ernie's solo

I was just about to upload a cute picture of my brother's dog Libby (I'll post it another day) and then I realized something: if I post one more dog picture on here, before Ernie has had his solo appearance he may smother me in my sleep.

Of course Ernie would never do that--he's too adorable.

After having lost one little Shih Tzu named Winnie, Ernie came into the world on Steph's birthday, December 17, 2005 and 8 weeks later we took him home. Vocal right from that first night, he never was a barker. Rather, he speaks his own little language of hums, whines, sighs and sniffs, some of which almost combine to form the mutterings of a little old man. This is, after all, who Ernie is deep down inside. I know it sounds crazy, but I swear his first words were "Oh no".

I guess I should have taken this as a sign, since he gets into his share of mischief from time to time (as mentioned in a previous post, "ernie's impatiens", he's had a few experiences with strange meal choices).

Over one-and-a-half years old now, he still continues to surprise us. Full of character and spunk, there's no one else Steph and I would rather come home to everyday after work. Then again, there are few people I would let jump up, lick my face and chew my ears anyway. So this works just fine.