Happy Birthday to the Best Dog Ever!

Today was Adler’s 5th birthday! I can’t believe she’s five already! Her morning started off with a nice walk with her cousin, Lab Clarence, who is staying with us over Thanksgiving weekend. She then got extra food in her bowl for breakfast, a puffer fish toy that Austen picked out and calls Nemo and a pork rawhide. Austen brought her a “toy birthday cake” and was unusually nice to her on her big day. This evening she got a nice long walk and more “extra” food.

Happy birthday Addie! Hope it was a good one!

Here are some photos from her big day....

Zing, Zang, Zoom

Zing, Zang, Zoom...that's what Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus call their latest show. Last weekend we ventured to All State arena to take Austen to the circus. Now, I probably haven't been to the circus since I was just a little older than Austen so I was just as excited to go back and to see how he would react to the clowns, tigers and elephants.

The show was a little over two hours. Austen sat still the entire time mesmerized by the show. Even during the brief intermission, he didn't want to get up. He ate his share of popcorn and cotton candy and persuaded Tom and me to buy him a sword that lights up (what little boy doesn't need a sword?). He loved the elephants and when they would go back to their tents for a brief respite before their next gig, he would ask where the elephants went. He also loved the tigers!

We always know when something has made an impression on him because back at school on Monday, he tells everyone what he did that weekend. Sure enough, his teachers all knew he went to the circus and so did some of the other parents of kids in his class!

Sibling Rivalry

No, the new baby hasn't arrived yet. I'm still just talking about Austen and Adler. These two are either friends or foes on any given day, mostly depending on Austen's mood. The other day Austen was mad at Adler because she was laying down behind him and he turned around quickly and happened to trip over her. That brought on a few tears. Not her fault, I thought. On another occasion, Adler was cowering from a fly that had gotten into our house. For some reason she decided that Austen's room was a safe haven from the fly and decided to hide out in there. Well, that was until it was time for Austen to go to bed and he demanded that she get out! Not so nice! Another day, we had given Austen a nicely frosted holiday (Halloween) cookie and Tom and I turned around for one minute after giving this to Austen before we heard screaming and crying (Austen). It took us a minute before we found Adler gobbling down Austen's cookie. Since they are the same height, I'm guessing it was hard for Adler to resist snagging the cookie since she didn't get one. She probably deserved the thumping she got on her nose compliments of Austen even though I don't condone anyone touching my dog in that way! Austen and Adler also like to play. Austen will throw toys to Adler and Adler will play keep away with the toy and revel in Austen chasing her around the furniture. Well, one day Austen made the mistake of throwing a toy straight up above his head for Adler instead of out. Unfortunately, to retrieve the toy, Adler had to jump up over Austen. The result - more tears, a nice big scratch on Austen's face from Adler and Adler licking the heck out of Austen. Her way of saying sorry, perhaps? There are sweet times between the two of them too. Austen often says goodbye to Adler when he leaves the house. He gives her all of his "yucky" vegetables and he can be found sharing his toys with her too. But he still doesn't permit her to be in his room at night when he's going to sleep. Here's a video of them playing together nicely...well, until the end.

Nothing but Net

This past fall, we signed Austen up to play soccer. It's a cute league called Lil Kickers that is held ironically at the same indoor soccer facility that I used to play at not so long ago. The kids all have real uniforms too including shorts and shirts that they must wear each week. Their shirts have real numbers on them too and Austen is wearing the number I wore for coed and traveling team - number 8! Now, the first two soccer classes, I wasn't sure if Austen was really going to like soccer. He was a little timid to be on his own in class but he soon got the hang of it and has really been one of the better ones in his class. By this I mean - he sits down and listens to the coach and he follows the directions of his coach. I credit this to school. I can't believe how many kids (2 1/2-3 1/2) could not sit still and listen for any amount of time. He does really well in the drills too and now leads the pack. Who knows if he'll like soccer in a few years or even next year but I am sure having fun reliving my youth!