All Kinds of Happys

Happy Birthday to my sweet dog, Adler. She turned 4 today. Where has the time gone? I can't believe she's that old already! We got her a new doggie bed with her name on it and Austen and I went to Petco yesterday and he picked out some new toys for her and some treats which he gave her this morning.

Happy Thanksgiving to all too. We had a leisurely morning going for a long walk in the neighborhood and then dinner in the city with family. Adler caught up on her sleep while we were gone and Austen enjoyed getting all the attention from his older cousins and aunts and uncles!

Adler's Latest Antics

Lately I've been coming home from work each day to find more and more hair on my bed. Actually, I guess I should say clumps of hair! I suspected that Adler liked to get on our bed while we're gone during the week to groom herself, but yesterday when I stepped out of the shower and into our room, there was my Bernese Mountain Dog laying on my bed like it was the most natural thing in the world and she did it every day. It was at that moment that my mind changed from... she is only up there for a few minutes each afternoon to... she sleeps on our bed almost the entire afternoon! Strange? Some may think not that strange, but our dog has never been a fan of beds. Mostly because she gets too hot and probably because Tom never let her sleep on ours. She must be getting old (almost four!) and require the nicer things in life now. Well, one of those things is her birthday present...coming soon. Maybe she'll take a break from our bed then!

PS. Last night Adler also outsmarted us and ended up getting two dinners. Well, actually it was probably our fault. As Tom was rushing out the door to get to a work event he said he told me Adler had been fed. Well, I either didn't hear him or he didn't tell me so Adler got two meals last night. She wasn't complaining.

Abbie! Abbie!

Who is Abbie you’re probably asking…well, if you ask Austen it’s Adler. Our 22-month-old who has been saying ‘Adler’ pretty well since he was about one, has now resorted to calling her ‘Abbie!’

I guess it’s really my fault or so Tom tells me. My nickname for Adler is ‘Addie’ and I do call her this probably at least half of the time I’m talking to her. Well, it turns out our little sponge has picked up calling her this as well, which wouldn’t be so bad if he was calling her ‘Addie’ and not ‘Abbie!’

Not one for nicknames, Tom (yes, his real name is Thomas so I can’t figure that one out) has insisted on only calling her Adler so he’s not too thrilled that Austen has picked up on my endearing little nickname for our Berner girl.

I’m sure it’s just a phase like when he refused to call my dad ‘papa’ for about a month or two and kept saying ‘poppy!’ The ‘ie’ or ‘y’ is just so much more fun to say!

Happy Birthday Tom/Daddy, and Other Updates

Austen's latest word - happy. So that's what he says when it's someone's birthday. Today was his dad's birthday so he went around saying "happy." He's been practicing trying to say it for awhile now since I always sing happy birthday when he's washing his hands to make sure he washes them long enough. He loves it. I guess he likes bdays! So does his mom.

Austen also loves oatmeal. That kid wants to eat it morning, noon and night. I mean I can relate to wanting to eat breakfast for every meal of the day but seriously, I'm 35 and he's almost 2. He needs his fruit and vegetables!

He's also starting to put two words together now. How exciting. Some of his favorites - Down, Mommy. No, Mommy! More, please! Hey, I'm just happy he's saying please.

As for Adler, she's a gem as usual. So patient and kind with Austen. Of course he still likes to make her crazy. The video below is of Austen trying out one of his dad's old remote control cars. It drove Adler nuts. No pun intended.

Austen Trick or Treating Update and Birthdays

Well, it was a two hour trip (bad traffic) out to the suburbs on Halloween for Austen to trick or treat with his cousins but it was worth every minute spent in the car. Austen would only put his costume on and go trick or treating with his cousins. He showed his grandmas the costume a few times before but would not keep it on for any extended period of time so I didn't know how this was really going to go.

But when asked if he wanted to trick or treat with his cousins, he put it right on and hurried out the door to catch up with them. His oldest cousin Mia, took him around and showed him the ropes. He did so great holding her hand and going up to houses with her. The biggest challenge was probably those extra large front steps he had to manage but Mia was sweet, telling him he didn't have to climb them and she would get the candy for him. I swear Austen probably went to about 15-20 houses and was so beat after about an hour and a half that his dad had to carry him back. Dad's reward - Austen's great big pumpkin full of candy.

Also, happy birthday today to my nephew Luke. We share the same birthday and we even finally got a picture together this summer. Here's hoping that 1 and 35 are great years for us!