The Puppy Function

If Henry were a program and he had a Biting function, it would look something like this...(Disclaimer: This is not meant to follow any programming best practices or language.)

puppy=yes

Biting(puppy)
{
body_part_list=[fingers,fingers,forearm,toes,calf,fingers,hair,fingers,forearm,forearm]

while puppy
{
chosen_body_part= random(body_part_list)
call biteBiteBite(chosen_body_part)
}

biteBiteBite(body_part)
{
open mouth over body_part
close down mouth with body_part in it
}

}

Yup maybe in a few months I'll add in a way to get out of that loop but right now it feels infinite. :D

Thank you Casey for your contribution by providing the probability of Henry choosing a certain body part.

One Month With Henry

We've had Henry for one month now and he has changed quite a bit! The first row of pictures are from our first weekend with him and the second row is from just last week!

Puppy Antics

Henry has taken on some attributes that remind me a lot of Sadie :) in that I think he would love to live in the dishwasher if he could. (Granted I only know about two dogs) Casey was loading the dishwasher and by the time he turned around Henry had climbed in! Here is a picture of a similar day when I was loading the washer. Notice how one paw is even on the rack...

Also, some of his favorite activities that don't threaten the safety of our hands (we're still working on this) is chasing plastic toys on the ground. We found a frisbee that has proven to be entertaining for both us and Henry - A win/win situation yay!!!

Babies, Puppies, Road Trips Oh My!

I had a mini vacation this weekend while Casey and Henry had a guys weekend. My friend Kari and I drove down to Des Moines. I wish I had taken pictures...but sadly I forgot. Friday night I spent with my good friend from college, Jessica and her husband Derek. Saturday I spent with my friend Betsy and her fiance Blake. It was fun weekend filled with wedding planning and LOTS of much needed catching up!!!! I'm so glad I was able to make the short trip.

Sunday we had my brother and Angie over for a pre-Super Bowl lunch of sloppy joes, chips & dip, spinach puffs, bbq meatballs AND grapes/apples (we thought it would be good to throw something healthy in the mix). Henry was spoiled with a nice bone and fun lion chew toy from Uncle Matt and Aunt Angie :) He loves them both! Here are few pics from the afternoon. Leah is moving around so much these days! Soon enough I'm sure it will be hard for us to keep up.







Matt and Henry also had a good romp and soon enough Henry went into his "den" (aka under the couch). Thanks Matt for wearing him out!


All in all it was a busy but fun weekend. Tonight (Monday) has been spent catching up but I was able to get a small video to show off some of Henry's skills.
He's only been with us for two weeks but has gained about 6 lbs! (He came to us at 9 lbs) We both agree that having a puppy is a lot more work than we expected but we can't deny that he has a big spot in our hearts already. Anyways...he's pretty calm in this video - which is pretty unheard of but enjoy the show!

Good Job Casey!

Approximately 240 hours of studying and 6 hours of test taking later...

Casey has successfully passed his first CFA exam!!!!! Great Job Casey!!! Henry and I are very proud of you.

For those of you like me out there that don't know a whole lot about financial stuff, CFA is a designation that stands for Chartered Financial Analyst. To get this designation you have to pass 3 REALLY hard tests (typically only 40% of the people pass). So now that Casey has successfully completed the first one he will probably be moving on to the next.

Just wanted to share the good news!

MMMM Bone!

It's only been a day and Henry has learned so much! He plays fetch now (he even runs back with the ball...after pouncing on it) and he learned how to run up and down the stairs --- looks like a gate is in order. He also got this super sweet bone. Thanks Lynden and Britta! It is definitely his favorite.

O Henry!

The Plante household has a new member - Henry! Henry is a lab/Australian shepherd mix, and has been having tons of fun at the Plante house. Here's a few of his favorite things to do:


Being a puppy, he loves to sleep. Usually it's in two hour increments. Sometimes he just lays down where he's playing and falls asleep. Here Megan is taking advantage of his warmth as she takes a nap herself (she ran the Securian 5k this morning - nice job!). He also likes to lay on the couch to take a nap - here's a not so normal position:


His favorite places to play are usually under furniture - the couch is fun, but so is the bed. If he's downstairs, his favorite place is under the coffee table:







He's had lots of new experiences - it's been a packed first two days. Megan and I picked him up from the Humane Society of Barron County, Wisconsin on Friday afternoon. He sat very peacefully in Megan's lap the whole ride home and got a good nap in. He's found a couple fun chew toys to play with - being a puppy, he likes to nip with his very sharp puppy teeth - he also likes to try to herd us around the house - very bossy! If you've been to our house, you know that our bedroom closets have mirrors on them - which sure makes it seem like there is another puppy in the house - at least to Henry. His first experience with Henry 2 was to give him a big, tackling hug! Even though there has been rain the last couple of days, Henry has had lots of fun in the snow. Being a 10 pound puppy, he can dive into the snow and have a great time.

He's doing pretty well with learning that puppies should go to the bathroom outside. I'd say we're at 75%. He sleeps in his crate at night, and his first night was a successful one - only once did he whine, which was for a bathroom break.

That's all for now! We'll leave you with one last cute picture and video - no one can resist his studly looks!