Hey, Coco… you can’t read or use a computer but I am going to tell everyone that the 29th of January was your first birthday. Yep! You survived one whole year! Go us!

Last night at about 10:50pm I was getting ready for bed and absolutely exhausted. I had made you two of your very own turkey burgers for your birthday dinner and I topped it off with some nutritional yeast because you love that stuff more than cake….not that you’ve ever had cake.

I was so absolutely tired but I knew if I didn’t take some pictures of you on this wonderful day that I would be sad. I don’t have a whole lot of pictures from Dub’s puppyhood because I didn’t have a great camera or an intact sense of nostalgia. Luckily for you and Mr Kleenex I am getting sentimental in my old age and knew without a doubt that I was gonna have to find the flash batteries or else.

I’m so glad I did because I took two of my favorite photos of you that I’ve ever managed to capture. They’re not you though. I can’t show everyone the way you rest your head on my pillow at night when you think i’m totally out of it and don’t notice you on my sheets. I can’t show anyone the way you rest your head right next to my face while standing at the edge of my bed with your ears up…and when I open my eyes the way you lay your ears back…the sheer joy that comes over you…the way you jump on and off my bed, totally excited about this new day.. Although it might be lack of oxygen because you barely breathe or make a sound while you’re waiting.

On mornings when I have to set my alarm for super early before the sun comes up I love the way you stay in bed and try to hide your face from the light. You paw at your ears and yawn and it seems like you’re asking for 5 more minutes.

You are the smartest most well behaved dog I have ever had the pleasure of knowing…and I am not just saying this because you’re mine…Dub is mine too and he’s a goofball and a bit of an idiot…all of which I readily admit and adore just as much as I adore your complete oppositeness of him. Speaking of Dub, I melt at the way you love him…wholeheartedly and crazily. You love me OH SO MUCH but you love him 10 times more and it makes me happy.

I am very glad I met that lady in the McDonalds parking lot off of the interstate somewhere in between here and Athens. I am so happy that I put my reservations aside and bought you anyway. You were totally fuzzy, Coco. I had never seen a fuzzier dobe baby. The breeder told me you were a “euro” and that you’d shed all that out. You know what? You did. You have LONG silky hair now. Your ear hair is curly and kinky, long and fabulous. When I smooth it down you always shake your head and fluff it back out. You are a rockstar and don’t you let us forget it.

We were upset in the beginning that we had paid for a Doberman and possibly gotten a something else. I don’t know why. I’d pay it a hundred times over and I wouldn’t take anything for you. You are more doberman than Dub. You are both more than we deserve and one day I will miss you terribly, but until then we are so proud to have you two at our side.

Love, mommy

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