in which we will fell in love with a little monster

Yep, he's a tricky one. Pretending to be all sweet and lovey and potty trained....not so much folks, not so much. When we brought Oliver home he was seriously cuddly and sweet and tuckered out. From the first time I brought him outside to do his business he knew exactly what was expected of him, squatting down like a pro and then trotting back inside to get his treat. Hooray day one he is potty trained! Hooray it wasn't a fluke, he's potty trained still on days two and three! What a smart puppy, eh? Well, as it turns out he is smarter than I had originally thought. Now when we take him out he cocks his head and stares uncomprehendingly at me while I repeat "GO POTTY" over and over. After letting me get really annoyed he will scamper past me, under the railing, under the scooter, around the chairs, to the corner, along the fence passing under every single bush or tree until he is in the farthest corner possible from where I wanted him to go and squats down between the privacy of two trees. Does he ever want to scamper back from the farthest corner at three in the morning? Of course not! By the time he has followed his specific route he is freezing and hops around trying to balance on three legs to get one of them away from the snow until he gets really sad and just sits up on his hind legs with his nose covered in snow and makes his eyes all big and wimper-y until I go get him and bring him back inside. Which is not to say that he only goes outside and here I am complaining about walking across the yard...he has in fact become sneaky pup who when I won't let him run his little track race outback will, after staring at me uncomprehendingly, come back inside with me and promptly pee on the rug. What a sweetheart, eh? His other newest trick is to escape from the backyard because he is small enough to just walk through the fence with minimal squirming. Yesterday I was running with him in the backyard and when I looked back he was in the neighbors yard looking confused as to how he got there! That said, we love him a lot. For how much he frustrates us, he definitely makes up for it in a million other ways. I figure he will only be little for a very short while, so I have to appreciate the things I love about him when he's small and accept the puppy behaviors that he has too. Who's idea was it again to adopt a puppy during one of my hardest semesters? Pictures for your enjoyment:

I think Oliver's love for Yin (read terrorizing her constantly) is much greater than her love for Oliver.. but to her credit she is pretty patient with the little bugger. Do you know how he gets down from the couch? Lately he has been standing on the edge psyching himself up and when Yin walks by he launches himself onto her and then slides off her back to the ground. It's seriously hilarious...

Trying to get in some sleep before going to work.

Doesn't he look like he wouldn't cause a bit of trouble?

His favorite part of the snow? Licking it..

Annnnnd, one of my biggest dog dreams will come true I think because he seems to have an affinity for playing fetch already! Monster or not, I think we'll keep him.