here’s looking at you, kid

today is our puppy’s second birthday. cooper is exactly one month younger than our marriage. after a month of pondering if we could be unselfish enough to take responsibility for another living thing in our home, lee and i decided (in a very non-committal way) to start visiting animal shelters to scope potential candidates.

that’s when a coincidental conversation with a stranger at lee’s office brought a little puggle (pug-beagle mix) into our lives. we agreed to take in the soon-to-be-evicted puppy, figuring that we had nothing to lose but a few carpet stains if we decided to find him another home. we never even considered parting with him after that. he has of course been a constant source of fun, laughter, surprises, and yes, at times frustration. and now we can’t imagine life without him.

we’re not the kind of pet owners that treat our precious pooch like anything more than a dog (i won’t detail specific practices here in case any of you fall into that category of pet-lovers), but we do like to throw a little family birthday party for him on this day. for the past two years, this has involved the two of us in the kitchen singing over him and a doggie-treat covered in peanut butter and topped with the appropriate number of candles.

we realize that cooper in no way distinguishes this day from any other, and certainly has no concept that this treat is any different from the many others he’s been given (other than the curious flame, perhaps), but we like to sing “happy birthday” to him, so we do. and he undoubtedly enjoys both the attention and the peanut butter.

so today we celebrate our furry companion. happy birthday, coop!

you can see more photos of our “baby” here, including shots of last year’s birthday p.b. bonanza.