Good night Lilly

Is anything more conducive to sleep than a good night kiss from a baby Berner? 

I doubt it!  Bring on the sweet dreams!

Lilly's first snow

Today was a milestone for our sweet Lilly.  Today she saw her first snow! 

At first she didn't even notice the tiny flakes

but then as the flurries intensified she really got into the spirit!

She really is a snow dog after all!

Vermont

Today Lilly and I drove A. to New Haven to meet her Dad for a visit.  After we dropped her off, we continued north  to Vermont.  It was Lilly's first time in the Green Mountain State and I think she really likes it here!

We arrived after lunch and it took me a while to unpack so by the time we were able to play outside it was starting to get dark. 

As we aren't fully vaccinated yet, we had to come in before nightfall but the few moments we did have were great. 

She has even taken to napping by the front door as it isn't perfectly sealed and is therefore the chilliest spot in the condo.

Lilly definitely loves the cold weather!  Here she is after her first snowfall surveying her domain. . . 17 acres and only one Berner?   We may have to remedy that in the future. . .

Thanksgiving

What a great time we had on this first Thanksgiving with Lilly!  Our cousins came to visit and brought their new Collie puppy, Chica.  Chica is gorgeous and, as luck would have it, is the most Berner-like Collie I've ever seen!  Can you see the family resemblance? 

Our whole family was there to share the Turkey and fun was had by all :) 

Particularly memorable was our Chocolate Smash Cake (and the great Smash Cake incident of 2010) but we will save that story for another day!

Breakthrough!

We've had a breakthrough (and just in the nick of time too!) in our nighttime troubles.  For the past 5 nights Lilly has been very sad and hasn't been afraid to let us know about it.  She has spent far too much time crying and howling which isn't good for her (or us!).  It breaks our heart that she is missing her Mom and litter mates but armed with a number of brilliant new ideas from our amazing breeder, we put Lilly to bed last night and were pleasantly surprised that she made it through the night only howling a couple of times for a total of about 20 minutes!

Thank goodness for sleep!  One more day of operating on 3 hours or less and I'd have fallen asleep in the grocery aisle!  But she is so worth it.  Just look at that face:

Is she cute or what??

Me and my shadow

Today Miss Lilly made a startling discovery.  On her way back across the puppy room after a trip to her papers she noticed that something was following her!  Being the very brave girl that she is, Lilly wasn't so much frightened as curious.

She walked around and around speeding up, slowing and standing still until she was sure that thing wasn't in her imagination and then she made her move.  With no prior warning at all, she lunged forward and tried to eat her own shadow.  There was much licking and snuffling and even a few attempts to scrape it up off the floor with her sharp little teeth but to no avail. 

In the end, she gave up on catching her new friend and went back to her favorite chew toy.  There's always tomorrow!

Of course as a witness to these goings on I wanted nothing more than to catch her on film or tape to share the moment with friends but my 4 nights of puppy compromised sleep caught up with me.  Unable to even remember where my camera was, I just sat and watched. . .

Back to reality

Today is our first day back to reality.  We woke a bit early to accommodate the additional responsibilities of a small puppy and despite spending far too much time just staring at her, we were only a few minutes late to school.

But who could resist such cuteness?  That baby tongue?  I'm melting.  And did I mention that she's brilliant?  She is already paper trained and while I'm forbidden to make a big deal about it lest we delay the ultimate goal of housebreaking, I secretly swoon with delight when my little girl goes on the papers!

I've given consideration to the notion that I may be a tiny bit biased but doesn't she look like a genius to you???

Visiting day

Today many of our best friends came by to say hello to Ms. Lilly.  Of course I was so happy to see them that I completely forgot to take pictures!  Or maybe it was the bubbly that Ashley brought by to celebrate the new baby. . .

Our day was filled with oohs and ahhs and much love for Lilly.  And just when we thought she couldn't get any cuter- this happened:

And so the question is answered.  There is something in the world more adorable than a baby Berner. . .

 It's a baby Berner with hiccups!!

A walk in the park

Today we went for our first walk in the park.  Weston Town Green is beautiful at any time of the year but today was especially perfect.  Despite not getting too much sleep last night, Lilly found plenty of energy to run and play in the leaves.

Lilly also met some more members of her extended family today.  Grammy, Grandpa and T. came by to say hello!

Look at the size of those paws is a very common phrase around here these days!

Welcome Home Lilly!

Today we drove to Colebrook, Ct to pick up our new baby Lilly.  She is amazing!

She drove all the way home like a trooper and even put up with her first "well puppy" check up without a fuss.  Of course the vet found her to be happy and healthy.  At 8 weeks and 1 day she weighs in at 13.75 pounds (and counting!) !!