Happy birthday, Jasper!

It was my puppy's first birthday this week.

If we're being technical, Jasper is not my dog, per say. True, I did pick him out of his litter and true, I did give him his name. I also basically raised him which is what happens when you're unemployed and stay at home all day. I might also be his favorite human (except Forrest.. he really loves Forrest), but I did not pay for him. Jasper belongs to my parents, but I feel that he is more like a family dog in that I did live under the same roof as him at one point. So anyway, Jasper is my pup.

What follows is probably more pictures of a puppy to dog transformation than you ever really wanted to see, but I cut it down as much as I could and I figured if I can't post them here, then where? So here they are: Jasper's first year of life. 8 weeks to one year.

It's unbelievable how fat he was. His belly almost dragged on the ground. We had to teach him how to eat hard food because the first time we gave it to him, he stared at it and whined because he was so hungry but wasn't sure what to do. We also had to teach him how to walk up and down a step. Watching Jasper build up his courage to take a flying leap down the one step leading from the kitchen to the back door is the cutest thing I have ever seen.

He learned how to sit and stay really quickly (like a few days after we got him) and he was so good at it. He was much better at it then than he is now. He's a snotty teenager now.

I made him sit and stay a lot (probably daily) so I could take his picture. He's such a proper puppy gentleman in the left picture. And a bear cub in the right picture.

This was before he could jump up onto the porch. We had to lift him.

This was the cutest ear phase where his ears were constantly changing from day to day. One ear would be up and the other down, the next day they would be folded over each other.

This picture is so hilarious to me.

And then all of a sudden, Jasper's ears GREW. One day he was a puppy, the next: batdog.

And then his fluff filled out and he just became handsome.

And then we left all summer and Jasper got fluffier and fluffier.

Jasper is such a good dog. I know that everyone thinks their dog is the best, but really, he's always so gentle and doesn't even care when we put him in footie pajamas. He's a winner. Happy birthday, pup!

Pendleton + Molly (+ Jasper)

Megan and I decided to introduce Molly the kitten (or Mrs. Weasley as we call her because we are more formal, obviously) to Pendleton. We let them see each other for a few minutes inside and then, because I didn't really like the lighting, we decided to take them outside to the front porch where Jasper the wonder dog (who now lives outside in the back yard and is loving it) couldn't hear us (we thought).

The kitty and hedgehog seemed to get along just fine once Molly realized that pouncing on him wasn't a very smart idea.

We were receiving some spectacular glares from her when this happened:

The brute jumped over the temporary side fence and almost knocked me over in his rush to get to the kitten who he just wants to love. Unfortunately, she does not share his feelings, not even a tiny bit. The poor fellow had quite a scratched up nose for a while. 

Meanwhile, Pendleton just smooshed his face down into the ground because if he can't see them, they can't see him, obviously.

Mrs. Weasley glared at Jasper some more and then decided he was not worth her time.

 Jasper still loves her.

Kitten

I was waiting to post this until after we named her, but since she still remains simply "kitty," I thought I might as well go ahead.

My parents really wanted a cat to kill the mice that seem to abound around their new(ish) house. They've been meaning to get a kitten basically ever since they moved in (so..a year ago). I thought to myself well, I like baby animals. I figured they might as well get a kitten while I was living here so that I could enjoy it because there is about zero percent chance that Forrest and I are ever getting a cat (he really hates them and I am allergic and we are both really more dog people, let's be honest).

So, after a few Craigslist searches, I ran across this cutie. She's a calico with ferocious claws and the destiny to become a mouser. I have the scratches all over my hands to prove it.

She is so tiny. Sometimes I forget how tiny she is until I see her run across the floor and it's almost like she could be a large rodent.

As I said, I'm super allergic to cats and she's really an outside cat, but she's too small to be outside already so I'll gladly suffer through as long as I can have these sweet kitty cuddles. The constant sneezing and itchy eyes are totally worth it. And the completely scratched up hands.

Also, she really, really hates Jasper. 

She does sort of like Pendleton though. I think she mostly likes to pounce on him.