Happy Birthday Riley!

My other baby—my Riley dog—is turning two today. To celebrate, we took him and Loreli to the dog park, something Jeremy and I used to do often, but since Loreli’s arrival, we haven’t done at all.

It was a perfect fall day. Crisp air. Blue sky. Perfect. It felt so good to be outside.

While we were there, Riley did the typical dog stuff. Lots of running, tail wagging, and butt sniffing—all with a giant grin on his silly dog face. He also greeted all of the people at the park. In fact, it started to seem like he was more interested in the people than the dogs, an unusual course of action for our active puppy. He even came whenever I called him, an even more unusual action for Riley. We began to realize that he really is all grown up - that his puppiness has waned and, in its stead, is lots of… dogginess.

Adding Loreli to our mixed up pack—comprised of 2 cats, 2 turtles, and 2 years ago, Riles Barkley himself—has been a big transition for all of us. For Riley, though, it’s meant a total shift of our attention, and he’s handled it pretty well. Much to Jeremy’s dismay, Riley eagerly tries to lick Loreli’s slobbery chin, her tasty toes, and her irresistible ear lobes. When we’re on the floor together, Riley sits right by her side and watches her. I think he’s almost as amazed with her as we are. He even leaves her toys alone. Not a single stuffed animal or rattle has been chewed…yet.

I’m happy that Loreli will be able to grow up with Riley by her side, and I’m pretty sure he’s happy about it too.