Happy Birthday!

Well, our little baby is growing up!  He turned 1 year old on December 4th.  He lost one of his baby teeth last week, which may be why he was struggling with meal time.  He had no real signs of losing a tooth until all of a sudden, he started gagging.  Lexi noticed something in his mouth so she went to examine what he was gagging on.  It turns out his tooth was hanging from his gums.  I removed the tooth and he has been eating much better ever since.  Lexi asked if the tooth fairy would come if she put his tooth under her pillow.  I asked her if it was her tooth.  She thought for a minute, then said maybe we should put it under Chances pillow.  Maybe the tooth fairy would bring Chance a new bone or something.  Well, we must have all forgotten about the tooth fairy, but I bet she would bring Chance something, I mean, why wouldn't she, it is a tooth after all!
As for his birthday, we had a Christmas party with all of our friends that day.  He must have felt it was for him.  He was friendly and happy and loved being the center of attention and all of our affection.  He has warmed up to most everyone we know without any problems.  He bounced around from lap to lap all evening.  He even loves to play with the cats, although, sometimes they do not love it as much as he does, they tease him and sometimes they play back!  Tigger, our oldest cat, is still resistant to getting too close.  This last week however, he has ventured upstairs and into Chance territory more than ever.  He will hiss at Chance if he gets to close, but mostly just runs away when Chance is to playful.  Kisses on the other hand loves his attention, I think!  Kisses purposely follows Chance, and or steals his favorite resting spot (on the top of the couch right next to the window in the warm sun.  Chance takes this as an invitation to play with her.  Kisses does not budge, but rather seems to call him on.  I think the two of them will some day be snuggle buddies.  They are both so affectionate, and love to snuggle.

Chance playing with Kisses

Chance and Kisses resting on my bed

On Thanksgiving we put up our Christmas tree.  The cats have always LOVED taking their naps under the warm lights.  This has not changed.  Because our tree is upstairs, I was nervous about how Chance would do with it and all the trimmings.  We hung most of the ornaments out of his reach, and so far, he has not even attempted to bother any of it.  Of course, when he smells a cat underneath it, he cannot resist trying to check them out.  This mostly results in a hiss or two, they don't like to be disturbed while napping I guess!
Chance has been much better at going potty outside since we got him his winter coat.  It covers his entire body and is much warmer than his others.  We do however have to shovel our grass so he has less snow to tromp though to get to his favorite pooping place.  Once we figured this out, it has been a breeze!
He is a joy to have around, and to my dismay, Zachy tells me frequently that he loves Chance even more than me. =(  Well, Chance deserves his love, and Zachy deserves to have a four legged friend to love him unconditionally.  Lexi is proud that Chance listens to her the best, and I am proud that she has taken so much responsibility with him.  She does most of the work when it comes to feeding, taking him to potty, and keeping him well and happy.  We have found that Zac is his favorite "play" friend, and Lexi is his favorite "snuggle" friend.  This works perfectly, as Lexi loves to snuggle in soft cozy blankets and read,, read read.  While Zac loves to run and play fetch and chase with Chance.  They are all great together and Lexi and Zac both are wonderful examples when we have other children around.  They pay close attention to how the other kids are around Chance and are not scared to help the other kids be kind and gentle and not too rowdy with him.  We could not be happier with our perfect little family.  It is a blessing to have such wonderful children and pets and we thank our lucky stars every day.