Introducing Cierra...

Life continues to be rich and full in the Hull house. To add to the excitement, on Saturday the three of us ventured to Faribault, MN to a rescue shelter to see a little four month old black lab puppy. Needless to say, we brought a little bundle of energy home with us. I think we knew before we left that we were bringing a dog home. We were to see another dog that day, but we never made it up there as I fell in love within moments and about 45 minutes later I was paying for her and we headed back home.

Cierra (meaning black in Irish) is quite the little girl. She is a typical puppy starting the chewing stage… she is teething and needing to chew… sound familiar? She and Cooper seem to be at the same stage on many levels. She is doing well with potty training. She hasn’t had any accidents in her kennel at night or while we are we’ve been at work. She has had a few potty accidents while we are home and didn’t catch the signal right away (we are still learning, too). But no poo accidents since the one on Saturday. She can sit on command and Steve has her shaking for treats. We need to work on her lying down and staying. She is jumping up, but knows that she doesn’t get any attention until she gets down. Cierra loves to play ball, but being 4 months tires pretty easily and needs frequent “dog” naps. She does really well on a leash and walking. Right now I would guess she is about 30 pounds (we’ll find out when I take her to the vet this afternoon), but her foster mom thinks she’ll get to about 70 pounds. Her mom was Black Lab/ German shepherd. They don’t know what dad was, but since she looks all lab, they think dad was likely a lab, too. She had four brothers and four sisters. She was the largest female. One of her brothers had feet about the same size as Cody’s. They will likely be big boys. She is so small right now (compared to what we are used to) that it is hard to imagine what she will look like full grown. I hope she is big.

As for Cooper, he is enjoying watching the puppy. We are keeping them separated as she has a bit too much energy for Cooper, but someday I think they will be best friends. He has started to feed her Cheerios in the morning and she has started to figure out that they taste good. She doesn’t know to beg yet and hopefully won’t.

Cooper said his first real word… “Hi”. And he loves to say it and wave. Sunday night he started with it and hasn’t stopped. He often initiates it and wants a response back. Apparently the daycare director had some visitors in yesterday (I think it was their accreditation) and he had to say to each person.

Last night Cooper and I spent about twenty minutes pulling off and putting on the cap to a cardboard mailing tube. He was determined to figure it out. Watching his facial expressions was interesting. I’d swear I could see his mind at work. I have a feeling he is going to be quite analytical in his thought processes.

Here is another picture of his climbing adventures. He actually stood up on his feet, too. He has started to climb on objects to reach things that he shouldn’t. He needs a rope and a helmet… and a climbing wall.

As I said life is interesting. It’s no wonder I forget that I am pregnant, other than when I can fall asleep sitting up. We are busy… perhaps a bit crazy at times, but it is all wonderful!