds.

That is pasta on the floor, in front of my paw.  My human Elise is almost as bad at getting food in her mouth as my little brother is.  I've learned to hang out around her chair while she eats too.

Happy 3rd Birthday to me!

This last Saturday was my 3rd birthday.  My humans made me an extra special dog treat.  They made me pose for a birthday picture before I could eat it, but I could hardly control my urge to grab it right off the table.  This was the best picture they were able to get.  I also got a big fluffy dog bed, which I will have to share a picture of in one of my next posts. 

Saturday was a very stormy day, so we mostly stayed inside, hoping the power didn't go out.  We lost a few tree branches, though, which means that I have some huge sticks to chew on now!  Sunday the weather was better, so my human Elise took me to one of my favorite running trails in town.  I saw lots of other dogs running with their humans too. 

I have been coming up with some posts that I can write on a more regular basis.  Stay tuned later this week for "Conversations with Little Brother," "What I ate Wednesday," and "Fashion Friday."

Holiday Lowdown

We did a lot of traveling over the holidays.  I'm going to give you a quick lowdown to sum up our adventures. 

At the end of November we went down to Oregon for Thanksgiving.  I got to see my friend Mackie one more time, before she moved to SPAIN to be with her permanent human.  I will miss her

 Little Brother started eating more solid food a couple months ago, which means his hands have even more flavor than usual.

 

 

Then a month later, my humans started packing up again, for 9 days of traveling and visiting for Christmas.  The day before we left, we got SNOW!  I loved running around the yard in it, and eating it.  This is a picture of my human trying to get me to come in the house, but I wasn't done playing yet.  *Do not make eye contact.  Do not make eye contact.  Do not make eye contact.*

 

The next day, my humans packed the car to the brim.  I had a little square space to sit in, in the back.  We went back down to Oregon to visit everyone again for Christmas.  This is a picture of Christmas morning.  Little Brother had just as much fun shredding paper as I do.  I was jealous that he was allowed to do it without being scolded.  I'll have to ask him how he got away with that.  

 I still have yet to figure out these "cats" that my grand-humans have and I think my little brother is just as perplexed.

The holidays go by really quickly when you're driving (sleeping in the back of the car) to visit family and soaking up lots of attention from people who you don't see that often.  All of a sudden my human says it's 2014.  I just look at her and smile and nod.  I don't know what that means.  I'm a dog. 

Family Morning at Marymoor

 

Starting out on the trail.  I was so excited when I first got to the park, that I played a little too rough with a tiny dog.  I kept accidentally stepping on him with my big feet.  I found plenty of other dogs to play with after that, though.

 I love jumping back and forth over these fences.  I don't even need a reason.

 I check in with my human every once in a while, for a treat.

 By the end, I was pretty tuckered out.  I would run ahead and then take little breaks in the grass to catch my breath.

Little brother was worn out too.

Halloween

 A couple of weeks before Halloween, my humans carved some pumpkins.  I don't really understand the point, but I definitely wanted to eat the insides.  I even managed to sneak a few bites of the pumpkin seeds, before I was caught.  After that I just hung out with Little Brother, and we watched while they continued to work.

On Halloween night, my human insisted on trying to get me to dress up.  I let her have her fun for a while, but hats are not my favorite.

Yesterday, my human and I (and my little brother) went for a walk around an outdoor mall.  I like walking around here because there is lots to see!  Whenever we walk by this pool in the photo, I try to get my human to let me swim in it.  I guess it's not that kind of pool, though.  She made me just sit by it for a picture instead.  Whatever.  My favorite store to walk by is Lucy, because they always have a water dish outside for me to drink out of.  I also met two Labradors who were so good at walking next to their human, that they weren't even on a leash!  I wish I had that kind of self control!  Maybe I'll get there eventually....probably not.

A Lazy Weekend

 

This weekend my humans and I relaxed and caught up on some movies.  My favorite was World War Z.  Although, I think I will continue to have nightmares for weeks.  Good thing my humans let me sleep on the corner of their bed with my head on their pillow (whether they know it or not).

 

Other shenanigans included:

 

 Apparently Lee got very close to his first bite of pizza.  He has to wait a couple more months though.  I feel your pain Little Brother.

 

He also practiced sitting up, and I took this time to clean him up a bit.  Spit up is a delicacy in my book.

 

 On Sunday, my human Elise and I went on a run.  Then we spent the afternoon watching movies with these two. 

I like to follow Little Brother around the house, wherever my other humans carry him (he still can't walk yet).  When he's hanging out in his room, I hang out in his room with him.  I even got him to share his blanket with me the other day. 

SQUIRREL?

 My human and I went for a brisk, Fall run at a nearby park, a couple of days ago.  We've only been to this park a couple of times, because it is usually so busy, but it was pretty quiet this time.  She enjoyed the changing fall colors.  I enjoyed looking for squirrels.  This looked like prime squirrel territory.  I didn't find any, but it won't stop me from being on high alert the next time we go.  We did run by a little white dog who seemed not to notice me, and a yappy little wiener dog.  The wiener dog definitely noticed me and ran all the way to the end of his extendable leash before his owner reeled him back it.  I gave him a little bark too, as we ran by.  It's been cold and rainy the past couple days, so now it definitely feels like Fall.  The rain doesn't bother me, but it takes a little more convincing to get my human to go outside.  Maybe I need to make her a coat out of all the hair that I shed....  *Google search:  How to sew with no opposable thumbs*

 

This is my little brother and me, waiting for my human to get ready for the day.  He's getting better at holding his head up.  I'm just waiting for him to start crawling so he can follow me around the house.

I snuck in a few licks while I was at it.

Yesterday morning my human, little brother, and I went to Marymoor.  There were not too many dogs there, but I had fun running around by myself.  I especially enjoyed these new sawdust piles!  I just wish I could have gotten a dog to play "king of the mountain" with me.

My new friend Leia and I had a lot of fun playing together, over this last weekend.  She eventually got a little more comfortable and stopped whining for her human.  I kept her company so she wasn't lonely.  She actually managed to wear me out!  Then when I tried to rest, she got right in my face to get me to keep playing!  I was doing the same thing to her, when she first arrived at our house, so I suppose it was fair.

 

She eventually crashed as well, and we both took a nap.  I even shared my spot on the couch and let her sleep closest to my human!  I hope she appreciated that gesture!

This is my new friend, Leia!  My humans say that she is staying with us for the weekend, and I am SO EXCITED!  She likes to play, just like me.  So far we have only stopped playing because our humans made us go to bed last night, and for a few mini breaks to catch our breath.  I think she misses her human, because sometimes she wanders around and whines for him.  I will just have to try to distract her this weekend. 

This is what it looks like, when we're getting ready to go for a walk or a run.  The trick is to keep Little Brother happy in his stroller, until we get out the door and start moving.  My human puts him in there right before we're about to leave and then piles a bunch of toys on him, hoping one of them will keep him occupied.  About 50% of the time, he starts screaming and she has to take him out of the stroller and bounce him around a bit before trying again...and hopefully getting out the door.  This process is definitely a lesson in patience for me.  When I'm ready for a walk, I'm ready right away.  I need to have a talk with Little Brother about this. 

After our walk we all relaxed in bed for a little bit.  We got chased by two different dogs today, and were ready to chill out!  I don't know why so many people in this neighborhood do not keep their dogs in a safe yard!  Luckily my human and I are fast runners! 

Today is National Dog Day!

 We took a nice walk around the neighborhood.  I got to meet a new little dog and said hello to an older lady that walks everyday.  After that I decided to put my feet up, and my human let me control the remote.  Animal Planet it is!

It's turning into a rainy day, so animal planet and cuddling with my humans sounds like a good National Dog Day to me!

I didn't know if my humans and I were ever going to get out of the house today.  They seemed content to lounge around in their pjs.  This afternoon, we finally went on a little adventure.  We went into town and on a walk along the Sammamish River.  I like this path, because there are lots of bicyclists that ride by.  I have to resist the urge to chase after them.  My humans always discourage that.  We stopped by one of the benches for a photo op.  I feel better now that I've had a walk, and am ready to chill out for the rest of the evening.