Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy

I'm the birthday boy, boy!

Today is my birthday - yahoo! I am 12 years old today. Put on your party hats, grab some treats, and take a stroll down memory lane with me as I celebrate my special day. Yipee!

Mom likes to tell me that I was the cutest pug baby ever, but that's just Mom being Mom. You can judge for yourself, but I have to admit that I was (an am still) a cutie. This is me when I was just ten weeks old. I was a little guy believe it or not. This is my first day home (my gotcha day) and I am checking out the backyard and my bowl. This cool bowl changed colors depending on the heat of the liquid inside, but I eventually chewed it, so no more bowl. Mom and Dad always put ice cubes in it to keep me cool, but I was already cool!

Look how little I was! Mom said it seems like just yesterday and not twelve years ago that I fit into the palm of her hand. Ahhh, isn't that sweet? We didn't have a fenced yard at the old house, so my leash was hooked up to a stake in the backyard. I didn't have much freedom, but I loved it there.

I told Mom that she could trust me not to run away if I was unhooked from my stake, but she wouldn't do it. She was afraid that I would run like a crazy man into the street and get smashed by a car. Yikes! I stayed hooked on my stake because I didn't was to get smashed.

This was one of my first days home with Mom and Dad and you can see that I was really spoiled. My cage (house) is on the left and was placed just perfectly in the doorway to block me from going into the dining room. Mom and Dad were very sneaky back then and they really didn't trust me. I am laying on one of my favorite blankies. I had so many when I was a little guy and I would play tug-o-war with them, drag them around the house, and then fall to sleep all wrapped up on them.

This action shot is from that same first week and as you can see I loved to motor around the house. I was very fast and I would let Mom and Dad chase me around the house for fun. Look at my cute pug mug!I loved my new parents and I told them so as often as I could. I wasn't much of a barker, but I've always loved to give kisses, to cuddle, and to smile. A face only Mom could love!

This was my first birthday and look what Mom and Dad bought me! This bone was bigger than me, but I loved it. I chewed it for a while, but never even made a dent in it. I have always loved bones that I can hold between my paws while eating and this bone was way too big for that. I used to try to drag it around the house, but I eventually gave it to my good buddy Cody and he chewed it down to nothing.
I used to love to sit like "a little boy" and people were constantly sitting me on their laps like that. This is me with my Dad's good buddy Rock and you can see that I do look like a real baby boy on his lap. I loved this chair too and used to spin around on it all the time.

This was my version of a cloud bed, kind of like the one that Salinger has. I used to snuggle inside it and just peek my little pug out so that I could see what was going on. I was so good at hiding that Mom and Dad couldn't find me.

I used to jump a lot when I was a little guy which probably explains all my aches and pains now. I loved to jump on the bed and this picture shows me on the bed looking down at something. Mom says that I look really skinny in this picture. Notice the curly tail - it wasn't yet broken.Mostly I loved to just hang out on the furniture with Mom and Dad. I have always been a people pug, like most pugs, so wherever my peeps go, I go.

For some reason, I have baby pictures, but no mid age pictures. Hmmm. I wonder what happened. I think that maybe Mom and Dad got busy with life and just didn't take that many pictures of me.

This is me (and Dad) on Halloween when I was about four years old. I am already graying, much to my dismay. Mom said that I looked very cute as a devil. I used to run to the door when the trick-or-treaters rang the bell and I would help Mom give them candy. All the little girls would ooh and ahh over me and I loved it.

I do not like anything on my head, so I would constantly take the horns off. I know I don't look like a devil without my horns, but they just made me crazy!

I am a baby in this picture - I think it's my first Easter. Mom and Dad took me to the mall to have professional pictures taken and I can't believe that I agreed to sit in an Easter basket. I also don't have my collar on, so my neck looks big. I felt so naked, but I went along with it because it made Mom and Dad happy. This picture sits in the family room and everyone that comes over tells me how much they like it.

Here I am in a Christmas picture with my good buddies in a silly Santa sleigh. Cody is sitting in front of the sleigh, his cousin T-Bone is in the sleigh with me, and Cody's brother Rudy is standing at the front of the sleigh drooling as usual. Mom and Sandy (Cody and Rudy's mom) took all of us to the mall to have this picture taken. They did it as a gift to our dads and our dads loved it.

This last picture was my Christmas gift to Dad a few years ago and it sits in his office. Mom loves the way the canvas turned out and said that I look very sly in the picture - I think that is a compliment. The canvas is definitely an attention grabber and everyone loves to look at it.

I wish that I could tell you that I had lots of exciting plans for today, but Dad is out of town and Mom has a final exam this afternoon. I'm sure that I will be doing something later today, but for now it is a surprise. I haven't seen any presents yet and am dying to know what Mom and Dad got me.

Thanks for stopping by and spending some time with me on my birthday!