Five Months Old

Since Milo was born on September 30 and there aren't 30 days in February, this is as close as we can get to the day he turns 5 months old. We've had Milo for 2.5 months, and he's changed a lot in that time! When we got him he weighed only four pounds; he currently weighs seven pounds. I would say he is officially done with housetraining. He wears a belly band because he wants to mark his territory in our house. I have no idea how many months he'll be wearing a belly band, but I'm very grateful for them at the moment. He's attempted to lift his leg and spray in a variety of places such as the clothes hamper or a bed post, but the vast majority of the time if he lifts his leg inside the house he's attempting to spray the drapes in front of the sliding glass door in the kitchen or the kids' coats or snow pants in the foyer. Over the past month he's improved with getting his nails trimmed. Prior to him going to the groomer, he used to like being brushed. It's been a lot more challenging to brush him over the last few weeks. Sometime in March I'm going to use the clippers on him for the first time. He's getting used to our broom, mop, and vacuum, but when he saw a picture of himself on my laptop monitor, he started growling and then barking at his photo. Ha ha! He absolutely loves going on long walks outside. He loves to run! I think this puppy is going to get me into shape! He occasionally goes to the door to let us know when he has to poop. We can go longer amounts of time in between trips outdoors to go to the bathroom.  We still sometimes have to tell him not chew something he shouldn't be chewing, but it doesn't happen nearly as often as it did at first. Whew. 

He absolutely hates being left alone. He cries when we leave for church on Sunday morning. That's usually the only time each week that he's left alone in the house, but there are other times when he's in his crate and we are somewhere else in the house. He doesn't like that At All. He wants to be able to see one of us at all times. Much to Nadia's chagrin, I am his favorite person. She gets really perturbed at Milo when she picks him up and he leaves her arms and comes over to me, and she takes him back again and he again leaves her and goes back to me. Milo does love Nadia very much. His little tail wags like crazy when she comes in the room, but when I've been gone - whether I've gone to the grocery store or just been shoveling the driveway, Milo looks like he's about to jump out of his skin he's so excited to see me. It cracks me up since I never had any desire to have a dog, but he does spend more time with me than he does with anyone else. I do love holding him because he warms me up!

Prior to taking Milo on walks recently, I was still thinking that cats are better pets in my opinion because they require far less maintenance and keep themselves a lot cleaner. You don't have to give cats a bath, for example. Cats are not as exuberant in showing their affection, but they do show affection by rubbing your legs when you're standing or purring while on your lap. Wednesday through Friday Milo and I walked (and jogged part of the time) for a total of ten miles! Now that is not something I have ever done with a cat. 

I've started the videography course, and I think my first cinematic home video will be of Milo! I plan on doing a MUCH, MUCH nicer video of the kids around the time of their birthdays than I have in the past, but the next birthday won't be until June so I think my first project will be to make a video featuring Milo.