Ramblings by Brooke: Tucker's 1st Birthday

I can't believe that our little baby is one already! It literally feels like we were just traveling through a blizzard to get him (yes, it was a mess - picture snow that you can barely see through and cars swerving and sliding all around your car and a not so happy husband driving through all of the mess). Once we finally got to him, we fell in love! He was a champ in the car on the way home and stayed snuggled up with me the whole 2 hour ride home.

We brought him home on March 30, 2014 (my sister's birthday!) and he's brought such happiness and so much love into our home! We never expected to fall so quickly for our little guy - he's the perfect addition to our family!

Age One Favorites: (in no particular order)

Ice cubes - If you say "cube" he sprints to the freezer and sits patiently waiting for you to give him one.
Snuggling on the couch (and he loves fleece blankets!)
Chasing his favorite blue squeaky football (and it seems that he loves to do this even more when it's supposed to be quiet time or when it's bed time - ha!) Thank you Uncle Nick, Aunt Teresa & Cousin Peyton for that!
Deer antlers (they are one of the few toys/things that he can chew and play with, that he can't destroy in a matter of minutes).
Taking over Meme & Pop's house when we have weekend visits - especially their huge backyard.
Empty water bottles - he loves to carry them around when you're done with them.
Nap time with Dad (they always take a nap before Eric heads to work).
Baby carrots - he loves to crunch and chew them (and then leave a little trail of leftover pieces in the kitchen for Mommy to clean up).
Laying on Eric's side of the bed... only when Eric is trying to get in the bed though. :) then he moves to his usual spot at the bottom of the bed, between our feet!
Walks after dinner - he uses this time to fully investigate and smell every area of the paths that we walk in our neighborhood.
Chasing leaves and occasionally eating one or two when Mom & Dad aren't looking.
Playing outside with anyone and any dog. Upon seeing another dog, he does an "army crawl" move. He lays flat on the ground with his front legs in front of him and starts crawling towards the other dog - waiting to play. His favorite dog is his girlfriend Bella that lives across the street - she's a 7 pound Shih Tzu, and it's so funny watching them play.
Laundry! He's obsessed with laying on laundry piles while I'm sorting the laundry to wash.
Playing fetch and shredding the yellow fuzz off the tennis ball.
Frozen peanut butter bones. We spread a spoonful of peanut butter on bones that he has (they're made for this, with a small indent on both sides for you to spread something on it to freeze). You can get a 2-pack from TJ Maxx for $5. When we leave him for more than a couple of hours, we like to give him a peanut butter bone to keep him happy and occupied while we're gone :)
Car rides! (Even though he has two rows of seating that's put down just for him - the whole back of our Acadia - he likes to have his paws on our center console and tries to hold hands with whoever is driving).
Kisses! He is constantly trying to give you a kiss or lick your face. Or - if you just put lotion on - he tries to literally lick your limbs off... he's obsessed.
His beloved dog walkers!! Nicole, his Poppy (Larry) & Nonie (OTJ), his Uncle Chris, and his Godfather Toph (aka Chris who now works a street away from our house) help us out when our schedules don't work out as planned or if we have long work days that would leave him in his crate for longer than 5-6 hours during the day. Thankfully, it doesn't happen too often, but when we need them - they are always so helpful, and he gets so excited to see them! Nicole also spoils him with play dates with her pups, and trips to the dog park.

Age One Facts:

Weight - 72 Pounds (When we brought him home 8 months ago, he weighed 35 pounds). We're told that he should be anywhere from 70-75 pounds at full growth.
Eats - Twice a day, Dry Food (2 cups) + Cubed Baked Chicken for each meal. (Yes... as if you didn't know already - he's completely spoiled, and usually eats better than we do).
Has lost all of his puppy teeth.
Potty training - he mastered this right away (thankfully!) and only had a few accidents in the house (Note: the only reason for these accidents - the crate was smarter than Eric in the beginning, and he didn't latch the door all the way a few times when we first got him, and Tucker figured out how he could escape the door and make the house his for a few hours each time). He always sits by the front door when he's ready to go outside.
Crate training - took a little longer than potty training, but within the first 2 weeks of him being home, he was perfect and no longer cries when he has to go in there - so we can't complain! (He has always loved his crate, and will go play in there or lay in there on his own, often when we're home).
Tucker also thinks that his name is "Mommas Baby"... My fault for calling him that so much - (but I don't mind it!):)

His new thing is barking. He's starting to bark now when he wants to go outside - or if you aren't paying attention to him, and he wants you to.

He had ice cream and a Milkbone treat to celebrate - and even tried to put out his own candle (by eating it)!

You'd think he was a baby by the way we talk about him and spoil him. You're kind of right - he's our first, and is our fur baby! We love him to pieces and we can't wait to see what else he gets into over the next year! Looking forward to comparing his age one facts and favorites with his age two facts and favorites! :)

Here are some of my favorite pictures of him throughout this past year: [Yes... I'm fully aware that he has the most documented life ever... When he's this cute, who can blame me?]

The car ride home <3