Wednesday, January 12, 2005

Both of the boys love peanut butter, so I occasionally give them a Kong with some peanut butter smeared inside. After I give them the Kong they will spend the next half hour licking it to get all of the peanut butter out. After the peanut butter has been cleaned from the inside, Benjamin has no interest in the Kong itself. Henry, on the other hand, loves to just chew on the rubber Kong. He will chew on it for hours after all the peanut butter has vanished. While he is chewing on the Kong, it makes this horrendous squeaking sound that goes through me like nails on a chalkboard. Since it is something that he really enjoys I try to tune out the sound as best I can and I let him chew it for as long as he wants. He works so hard chewing it that sometimes he chews himself to sleep.
Wednesday, January 5, 2005
I was organizing my digital photos in a new software program last night and I came across this photo.

This is one my favorite photos of the boys. It was taken at the lake when they were just 7 months old.
Tuesday, January 4, 2005
For the most part, both of the boys are very good listeners. They both know the basic commands like sit, down, stay, no, leave it, drop it and take it. They also know certain commands for around the house like “go to bed” (go to your crate) and “go to the futon” (go lay on the futon that is in my office). Benjamin knows and loves the command “kisses” and Henry is learning the “give me five” trick.
Over the last few days, I have been working with the boys to teach them their left and their right. I started working on this mainly on our walks. We have basically three different walks that we use on a daily basis. One is the “just do your business” walk, another is a short walk (about 10-15min) and the other is a long walk (30-45min). So since we don’t always take the same path every walk, whenever the boys come to an intersection in the sidewalk they always look back and check with me to see which path we are going to take. So now when we are at an intersection, I tell them left, right or straight and then I go in that direction.
They don’t know the commands yet, but they are starting to recognize the words. The commands aren’t essential but it is a little something that I can do on our walks to keep them mentally stimulated.
Sunday, January 2, 2005
Yesterday was a beautiful, sunny day and the boys and I decided to take advantage of the fantastic weather and spend some time at the dog park.
We are lucky enough to have two dog parks very close to our house. The first park is narrow and long and has a grass surface (well, now the park is mainly dirt). This park is only about two minutes from home. The second dog park is about ten minutes away and is a bit larger than the first. Instead of being grass its surface is made up of really tiny pebbles.
We decided to head to the dog park that is a bit farther away because the boys always seem to enjoy that park more. I’m really not sure why, you would think they would like running on the grass over running on the stones. But for some reason that is not the case!
Since it was such a beautiful day the park was very crowded. When we arrived there were about 25-30 dogs already there. It is always funny when we first go into the park. When new dogs arrive many of the dogs come up to the gate to form a “welcoming committee” for the new arrivals. So on our way into the park there was a crowd of dogs by the gate. But the boys just made their way into the pack and then Benjamin darts out of the crowd and is on his way running around the park with all of the dogs following him. I think his size really works to his advantage when in crowds. I’m pretty sure he just runs underneath all the other dogs and makes his way out.
The boys were very playful and were really working off some of that extra holiday energy. Unfortunately, I don’t have pictures. I forgot to bring my camera! Bad mommy!
Wednesday, December 29, 2004
The year is quickly drawing to a close and it is time to start thinking about our 2005 New Year’s resolutions. Benjamin & Henry are already busy working on their lists. First up is Benjamin’s list:
- I will stop eating cat litter from my sister’s litter box. I will also not chase my sister, Cupid the cat, so that she does not have to get fussy and hiss at me to make me stop.
- I will learn to sleep through the night and I will not wake mommy up at 3:30 AM so that she can feed me breakfast.
- I will not continuously jump in the air when mommy is fixing my dinner. I will be a good boy and patiently wait for her to get everything ready.
And now for Henry’s list:
- In the morning, I will go potty right away for mommy. I will not make her bribe me before I decide to do my business.
- I will watch my waistline so that I can continue to be a healthy boy and not have any problems with my hips.
- I will not bark at my reflection in the window at night. Mommy has explained to me that it is just me. This year I will believe her.
- On sunny days, I will not lay down in the middle of my walk to sun myself.
Now let’s see how many of these resolutions the boys are able to keep
Here’s to a great 2005!
Monday, December 20, 2004
We just had a major cold front move through here in Maryland and it is now freezing cold outside. The coldest December morning we have seen in Maryland since 1989!
When we went outside this morning for the first potty rounds it was a chilly 6 degrees outside. The worst part was that it was so windy! Both the boys had their jackets on, but poor Benjamin was shivering and could not get back in the house soon enough.
Hopefully, it will warm up a little bit or the wind will at least die down. At this point, the boys can really only run out to go potty and then it is right back in the house.
All this and it is not even officially winter yet!
Wednesday, December 15, 2004
After his walk this morning, Benjamin settled down for a nice nap on the couch. He still has his hoodie on from his walk so he is toasty warm.

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