Four Months of Ender

Ender just turned six months old, and I can't believe he's been part of our lives for a third of a year. The time has flown by and at the same time I feel like we're just starting to get to know his weird, hilarious personality.

• Weighs 38.5 pounds.
• Just lost what I think were his last two puppy teeth in what ended up looking a little like a crime scene--he was playing with his friend, Lyla, who happens to be predominantly white and ended up covered in his blood.
• Graduated from puppy school and won the "Puppy Push-Ups" category of the end-of-program contest, which means he did the most sit/lie down combinations for 30 seconds. It really did look like he was doing push-ups.
• Follows my mom around like a shadow any time she visits. She actually stopped by on her way to the beach last night and he cried when she went to bed.
• Re: birds, his once-innocent wonder has transformed into stalking and pouncing attempts. It's still pretty cute.
• Went to the kennel for the first time over Memorial Day Weekend and made so many friends, both dog and human. Maybe they do this for everyone but it seemed like the staff was actually really sad to see him go.
• Really loves plush toys but destroys them in about five minutes. He's also a big fan of big rawhide bones and any toy that has a braided rope attached to it.
• Is terrified of mirrors/windows/framed paintings that haven't been hung yet--he sees his reflection in them and absolutely loses his shit. The other day we were waiting for the elevator in our building and it was dark outside and he saw himself in the window and he ran toward it, barking, before running back to us and hiding behind Rob's legs.
• Falls asleep in our bed with me every night but happily goes into his crate when Rob comes in (he's a bit of a night owl).
• Is starting to shed and I don't even care. Worth it.