Happy 10 months Chili Bean

A picture will be posted shortly. . .I am at work.

Today is Maren's 10 month birthday. And here are a few fun facts about her.

1. She weighs 22.44lbs and is 29 inches long. This is in the 90th percentile so most people think she is about 15 months old when they see her.
2. She is crawling all over the place. And for some reason to loves to toilet, which is disgusting. If the door is not closed and she heads towards the bathroom, she will turn on jet speed when she hears to coming after her.
3. She is a professional at lifting herself up to a standing position. She can hold on with one hand and walk around a bit when holding onto things. And on occasion she is able to stand without hands. She's going to be off and running before we know it.
4. She loves french fries. And anything else that is on her mamas plate. She has said good-bye to baby food.
5. Her favorite word is baby. And she loves to see pictures of herself and say baby.
6. She is still addicted to her pacifier. But that's ok.
7. She finally has a tooth and one more is on its way.
8. We are discovering her skin is quite sensitive and gets very ready with many things touch it.
9. She likes to give kisses.
10. And she especially likes to give herself kisses in the mirror.

We love you baby girl.
Mommy

Griffin - We miss you

Griffin moved into our little apartment with us a few weeks back. But, he has since had to be sent to grandma's house. Apartment living just really did not work for him. This is probably mainly our fault. But it is also the case that his breed is a very active breed. And being confined in an apartment just is not something he is use to. What he is use to is slightly larger living quarters with instant access to a backyard via a dog door. Griffin knows not to go to the bathroom in the house. And he has shown he knows this through multiple visits at friends and families homes that do not have dog doors. But they have always had a yard and a fence. So, with a quick open of the door he was able to hang out outside and do his business; and we were able to continue on with ours. In the apartment, it requires a lot of effort on our part, especially at night when we are ready to just go to bed. To make matters worse, we were not aware that turkey makes dogs sick. And we overstuffed Griff with turkey on Thanksgiving. So he had serious stomach problems for a few days after. Because of this, the Sunday after Thanksgiving we loaded him up and off he went to grandma's to hang out with uncle Spark and his dog door. Every day I come home and feel terribly guilty about this. I know he has more space, a friend to play with and he is well cared for by Kathy and Randy. But we all miss him, including Maren. He has another week out there; and then I plan to pick him up and bring him back with us. I'll be off work for the remainder of the year; and hopefully we'll have a new home to take him to after that. Poor Griffy. He has had to deal with a ton of change during this whole house process. He must be so confused. I'm sorry buddy. You'll be home soon. And then we might get you a friend.