So happy together

Hello! And sorry for the delay in posting.

Getting a few minutes to spare to do anything that is not Nyxa-related is a challenge these days. Nyxa is about 12 weeks old now, and she is a handful! She's also a really smart dog (I know I'm biased, but still) -- she has already mastered sit, and we're working on down, stay, paw, come, and heel -- though certainly not all at once. Oh, we've also been trying hard to teach her the command off, for when she's jumping up on the furniture and we want her to get down (because down is for lying down, and we don't want to confuse her). She's a fast learner when we can keep her attention for more than two seconds (ah, the puppy attention span!). I'm hopeful that puppy training school should be a breeze.

She's the sweetest, cuddliest dog! She gets along with everyone -- infants, toddlers, teenagers, adults, old people, dogs of all sizes, probably cats (though right now she's a little afraid of them). And she's so friendly. She is basically the perfect dog, is what I'm trying to say. 

Exhibits A and B will show you how snuggly she is:

See? I don't lie. She just loves to crawl right into our laps and fall asleep. It's soo cute -- and she still has her puppy fur, so she's all warm and soft and fluffy and smells like puppy. :) But she's also teething, and sometimes she's like a little piranha (exhibit C):

We'll be glad when that part of the puppy stage is over. (She actually tore our roommate's dress! Said roommate was understandably furious and sort of hates our puppy now--and maybe us.)

It's been fun to watch her grow up over the days, too. At first, any chew toys with squeakers in them were terrifying to her. Then she grew curious about them, but she still couldn't figure out how to make them squeak on her own. Now most of them don't even squeak anymore, because she figured out how to bite them to make them squeak (and thus punctured most of them with her sharp piranha teeth). All that happened in the span of 36 hours or so, mind you, but it was still highly entertaining to watch.

It's also adorable to watch her fall over randomly because she hasn't quite figured out how to walk, and watching her chase her tail is endlessly entertaining. I know we'll miss these things so much!

Her ears are really floppy, and when they flop up she looks kind of like a bat, so sometimes I call her Nyxa Bat. Exhibit D, for more squealy adorableness:

Can you tell that she's asleep in that picture? She falls asleep in the funniest, most awkward positions. :)

It's only been about a week and a half, and we already love her to death (and it feels like we've had her for months)! She has her first veterinary appointment this afternoon -- we, her parents, are excited.

Things we will surely miss:

• How sweet and cuddly she is right when she wakes up.
• How sweet and cuddly she is when she's tired.
• The way she struggles to keep her eyes open when she's tired and then inevitably fails.
• The way she falls asleep in awkward positions.
• The way we can move, talk, laugh, and bang around while she's sleeping without waking her.
• How small she is.
• The way she bounds around when she gets excited.
• The way she pounces on her toys (or on us) when she's playing.
• The way she gets easily distracted and fascinated by evvverything.
• The way she pounces on leaves and sticks like they're her mortal enemies.
• The way cats and ants confuse her.
• The way her whole body wags when she sees anyone for the first time in 5 or so minutes. (Hopefully this won't go away when she gets older!)
• The way everyone wants to meet her, from little kids to our elderly neighbors.
• The way everyone oohs and ahhs over how adorable she is.
• The way people exclaim over "what big paws she has!"
• The way she snores when she sleeps
• The way she twitches and barks in her sleep when she's dreaming
• The way she walks (awkwardly, like a puppy)
• The way she falls over randomly
• That puppy smell, and that puppy breath

Things we won't miss:

• Being woken up in the middle of the night because she has to pee.
• Having to take her out every hour or so to pee (or else she pees inside).
• Cleaning up after her when she goes to the bathroom inside.
• Her sharp piranha teeth.
• Her chewing on everything in sight, including our roommates' possessions.
• The way she gets easily distracted during walks and refuses to move.
• The way she sits in the middle of walks and refuses to move.
• Having to watch her every second of every day to make sure she's not getting into trouble.

Overall? These are the happiest days of our lives. :) :) :)