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pic of the day: day 25
it took 29 attempts to get a picture of
john while he was sitting still

during our travels yesterday, john was SO good: he was stuck in his seat for a total of 10-11 hours, and he was such a good sport. yeah, he fussed from time to time - but so did i. he did so good just hanging out with us, i was so impressed and so proud of him. (as an aside: i don't think we'll be doing much more traveling like this again. john was great, but it is just exhausting. aside from the normal traveling wear and tear there's the constant efforts to entertain a busy kiddo, and both daddy and i were bushed.)

when we got to nacogdoches, we were greeted by john and ann at st francis animal rescue. they are amazing, passionate people who love every single doggie they encounter. they have a beautiful home and a beautiful rescue facility on 15 wooded acres tucked right in town in nacogdoches. they didn't think it was at all strange that we were willing to drive 10 hours round trip to meet a doggie; in fact, they thanked us over and over again. apparently with the economy down, adoptions are down as well, especially of the biggest dogs (which is exactly who were looking for).

then they introduced us to buddy. buddy was mistreated at some point in his past - he is very shy, meets new people with his tail tucked down and his ears low. men and their hands, especially, freak him out. loud noises make him jump. he's beautiful but timid.

then john saw buddy. and john squealed and laughed. and buddy walked right up to the baby, sniffed his face, and kissed his nose. more baby giggles. so john and buddy were fast friends. buddy warmed up pretty quickly to me, as well, even going so far as to give me a little tail wag.

and then the key: daddy and buddy. buddy is scared of daddy, daddy might be allergic to buddy. but after some cautious introductions and some warm up time, two huge discoveries: 1) buddy will let my husband walk him and over a few minutes the tail comes out from between the legs and he starts to enjoy the walk and 2) buddy can lick my husband and he doesn't break out.

so buddy will most likely be coming to live with us. we still have to "pass" a home inspection, but i don't think that should be a problem. and we're ecstatic about giving this big ol' boy a home where he can learn that he is safe and loved, that he can warm up to everybody and come into his true happy lab/newfie nature.

***

i was a little worried about how yesterday's adventures would impact john's sleep last night. we didn't even get home until after 9, when john is normal in bed a little after 8. and no doubt, it was hard to get him to go to sleep - although he was exhausted, he fought it every step of the way. but then he slept great, waking up around 4 to eat, then sleeping until about 645 again.

and his mood was certainly not hurt: john was the happiest kiddo you ever met this morning. he was EVERYWHERE. his little scooty-booty crawl has developed into a full-fledged on-all-fours-crawl, and he's discovered that drawer handles appear to be a FINE place to pull up to work on standing. he wouldn't even eat breakfast this morning, because he was too busy running around the house.

we have the best kid ever. and i can't wait for him to have a big goofy brother to run around with, practice pulling up on, and love.
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