Happy Birthday Vinnie!

Today is a special day for sure! Vinnie turned one!

I remember this time one year ago...I was searching high and low for cute little wienie dog puppies all over the nation! I was so excited to find a breeder in Portland who had just had a litter of smooth reds, just what I wanted. I remember the first time I saw a picture of Vinnie and all of his brothers and sisters, 10 in all! They were all so wrinkly and fuzzy. We visited the puppies two times and we must have stayed for hours playing and watching the puppies nap.

Vinnie was one of the first puppies we noticed. He was very playful and curious but he was also super cuddly. He was the first born of the litter and it totally shows. The thing he is best at is getting into trouble.

We picked him up on a Saturday afternoon in May. He was just around 13 weeks old and he was finally ready to come home! I still remember his sweet head laying down on his duckie toy on the way home. I was in love already.

Over the next few weeks James and I got to experience the joys and frustrations of adding a pup to our lives. Vinnie is very smart which was great for potty training and obedience school but not so great when he was escaping. We have learned so much from our little fur-baby and I will love him forever!

Some highlights from Vinnie's first year would have to be:

• When we had to sleep on the floor with him the first few nights
• Watching him loose his puppy teeth
• Teaching him how to fetch and wait
• Snuggling by the heater and under blankets
• When he escaped from the kitchen
• Measuring how long he was getting (34" from nose to tail!)
• Trying to put his paw print on our Christmas letter and getting paint all over the house
• When he got big enough to jump onto the bed :) So much for sleeping on the floor.
• When he was so small he would get tired just walking down the block
• When he ran around the house playing with his cape dressed up as super dog
• Running until he fell over on every trip we took to the beach

There is at least one highlight from every single day that we have had Vinnie so far and I am looking forward to so many more days and years with this pup! He is one of the loves of my life.

Happy Birthday Vinnie, I love you little guy.