What a Mess

Lily displayed her incredible projectile pooping skills this morning. I'm in awe...

1 Month

Lily went to the doctor for her 1 month check-up today. She's 6 lbs. 8 oz. and is now 19-1/2" long. She's in the 3rd percentile for height and weight and the 5th percentile in head size. She's nice and proportioned and still a little peanut. She also got her first shot and was NOT happy about it, but quickly went back to sleep. I don't blame her though. I hate getting shots. She's lucky they didn't try to trim her nails. That's the worst! When I get in her face to sniff her, I've noticed that her eyes have really lightened up. They're much less gray and much more blue. The doctor says she could start smiling any time now. Surely my whiskers in her face will do the trick. I'll keep you posted.

This is a picture of the duck I got for Christmas. It is yummy. I love leaving the stuffing on the floor for Greg and Katie to clean up. That's a fun game.

Christmas

Every year Santa brings me a super long rawhide bone. He must've forgot this year because I didn't get anything. That's ok though. Maybe my people will get me one soon. Other people got me some pretty cool stuff. Lots of treats, some of them homemade even! I think my favorite present is the stuffed duck a friend gave me. I'm working hard to tear off its wings and head. I like to grab it by the neck and shake it, just to make sure it's really dead.

Lily had a good Christmas. It was very busy. She got to meet all of her aunts, uncles and cousins. Here is a picture of Lily's cousins from North Carolina, Madison & Nathan. Winston made the trip also, but we haven't had a chance to meet. I hope to do so later this week. Several friends are in from out of town also. She'll get to meet them later this week. She's very excited. I think that's why she was crying so much last night.

This is cousin Ben from Louisiana holding Lily. He says she is the best girl in the whole world.








Here is Uncle Tim and cousin Sam, also from Louisiana. Hunter dog came with them, but he was shy and did not pose for any pictures.

3 weeks

I apologize for my week long silence. My paws were starting to hurt from all the typing. Here is a picture of me working on the blog.





Lily has been here for three weeks now. I think she is here to stay. She still seems to be growing at an alarming pace. If I ate 8 meals a day, I would be huge. On the bright side, Katie seems to have gotten her weight problems under control. I think she went on a diet whenever Lily arrived.

Baby butts and nail clippings

I think my favorite thing about having the new baby around is that she smells really good. Last night while Greg was holding her, Lily let out a nice string of poots, toots, and gas. It was heavenly.

For some reason, Greg tried to pin me down last night while holding the dreaded nail clipping torture device. He tricked me into laying down next to him by acting like he was going to rub my belly. Then he tried to pin me. He should know better. He can't pin me. I thought we had moved past that a long time ago. I'm not sure what got into him. Later, while napping next to Katie, I had a dream that she was using the torture device on me. Wow, that was a scary dream. I decided to stay awake and keep an eye on my people just in case.

Lily Update

My new friend Lily went to see the doctor again this week. She is up to 5 pounds 14 ounces. She is gaining about an ounce a day. At this rate, she will weigh 479 pounds when she turns 21. I'm really concerned. I've been trying to tell my people, but they just don't get it. I stared. I paced. I whined. I refused to sit. All they did was yell at me. Eventually I gave up and decided to write about it in my blog. Maybe later, I will go take a nap on their pillows.


Here is a Norm's eye view of Lily.

Frito Feet

The other night Greg said to Katie "Norm smells like Fritos." Yeah I do and it's AWESOME! Katie agreed and thought it was kind of odd. Then Bailey's owners were at the house and the topic came up again. They agreed that Bailey smells like Fritos too. They said that dogs "sweat" between the pads of their feet causing the odor. I don't know about all that, but I do know that I smell pretty darn good. I mean, who doesn't like the smell of Fritos? Geez.

No appreciation...

I get no appreciation around here. Today, I braved the gauntlet of mousetraps on the couch so that I could stand guard at the front window. Do I get any thanks? No. Katie just laughs at me as I try not to lose a paw while getting off of the treacherous sofa back.

Oh, and in response to Fuzzy's comment from two posts ago... I am not scared of mice. My people are. Apparently they think the mice like to curl up on the couch. I can say that in all the nights I have spent on the couch, I never once saw a mouse there. I don't understand it.

Self Guided Neighborhood Tours

I have been getting a little antsy lately. My people never leave anymore. Lily seems to be here to stay. Other people keep coming by to visit. I used to love visitors back when people actually came to see me. Lately, everybody comes to see Lily. I'm not sure how she did it, but she has everybody wrapped around her tiny little fingers already.

Anyway, I decided to get some fresh air and stretch my legs a bit this morning. I have Greg timed pretty well now. When he lets me out, I know he isn't watching very close for about a minute. As soon as I got outside, I made a run for it. That little fence is no challenge for me. I probably had a 60 second head start before Greg had a clue. By then, I was headed into the woods behind the yard. It was a nice little outing. I briefly taunted Turbo (Pomeranian that lives across the street) and then headed down the tree & brush covered hill. There is all sorts of good stuff to sniff and pee on down there. I spotted a couple of rabbits but wasn't able to catch up to say hi. Those little buggers are fast.

After a few minutes, I started to get cold (that cold icy stuff is still all over everything). I began to head back to the house when I spotted Greg. I'm a bit surprised. I didn't think he was in the mood for a walk. I thought it would be a good time to play one of our favorite games. It's kinda like Red Rover, except it is just me and Greg. I run as fast as I can right at him and he tries to catch me. It's a lot of fun. Apparently he has been practicing. He caught me on the first pass. I'm glad though. My paws were almost frozen by that point. It was time to go inside. Maybe I'll take another walk this afternoon after it warms up a bit...

Cousins

I have four cousins. The senior cousin is Hunter (~70 dog yrs). He lives in Shreveport. Here is a picture of me, Greg and Hunter from last Christmas. Hunter is a wise dog. I learned much from him about dealing with little people. Apparently, a day will come when the little person sits in a tall chair and throws food on the floor. I can't wait.






Two of my cousins live in St. Louis. Sadie (~50 dog yrs) only has three legs. I'm not sure how she does it, but she gets around prety well. She is very laid back and easy going. However, she loves to meet and lick new people.














My newest cousin is Nome (~14 dog yrs). He came from the far off land of Kentucky to live with Sadie. I'm not convinced that Sadie had any say in that deal. They seem to get along ok. He is still just a teenager. I had a lot of fun playing with him when I went to visit last week. He seems to like that cold hard stuff a lot more than I do.






The fourth cousin is Winston. He recently moved with his people from Wisconsin to North Carolina. We haven't had a chance to meet. All I know is that he has short legs and big ears.

The Great Escape...Almost

This new little person in my house sure has disrupted my routine. All I want to do is rest peacefully, but her gurgling and squeeking noises keep me on edge. I'm so tired! My people are trying to give me attention, but it's just not the same. When Greg let me out last night, I decided I'd had enough. I tried to make a break for it by jumping the gate. I'm a pro at that. I love to send Greg and Katie...particularly Katie...on wild goose chases through the neighborhood. It's great fun. I did it one time when she was pretty big in the belly and managed to get her to cry. It was awesome. I was also able to catch a ride in her car for the first time. I'll have to tell the story in another post some day. Anyway, last night I only made it across the street before Greg came and got me. I'll have to plan better for next time. Maybe I'll bolt into the woods instead of just wandering across the street. Better yet, maybe I'll wait until it's Katie who's letting me out.

Hectic Weekend

It's been hectic around here this weekend. First, my people decided to take a drive when that cold, hard stuff was falling from the sky. They disappeared for a couple of days. I got bored and went to visit my new cousin, Nome. I don't have any pictures yet. I'll post one when I can. So, after a few days, Greg and Katie come back on Saturday. They must have gone back to the humane society to adopt a new pet. I can't figure out exactly what she is, but she sure does squeek a lot. I'm a little jealous. She gets her own room with a nice wooden crate. When I was adopted, I was shoved to the basement in a cold metal crate. She seems to get a lot of visitors. Here is a picture of me and my new friend, Lily Beth.

Greg wanted me to add a couple of links.
http://www.growingfamily.com/webnursery/babypage.asp?UrlID=9K0Y0J6Y7Q
http://www.growingfamily.com/webnursery/babypage.asp?UrlID=3L4T8R6D6K

Crazy Weather

Today got off to an odd start. Greg got up an hour early for some reason. Katie was still sleeping, so I had him let me out before he left for the day. What happened to the weather? It was very rainy and very cold. I'm not sure, but I suspect that cold white stuff may appear soon. When I am done here, I think I will go curl up next to Katie and warm up.

Katie seems to be hanging around a lot more. She used to disappear during the days like Greg does. That stopped recently. Also, she is getting bigger. I've been trying to walk her more, but it doesn't seem to be helping. I wonder what is going on.

I'm glad to see my friends have access to the internet as well. We don't see each other enough. Maybe some of them will start their own blogs as well. In response to Jersey, I should point out that my people didn't put up the usual array of shiny stuff this year. There is a small tree in the corner with Mizzou ornaments on it. They seem pretty attached to those. I might upset Greg and Katie quite a bit if I stepped on one.

Training

I have been working really hard on training my people. They have learned several tricks. When I pace back and forth between them and the back door, that means I need to go outside. When I press my nose against the leash drawer, that means I want to go somewhere. When I lay on my back, I need a belly rub. I recently taught them that when I stare at them and wag my tail, that means I want a rawhide bone. Next, I think I will work on teaching them to cook me better food. That dry stuff is terrible.

My first blog post

So, my life as a dog gets a bit boring sometimes. I thought I would spice things up by starting this blog. First of all, I should provide some background. My people adopted me from the Humane Society on October 11, 2003. That is me and Katie in the picture to the left. I was 4 or 5 months then. I weighed about 25 pounds when I moved in.

My two people are really nice. I'm glad they decided to live with me. I get bored around the house when they aren't here. I used to have troubles telling them apart. Now I know that Katie has hair. Greg does not. Katie is really nice to me. She lets me sleep on the bed with her whenever Greg isn't around. She pets me a lot. Greg is fun too. He lets me wrestle with him. I like to let him win every now and then.