another baby birthday

Still not Sharkbait... This time it's my other baby, Jack!  He turns 4 this month, we're guessing.  When he came into our lives back in May of '08, the shelter who found him estimated him to be about 11 months old.  Ergo, birthday in June.  He had a rough life before he came to us, a stray, hit by a car, and picked up by a shelter in Tennessee when he was only 5 months old. 

Seriously, he must have been the cutest puppy ever.  Just look at him now; I can't imagine him as a mini-Jacko!  So in honor of my little prince, here are some (definitely not all) of the things I love oh so much about him:

-The way he loves us is the pure definition of unconditional.  With his brother Winston he will clean his eyes and ears and teeth sometimes.  With me, is very, VERY protective.  My little shadow.  He won't let anyone come near me when I'm sleeping, not even Patrick.  And with Pat, he attacks him with kisses when he gets home from work every day, and looks at him with complete adoration and respect. 
-He will kiss your face off.  Seriously.

-He lets me hold him like a baby.
-Even though it can be annoying, it's still cute how he nudges your hand (most of the time pretty aggressively) for you to pet him when he feels he's not getting enough attention.
-He loves laying in the sunshine.

-Every time we leave the house (even to just get the mail) he anxiously awaits our return by watching out the window.

-He watches Pat cook every night.  Pat calls him his little sous-chef.  He usually just sits in his spot on a little rug in the kitchen... until something drops.
-He also loves to watch Pat fish, apparently.  That's a new discovery.
-His favorite toy is a tie between his hedgehog and his raccoon.  The poor raccoon appears to only have 3 legs because the 4th has been overly chewed loved.

-How he gets really excited for cookies, and when you ask him to 'shake' he puts BOTH his paws in your hand.  We call it a double shake.
-He nests in anything and everything.  He starts dancing around in circles pawing at whatever he's preparing to lay on.  Usually it's a blanket, sometimes it's laundry (both clean and dirty).  Which can result in him becoming entangled in clothing.

-He is SUPER curious.  Always looking, watching, waiting for something to happen.  My favorite is when he watches the fish in our tanks.
-When I get out of the shower he always, without fail, comes running to lick my feet dry.

-He lays with his paws crossed.  Our little fancy boy.

-He snuggles SO good.  I don't think he can sleep without human contact.
-He is oddly similar to a cat in that he has an incredible vertical jump.  It really is an amazing thing to witness.
-He can curl his lips, and they get stuck, and it looks like he could be growling, but really it's just a big goofy smile.

-The two things that make me laugh the most are how when he chases his tail he sits down to try and catch it, and will even try and go under his leg to be successful.  And also 'the butt-dance'.  This is when he tucks his butt under, not touching the ground, and proceeds to run around in quick little circles.  We can really get him to do it when he gets out of a bath  Once he is all dried off, he runs around like a MADMAN doing 'the butt-dance'.  Cutest/funniest things ever.

Again, this is just a short list of how fantastically lovable my little butt is.  But, I'm afraid if I list anymore reasons why I'm obsessed with him, the state of my "dog craziness" will become even more obvious then it already is. 

So here's to you Jackie, Jack Attack, Little Butt, and whatever other name you so lovingly come running to.  Happy birthday, to one of the lights of my life.  I don't know what I would do without my snuggle bug.  Love you baby dog.