Birthday time

Keith gave me my first birthday present yesterday.... but guess who thinks it is for him!

Holiday Time and Indy at 5 Months

In the Brown family Christmas tradition, we set up our purple and silver tree while watching Die Hard. Why Die Hard? The first year Keith and I had our tree, we wanted to set it up while listening to Christmas music, but found that neither of us had any. Die Hard was the movie we owned that had the most Christmas music, and has been our background to decorating the tree for three years now. We are aware that once we have kids we will need to modify this tradition a bit.. but not for the first few years!

Indy was pretty stressed out by setting up the tree. So stressed that he had two accidents today. There goes our record for having no accidents for a long time!

Indy is 5 months old now. He graduated from the intermediate class at Pet Smart, and his growth has substantially slowed down. Pictures from his graduation and more cute times are coming soon.

It's time!

Indy at 4.5 Months

Today Indy weighs 16.7 lbs!

He has been a little sick this weekend, and is having more accidents than usual. Hopefully he'll be feeling better soon. It is frustrating, but in general Indy's behavior has been really great. He hasn't destroyed anything (except his toys) and he doesn't chew on the furniture.

Indy has loved the fall weather. I think he likes the cold outside, but he also really loves chasing and playing with leaves.

Here is Indy in his first Halloween costume at 12 weeks old. Since he wasn't feeling well, we didn't make him wear this at our Halloween party. He wore his Boo shirt (from his great-grandpa) instead.



Indy loves his new bed from Grandma Rosalie, and Keith and I love the bed too. You may find us curled up in it...without Indy! (We figure, if Indy can sleep in our bed, we can chill in his!)

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Did you take any pictures at our wedding? Please send them to us!

Indy's Knit Ball

This week, I published a knitting pattern I designed for a toy ball for Indy. This knit dog toy ball has been felted (shrunk so the stitches don't show) but Indy loved both versions:

Indy (8 weeks old) playing with the unfelted ball:

Indy (9 weeks) playing with the felted ball:

I have some other knitting designs planned for Indy in the future. Just you wait!

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Did you take any pictures at our wedding? Please send them to us!

Indy goes to the Beach (Indy at 16 weeks)

Indy had a big week this week. He went to the beach for the first time, "swam" in the lake for the first time (he didn't go deep enough where he couldn't touch), successfully played fetch for the first time (at the lake) and lost his first tooth. We also entered him in a costume contest by PetSmart (please vote for Indy! You can vote once a day until October 24.)

Indy's First Day at the Dog Beach:

Indy is getting VERY good a "wait." I can leave the room and he will be in the same spot where I left him. He can also wait for 3 min while looking at a treat he REALLY wants.


Tomorrow Indy will be 17 weeks old, and he is just over 13 lbs. It is so hard to believe that he was so tiny when we brought him home!


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Did you take any pictures at our wedding? Please send them to us!

Marc and Rachel's Wedding in Maine

Keith and I had a wonderful time at Camp in Maine where we attended Marc and Rachel's wedding. The day was filled with camp activities, sports, crafts and fun in the lake.

While we were waiting for the ceremony to begin, Keith decided to have some fun...

All of the weddings this summer have been lucky with weather. Many predictions of rain turned false, and we had a perfect day for an outdoor wedding. The lake was so clear, that you could see the clouds in the sky reflected on the surface. If I cropped the pictures a bit, it could be hard to tell which part was the reflection.

It has been a wonderful wedding season, and we are very happy for all of our friends who got married this summer. I cannot wait for the next wedding season to begin!

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Did you take any pictures at our wedding? Please send them to us!

Poor Monkey

Poor Monkey. I discovered today that his head started coming off his body, leaving his insides exposed. As this would not be safe for the puppy, I decided to surgically remove them. (I considered trying to fix the Monkey, but knew that my sutures would not hold against Indy's sharp baby teeth.)

Indy was anxious during the procedures. He yelped and woofed (softly) as I worked to remove every bit of the stuffing. I was able to save the squeaker intact, so that may be able to be used inside a handmade puppy toy.

after the Monkey's surgery, Indy picked him up and slowly and carefully walked over to his toy box. So cute!

Indy has spent the last 20 min carefully chewing on his monkey. It is sad, because he just realized that he could squeak the squeaker himself earlier this week. Thankfully, he is still happy to fall asleep on this less cushiony toy.

Indy's Graduation

Indy graduated from puppy kindergarten yesterday! He has grown so much in these last 6 weeks, and not just physically. When he first came to class, he was scared of Ella. Last night he was flirting and teasing her, running around staying just out of her reach wanting to play.

Indy's Tricks:

• Sit
• Down
• Wait (=stay)
• Let's Go (loose leash walking)
• High five
• Shake
• Take it
  
• Leave it
• Drop it
• Roll over
• Spin (both directions)
• Crawl (we just learned this one today)
  

Indy wasn't a huge fan of his graduation hat, but he got used to it after a while (and lots of bribes!)

We were thrilled that Indy was still happy to be in PetSmart after he stayed in the kennel last weekend. He was still very confident, and didn't seem to be afraid of us leaving him behind. This will make the next time we go somewhere without him much easier.

Intermediate Training starts in two weeks. We are trying to learn as many tricks as possible before then to impress Tara (the instructor.)

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Did you take any pictures at our wedding? Please send them to us!

Catalina

As promised, here are some photos from our trip to Catalina for Alan and Jenn's wedding.

I loved the tile work that is displayed all over the island. Next time we go to Catalina, I intend to bring some home with me.

I'm sure that I've said already the wedding was amazing. Keith and I are so lucky to be blessed with amazing friends who we consider to be family. It has been incredible to have two other couples that we've shared big milestones with, and I know we will have a lot to share with them in the future.

On the way back to the mainland with the Pals, we were luck enough to see a pod of dolphins!

At Jenn's bachelorette party, we decorated shopping bags for her. On mine, I drew portraits of Pita and Indy (this was just before we brought Indy home.) I cannot wait for Indy to finally meet his godparents (Jenn and Alan) in November! I should also mention that I was thrilled that Pita seemed to remember me and was very happy to see me this last weekend.

Coming soon... pictures from our trip to Maine for Marc and Rachel's wedding!

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Did you take any pictures at our wedding? Please send them to us!