A boy and his dog- our new little dood, Zeus

During the Acadia trip from our last post I was anxiously awaiting the email from our dog breeder where I got to choose our puppy, based off of pictures of him as a 4 week old and info about his parents. Nate and I both agreed on our perfect puppy (after not agreeing or having our choice taken before our pick in several previous litters). I was a LITTLE bit excited. Nate was actually being much pickier than me (a delaying tactic) about how he wanted the puppy to look, but eventually we found the perfect blend of color, curliness, and size. When we saw pics of this litter as newborns, we fell in love with them and I knew our boy would be one of them.

Newborn Zeus, in the middle, we think

Puppy pile with the whole litter

At 4 weeks, when we chose him

At 6 weeks, 2 weeks before he came home

We got Zeus, our puppy, four weeks later, in September, on a day that we had already booked a trip to NH for a triathlon, so we just took Zeus with us. It actually ended up being the perfect place for the first few days with a puppy, as he got to hang with another young puppy up there as well. I enjoyed doing the triathlon, and I wasn't nearly as out of shape for it as I was last year. It was in the White Mountains which were gorgeous and we definitely hope to visit there again.

The lake where we swam

                
Zeus is the cutest little pup in the world, and he learns quickly. He is also very high energy and pretty nippy, as would be expected with a puppy, but it is pretty hard to take care of two toddlers (one boy, one puppy). Although I love the puppy phase, I am looking forward to a more mellow and trained version of Zeus. But we love the new found life of dog ownership with puppy playdates, dog parks, hiking, and I love taking him on walks and being mauled by people telling me how cute he is :).

With a doppleganger after puppy class

First Swim!

Even in just the past few months Elliott has grown up so much. He is already fitting into 3 yr old clothing (mostly because his giant belly is still going strong). He transitioned into a new Spanish Immersion daycare in September and we thought it would be rough, but he instantly fell in love with it, and so did we. He runs and hugs his teachers when he arrives and it is hard to get him to leave in the afternoon when we pick him up. He is already saying some Spanish words, which is just too freaking adorable! We were also scared of having the puppy around and him getting jealous, but as long as the puppy isn't biting him, or one of his toys, he loves the puppy! They are too cute together. When we get home in the afternoon, Elliott runs inside to Zeus's crate and makes sure we get him out first thing. He loves to give him kisses and pet him as well. He learned to give kisses, hugs, say I love you, and had a language explosion in the past few months that makes him that much cuter than he already was. He loves airplanes, cars, animals and animal noises, his Spanish music CD from the singing lady at daycare, food, especially bananas, going outside and playing on his new jungle gym, crawling in Zeus's crate (preferably when Zeus isn't in there), and he is in the beginning phases of being defiant just for fun, which is actually not fun at all.

Elliott had lots of good time at his old daycare

He loves his new teachers, despite not looking like it here

We hate making him lunch everyday now, but he loves carrying his lunch box
His teachers are astounded at the amount of food he can eat

No, we don't lock him in here, he loves climbing inside

     

Elliott loves his new jungle gym

Speaking of pets, our beloved Llizi passed away just a few days before we picked up Zeus. She had been sick for several months but seemed to be doing well despite the growth in her mouth that we knew either was cancerous or would soon become cancerous. Overnight, however she took a turn for the worse and was clearly in great pain and could not even walk. We decided to put her down the next morning and spent the day with her before doing so. I really miss that cutie and am so sad that she didn't get to meet Zeus, but after seeing what Zeus did to a poor squirrel the other day, I think it was for the best. She was the best hedgehog and I already miss digging her out from under everything and putting her in my pocket for snuggles.

Kissing goodbye

MISS YOU LITTLE GIRLIE!

 

For Nate's bday this year he asked me to watch a documentary with him. I like them ok, but essentially always decide on a TV show that is less educational whenever I have the option, so he enjoyed getting to decide. I don't even remember what we watched, it was that boring. A couple days later though, I surprised him by taking him to the International Debut of a documentary about John Hume playing in the Boston Film Festival. He was an Irishman who fought for years for nonviolent peace in Northern Ireland, essentially the MLK of Ireland. So Nate got plenty of his sought after documentary-watching, and I also gave him a hammock for the back yard, for him to relax for about 2.4 seconds at a time as he ensures Elliott and Zeus don't kill one another.