Chelsea and Charlie Bonding Day

Chelsea the pup has had a general attitude of "what's the big deal," since Charlie's arrival to House on Strathmore.  She's never shown any aggression or anger towards the baby but you can tell she's a bit frustrated at the shifting of attention away from her.  However, lately as Charlie's been a bit more active she seems to be more interested in seeing what he's all about.  Our biggest problem with her is that she LOVES to lick his face.  And since he's spending more time in the walker and exersaucer which happen to be right at her eye level, the phrases "enough Chelsea," "no more licks Chelsea" and just "CHELSEA, seriously" are pretty common around here.

I think this video captures their growing appreciation and interest in each other.  We know they'll soon be best buds!

Later this afternoon we went for a long walk at Herring Run and took this great shot of the two of them.  This was also our first time using the more compact stroller, which was definitely much more convenient.

Herring Run Trail

Great day for overalls

These days it feels a whole lot more like mid April than mid February, but we'll gladly take it!  We've been getting out and enjoying the weather as much as possible.  Here's a few shots of Charlie rocking some overalls today!

Oh and thanks to Papa John and Gigi, Charlie is rocking his first mohawk or "spiked hair!"

Charlie's First Spoon Feeding

The decision of when to start "solids" has been debated heavily within the House on Strathmore the past few weeks.  The debate concluded following our 4-month check up when Dr. Bucci said, "the kid is ready." We are going to attempt to make our own baby food, we'll see how that goes, but in sticking with the "plan" we started with Oatmeal first. We weren't sure what to expect but definitely didn't think he'd catch on so quickly.  At this rate we'll be processing and pureeing by weeks end.

Check out the video:

Now here is the step-by-step photo breakdown

The product

Charlie is curious . . .

. . . then says "Ok, lets do this!"

Mom goes in, with dog keeping a close eye
First taste

Ok, that's weird . . .

. . . but yummy

Give me more
Ok, I'm full.

4 Month Photo Shoot

Today our little man turned four months old! Since he seems to be growing and changing so fast, we decided it was a good time to break out the camera once again and snap just a few shots of him. Out of the 326 pictures we took, here were our 7 favorite:

 

Video of Charlie Giggling

Things have been pretty hectic around House on Strathmore lately and the blog has been feeling the pain. Here's a little video of Charlie giggling. I know parents always say this but I swear he's the happiest baby I've ever seen. He is smiling from ear to ear all the time. It takes him a little to get into it on this video but it's worth the wait :)

Charlie discovers his first toy

You know the saying "they change every day," well that is definitely true these days. Charlie received lots of great toys for Christmas and we've been introducing a few of them to him recently and today it he finally got into it. The real key for him was figuring out how to work his hands!!!

CPL's Aunt Amanda & Uncle Ryan got him a Bright Start Activity Station that we're keeping downstairs and his Gigi & Papa John got him another exersaucer for upstairs. We tried putting him in one last week and this was the result:

Bottom line--he wasn't interested!

What a difference a week makes in the world of Charlie Laur. We put him in there again tonight and OMG he has totally gained control of his arms and hands--its seriously incredible! Check out our baby genius!

3 Years of Chelsea

Yesterday marked Chelsea's 3 year "adoption anniversary" with us.  Chelsea came to us in 2009 from the Maryland SPCA where she'd been transferred from BARCS after being found on the "streets" of Baltimore.  They told us she'd probably been abused and while she was only 1 1/2 she'd given birth to at least two litters of puppies.  Anyone who has had the pleasure of walking Chelsea or seeing her interact with other pups understands that she carries those days from the streets with her constantly.  Yeah, she is definitely a fighter but she is just as much a lover.  She does everything intensely: eating, sleeping, walking, barking, playing, fighting, etc.

While Charlie definitely confirmed our status as a "family" we felt like a family of three before he entered our lives.  "Chels" is definitely not a lay around kind of pup, she wants to be entertained, touched, played with, and basically adored 24/7.  Since having Charlie I have had many days where she was trying my patience more than him.

She's also as smart as they come.  She's a pro at catch and this past summer mastered swimming! She recognizes that good food is hard to come by and always wants to savor the opportunity.  During the first month we had Chelsea I left a few steaks to thaw on the counter only to come home and find them both gone.  A few hours later when we sat down to watch TV, John reached in between the cushions and pulled out an entire steak!  Then, there was the time she slept on the kitchen table to get closer to the fan during a hot summer night.

We couldn't have imagined the past three years without her...she makes us smile and shake our heads in disbelief (mainly that we let her run our lives) every day.

Chelsea's first night at House on Strathmore

John meeting Chelsea for the first time at the SPCA--her name was "Brooke" then

Her first snow, I think we'd had her a week at this point

This past summer, at her favorite spot--Herring Run Stream!