Happy Birthday, Mitch!

Mitch's Aunt Cassie wrote him an ode for his birthday.

A Birthday Ode to Mitchell

Mitchell Hedberg,

You are a perfect dog.
You are also kind of human.
We love you
very, very much.
You are, in fact,
our first true dog love.
We wanted to steal you
and name you Smitch.
But you love your Mom
too much for that to work.

You love bones,
specifically, the burying of.
You also love treats (see: homemade),
and camel, and singing us songs,
and being held by Uncle Hugh (not),
and your couch, and napping,
and protecting your home with barking,
and butt's on fire,
and especially your Mom and Dad.
You are the fastest runner,
and the cutest snuggler,
and your tail is enviable.

Today you are six.
Happy birthday to you.
All in all, you are the best
dog nephew for which
one could ever hope.
Lucky us.
Here's to many, many more years
of your dog smile
lighting up lives.

Love,
Aunt Cassie & Uncle Hugh
(and Fletcher! [he requested the exclamation mark])
(and Henry, less than enthusiastically)

Thanks, Aunt Cassie and Uncle Hugh!

And now, some photos of Mitch in action.

The day he came home to us, still wearing his collar with his old name, Chico, on it.

Lying in his dirt spot in the yard.

Gettin' political. (Thanks, Aunt Tanya, for the Bark Obama bandana!)

Getting ready to bark at some kids, or the mailman.

At the lake. . .

Hanging with Dad.

And Grandpa Spence. . .

Rolling in the freshly cut grass at Daffin. (I believe his face and fur were green for the next few days.)

Snugglin' in the bed.

And just being generally mouthy.

That dog brings instant happiness. He's greets us at the door, he's there to play with us, to snuggle with us, to kiss our faces and our arms. He waits outside the bathroom while I'm taking a shower, he hates bicycles and squirrels, and he goes absolutely bananas for yogurt-covered pretzels.

As silly as it sounds, I never imagined that a dog--this dog--would bring such overwhelming joy.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to Target to get some pupcake ingredients and a new Kong. Oh, and some science kit stuff to do in-home cloning. Do they sell those at Target?