Happy birthday to ME!

I am not a puppy anymore. I am a big boy. I am one year old today!

Mommy says that this is my birthday. I do not really know what a "birthday" is, but she says that it is my day (and that there are treats and toys. I like any day that has treats and toys!). Before now, I was a puppy. Now, I am a dog. Well, Mommy says that is what the calendar says. I still have puppy brains. I will have those for lots more days (Note from Mommy: He's a labrador. Try three more years!).

I do not remember when I was born, but my mommy tells me about when she got the call saying that my brothers and sissies were here. There were two surprises for lots of people: we were born early, on Baby Royko's birthday; and we were all black. Mommy says that that just means we were meant to be together. She thinks Baby Royko and Grandpa Bull (a big black boy like me) were playing together in Heaven and decided that we all needed to be black babies, and we needed to have Royko's birthday. It must be, they said. And so it was.

Mommy came to see us the next day, and she kept coming to see us until it was time to come home forever with her and Daddy.

Daddy and I get to have a day of Birthday Boy Fun. That is better than plain old Boy Fun. At least that is what Mommy tells me.

Walking with Mommy and Daddy (and mean bugs)

I like to walk with my mommy and daddy. I like it more when we get to walk as a family. That does not happen very often.

Last night, Mommy and Daddy came home from their date and said, "Hey. It is a nice night. Water is not coming down from the sky. Let's take a walk. Let's take Dewey on the walk."

I heard my name, I heard "walk," and I went crazy-daisy. I like walks. My daddy put the leash on me and took me to the car. Then we drove to a place that we go for boy fun. Mommy usually does not get to go there. She is not a boy. But she is fun, so we decided she could go there with us.

We walked along the path, toward the big river. Then we walked beside the river, which was really close and really fast. The air was cool, which felt good to a boy covered in fur. It also was filled with lots of pesky bugs. They flew onto me, onto Daddy, onto Mommy. Daddy kept wiping them off of me, saying "Go away, bugs! Do not bite my boy!" Mommy squished the bugs on Daddy's back and told Daddy the next time we go for a walk, we need to bring the bug spray.

Bugs or not, spray or not, I liked this family fun. It's better than boy fun. Shhhhhh. Do not tell Daddy...

Boy and bone

Shucks. My mommy got a new camera. Now she is always taking pictures of me. How is a boy supposed to chew his new bone when his mommy keeps bothering him? Mommeeeeeee.....