Officially ours...

Sorry to disappoint anyone reading this but we are talking about Elli the new puppy not our BEAR. We took her in for shots today. We were debating on taking her to a shelter if no one claimed her in a week but the thought of that broke my heart, I can't stand the thought of someone getting her that is going to mistreat her ( or someone not getting her at all and her having to stay at a shelter on the cold concrete floor with only the attention necessary)... Now if someone sees her while we have her and they want her (and I know they will take care of her) then she can leave with them but I cannot send her to a shelter especially when I can train her in the things that will make her a great dog for either us or someone else.
She is doing great with training... she is so smart... she has gone one full day today with no accidents and barked at the back door when she needed out. GOOD GIRL... she can now sit and lie down as well (that only took a day! ... like 15 minutes; honestly).
Johnny took her to the vet today and they say she is about 13 weeks old. They say it is still too early to tell what kind of mix she is. I have my guesses but am still unsure. She is beautiful though and so full of spirit and life. Duke and Missy love her... Bear is still unsure as to why this creature has more energy than him. She is still timid around Duke but I would be too with the size of that cow and him coming barreling at me full speed to play. She does however love to pester Missy and pounces her by the minute. I have to separate them often so they can take a breather. Elli is warming up to Duke and he likes to come up to her and paw at her and then run off as to say "come chase me" but she is still not there yet. Some day she will be barreling over him I just know it. She is going to be a good size dog. Maybe taller than Duke but not much bigger weight wise. It is still hard to say though.

The word is out...

so Bear decided instead of signing he is going to just talk. We have been working on him signing since he was 3 mos old and more intently when he was 6 mos old. He has picked up a couple things and then just laughs at you when you try and sign other stuff. He does, however, watch your mouth very carefully when you are talking to him... and talking is the result.
I thought that he was being lazy and just not interested when he would not sign. But when I was getting him down from his highchair after dinner a couple days ago I was signing "all-done" and he repeated "ahh-duh". It totally took me by surprise. So I repeated "all-done" and he mimicked it right back "ahh-duh" and started smiling so big as only Bear can do. He had accomplished such a big goal in his little mind. I am so proud of our little man. He has also been pointing to a character's eye and saying "ahh" and pointing to our dog Duke and saying "doo" and to a picture of a dog and saying "dah". It is so amazing to hear him talking. I love this kid.
Among his new found talent of talking he is climbing onto the couch from the floor. I was in his room with him earlier and I put him on the floor to play and I was changing his crib sheets, when I turned around he was in his/my (big) rocking chair playing with his book. Talk about laughing... it is just so shocking that I could do nothing more than laugh out loud. I love God's sense of humor when it comes to children.
Bear is also starting to walk holding onto only one hand of an adult. Before too long he is going to be off and running. Wow how quickly it goes by.

Beautiful girl...

I have to put a picture of this little girl up... she is way to cute not to share with everyone... We call her Elli. I was calling her Little girl and so i was going to call her LG but that does not fit a girl dog so I call her LE "Elli".... it totally fits her personality too.