Chloe Jo

Our dog Chloe turned 5 years old today. Max is in love with the idea of a birthday, so we decided to make it a big deal. Started out the day with letting her have waffles for breakfast. Frozen ones are her favorite. Then, she sat in the van while we did a Wal-Mart run and then we took her to the park. I was going to get some pictures of her and the kids in the leaves, but it didn't work out because she was out of control with excitement for being at the park. There was no way I could have let go of the leash even for a second to snap a pic...she would have surely been run over by a car.

Then, this afternoon Max and I baked her a cake in the shape of a bone. It was delicious and Chloe Joanne (CJH) even got a few bites of her birthday cake. Tonight we did our annual trip to PetCo. We have done this every year on her birthday and we let her pick out a toy and a bone. Max and Mya think they're at the zoo when we go to the pet store, so it's a win-win for most everyone. She has been a great dog for us. Sure, there are many many many days I wish I didn't have to deal with her...like when she drinks the urine out of Max's potty, when she takes food out of the kids' hands, when she eats sippy cups, tears apart beanie babies and the insides are everywhere in our house, when she rips up diapers, takes things out of the trash, ahhh the list could go on. (Everyone said the puppy stage would last 5 years with a golden. hmmmm any day now Chloe..) However, there are other times when I couldn't imagine life without her. Here's an example. The other night Max was having some trouble staying in his bed. He was up and reading books, turning on the light, calling out for us, etc. Finally when he had enough, he went over to the door turned off the light, got into bed and said, Good Night Chloe. My heart melted. (Thank goodness for video monitors:) Yes..Chloe does sleep with Max every night. You know how a lot of kids want someone to lay down with them until they fall asleep? Max is no different, but to him Chloe is "someone." It is awesome. We just tell him good night and then bring the dog in to his room. Same thing for naps. Max is also like most kids in that he won't go down to the basement without someone. Chloe again fulfills his "someone" so as long as I can get her down there, he'll play for a long time without me going down too! Mya and Chloe don't have quite the same relationship Max has with her. Mya is infatuated with her tail for some reason and seems to think it's the funniest thing in the world to pull on the tail as hard as she can. She has figured out quite quickly that if she has food in her hand, she can terrorize Chloe like no other. She wants to give Chloe treats all the time, but then when I give her one to give to the dog, she runs around the house laughing while holding the treat in her hand so Chloe can't get it. I think their relationship will get better with time... I hope:) Chris continues to be the only master in this house. Life is much easier when he's around. The other day he e-mailed me a picture of Ron and Maryanne's new puppy Macy. In the e-mail he asked if it made me want another one. I wrote back in all caps...ABSOLUTELY NOT!! Right now my hands are full, but if we are going to have a dog, I'm so happy it's this dog. Finally, I'll leave you with our slightly egocentric 2 year old singing Happy Birthday to Chloe. You'll see what I mean...