Birthday, what?

On April 14, 2014 Moray turned one year old.  I guess I could say how I can't believe he's a year already, but the truth is, he's now fourteen months.  Yes, FOURTEEN MONTHS OLD.  Where has the time gone?   I seriously want it all back.  My time in months left to raise Moray can now be counted on a single hand.  Where did this 20-week-old-swimming-in-his-big-boy-vest go?

Just shy of 5 months

Moray can be a little slow to catch on to things in some areas, so while it seems progress goes at a snail's pace sometimes, days like today come where his behavior is impeccable on an outing that is several hours long in a crowed mall, and I never had to use a single piece of kibble to regain his attention.  Wowza! It hits me that he could have NEVER done that even a few months ago.

13 months old

Moray Man, as he is affectionally called in our house, has been such a joyful puppy to raise.  We have had our ups and downs and drama, but he is so happy and willing to please.  He has now mastered 29 of his 30 commands (still perfecting that last one), and many of his outings are old hat: i.e., it take some work to find new and challenging places for him to work.  

We have a couple things that we are still working through, and sometimes I get overwhelmed by "how much he can't do," and pressure to check "x," "y," and "z" off my list of Things to Do Before Turn In.  Sometimes *I* just need to step back and look at the long road already behind us and, for once, take my cue from Moray to just live here and now, enjoying every moment on this puppy raising journey, because before we know it, he will be of to his next greatest adventure.

Birthdayness

 Last Sunday was my birthday, and Dante had a crazy weekend!  

On Saturday afternoon Dante got to go bowling for the first time.  It turned out to be more challenging than I expected.  It was different than any other outing he has done because my family and I were moving back and forth, but he was expected to lay still on a tie-down.  It took pretty much the whole time for him to somewhat understand this, and I think we will definitely be going back.

Dante standing up watching me about to bowl.

"Visit!"

Finally settled down (and NOT eating the shoes, thank you very much).

That night, my mom and sister threw me an (almost) surprise party.  My dad, Dante and I went out for pizza at Mellow Mushroom.  Let me just say, they were fantastic about him!  Oh, my!  It was a busy Saturday night, and they went out of their way to give us a four-chaired table in a corner so that he would be out of sight and have some extra room.  While Dante needs to be comfortable anywhere, it was really nice to have him out of the way (read: hardly anyone interrupted us to comment about him).

When we got back home, Dante was pretty freaked out, as he had never walked into that many people.  My mom took him into the kitchen to get his dinner, and poor thing, didn't want to come back out.  After a few minutes he did, where he realized that all his favorite friends were there, and all was well with the world again.  

My mom, Dante, and a friend.

 Dante spent the rest of the night in his kennel, as he had had enough excitement for one day. 

 Sunday was church, out to lunch, then home while I went to a friend house. After all of this calmed down, we realized that Dante is scared to death of balloons.  Sure he has seen them in stores a bazillion times, but never in his house.  So, this weeks has been filled with lots of de-sesitization  to balloons - even rubbing peanut butter on them.  While he is far from accepting them, I think we are making progress.  The life of a puppy raiser, sometimes it feels like one step forward, two steps back...

Award!

This is a non dog related post, but if you would like to know a little more about me, feel free to read!

Days with Dante has been awarded the Sunshine Award from my friend Lauren at Jacob and Lauren Goetze.  Thanks, Lauren!

Here are the rules:
1.  Thank the person who awarded you.
2.  Place the Sunshine award on your blog.
3.  Answer the questions  about yourself that can be found on the blog of the person who nominated you.
4.  Nominate others for the award!

Here are Lauren's questions:

What is your favorite holiday movie?  I have to say "It's a Wonderful Life" because my family watches it every Christmas Eve and it is such a great movie and tradition.  

What is your favorite flower?  Ooo, this is a hard one.  Sunflowers are one of my favorite!

What is your favorite drink?  I hardly drink anything besides water, but on special occasion my favorite has to be an Izze.

 What is your passion?  Well, more obviously one of my passions is raising puppies, but I am extremely passionate about my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Not so much a passion, but a hobby, I love to crochet and have been sooo inspired lately (Pinterest, anyone?), but can't seem to find the time I need to get it all done :-)

What is your favorite time of the year?  Fall.  Hands down.

What is your favorite time of the day?  Depends on the day!  Hahaha!  Probably right before bed when Dante has been crated and I sit on my bed reading my Bible and whatever other pleasure books I'm reading at the time.

 What is your favorite physical activity?  I enjoy walking D and love jumping rope (which I still haven't been able to start up again after breaking my ankle in June).

What is your favorite vacation spot?  Beaufort, NC.  Cutetest beach town EVER.

As I was writing this, I realized that a good portion of my readers don't know me outside of this blog, so I hope your enjoyed this break in "regular" post to learn a little about me.

And now it's time for me to award.  I am awarding YOU.  Yup, that's right.  If you are reading this, you are now awarded!  Take the award on you blog, copy the rules, answer the question and then comment on this post so that I can see what you answered!

P.S. Come back soon to see how Dante's first Thanksgiving went.  It is long and will probably take more than one post!