Here is some random and rather unscientifically gathered statistical data about the puppy.
1 - Toby's weight in pounds when he was born
80 - Toby's expected weight in pounds as an adult
4 - Number of weeks he's lived with us
4 - Weeks since I've had a full night's sleep
11 - Weeks he's been on the planet
11 - Years minimum we hope to share our lives with him
4 - Number of cats who are tolerating his presence and demanding equal time from their humans
3 - Times a day one of the cats will saunter up to him until he notices and then take off like a drag racer
3 - Times a day he gets yelled at for chasing cats
0 - Number of accidents in the house (since the first week)
15 - Words/phrases in his human vocabulary (Sit, Wait, Go Potty, Come, Shush, Bring it Here!, Eat, Treat, Off, Where's Dad/Mom?, Get a Toy!, LEAVE!, Give, Toby, You Do Not Chase Cats!)
30 - Treats he receives per day - mostly as part of his training, partly "Cuz you're soooo cute!"
6 - Versions of his name that he responds to (Toby, TobyToby, Cute Boy, TubbyToby, Sweet Puppy, G*D DAMMITToby)
18 - Store-bought toys he owns (His preferred toy is a small log he dug out of an area in the yard he wasn't supposed to be in.)
6 - Average number of hours he sleeps a night
7 - Average number of hours of sleep I need to function
9 - Average number of hours he's alone on a school day
9 - Average number of hours I feel low level guilt on a school day
2 - Average number of hours he's alone every other day
2 - Owls who-ing at each other in our field in the dark morning hours
3 - Times I've seriously wondered if we made the right decision
0 - Conversations Walt and I have had since the middle of December that didn't involve Toby
0 - People he doesn't like
187 - Times a day my heart swells with gratitude and love as I think about him, play with him, nuzzle and inhale his salty-sweet softness
9 comments:
Don't usually like numbers much. But these tell such great stories. Love them. And you.
You'll be changing:
"187 - Times a day my heart swells with gratitude and love as I think about him, play with him, nuzzle and inhale his salty-sweet softness"
to a GA-ZILLION times a day...
Love you
Suzy
So adorably cute he is! And, you are awesome -- spreading so much love to him and those 4 cats and all of your students AND EVERYONE who meets you, including ME!
LOL! My favorite is "Number of conversations Walt and I have had that didn't involve Toby."
Love these stats. In fact these are one of the few stats I have read that I have actually enjoyed reading. Toby is so much like a baby, in so many way, consuming every aspect of your world. Yet, more and more you will see that that beautiful baby boy will be worth every single bit of the stress he causes not. In fact soon the stress will soon be a long, distant memory. He really is the sweetest, most adorable puppy I have ever seen. He was born to be with both of you. The perfect match.
Love and more love.
Really no accidents! WOW. I love the 187 one too. He is soooo cute and I want to hold him and smell his puppy smell! We got a dog too right when you did and I am in the exact same position! I have learned so much from these dog posts! Oh and did I say how cute he is!
Lee
God I love this little furball! And I haven't even met him yet! I hope he gets to meet my lovable, crazy-making furball sometime. Something tells me they'd hit it off really well.
You'll never regret this. I swear. Mine is three now and just this morning I relented and let him ride with us to drop the girls at school and as we sat stuck in horrible traffic the three of us sang at the top of our lungs, each scratching a different part of this big boy with his tongue lolling out, big retriever smile on his face, tail thumping off the girls' car seats. Pure joy!
Well, you're going to have to teach him another phrase..."it's your uncle Mark!" lol...You might want to be careful with that one because we both know that the portable fence wouldn't be able to hold him back if he knew I was coming to visit.
I too loved the numbers. I like numbers, but I especially loved how you used them in this post.
I'm glad you're recording Toby's history in this blog because it seems most of us don't put down in words those times that we look back on with such fondness...and these days will be like that. And you will have the story. In my mind's eye, I can see Toby in 3 years looking up at you with his beautiful eyes and saying, "telling me the story about how many times your heart swelled when I was a baby again."
I love you
Those are some great numbers. Thanks for sharing your special heart-nourishing math with us!
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