0812Lane

I don't write nearly enough about the rest of our family. they play very intricate and key roles, though thru-out the mundane-ness of life we just brush them aside. they bring us much joy and laughter, frustration and worry, and mostly smiles.

rexy is our almost 3-year old yellow lab-mix-runt, and jaxon is our 5 year old (russian blue maybe?) cat.

I adopted jaxon back in august of 2004 when he was only 6 weeks old. he was at the Independence Animal Shelter. he was crazy in the cage with his brothers & sisters, literally climbing sideways on the bars of the front door to their seemingly unappealing jail-cell. I was single, living at home, and thought this kitten would make for just the right companion. and so he did. he is still crazy, or spastic might be a better word, but he still loves to snuggle. and his belly is tickelish. my mom got to the shelter before me, and I remember distinctly her saying 'there is one cat that you definitely do NOT want'... :) meet jaxon.

and then there's rexy. T-rex. sexy rexy. REX! (when he's in trouble). sam and I got rexy our first christmas that we were married, december 25, 2006. he was about 8 weeks old. he (& 2 others who were adopted later by a neighbor & a friend) followed my brother's dog home and my mom found them. she called us, we came right over. sam already had his name picked out before we saw any of them. and they've been best friends ever since.

they're both good with ava, but we're also over-protective parents still super cautious with our 9-month-old baby girl so they don't get too many opportunities to knock her over. when she's strong enough to hold her own better then we'll let her give 'em hell. but until then, we mainly stay between the dog & her. don't get me wrong, he loves her (and her cheerios!), he's just a loose cannon when the cat is out too. all sanity goes out the window when this dog's personal chew toy comes running in the room. she loves jaxon though. he's pretty patient with her, for about 2 seconds. then he bounces about 20 feet away until she follows. he's quickly learning that she's picking up speed.

and jaxon's only saving grace right now is that baby gate at the top of the stairs that the dog has to sit behind while ava is practicing her mobile skills. who knows what happens during the day when we're at work and they both have free reign of the house. they somehow must have acclimated to each other when we're gone because usually nothing is broken and neither are dead when we return home at night. but it's like the second I walk in the house the dog feels the need to prove his dominance and the cat's head goes in his mouth. no joke.

but today, they're both alive so all is well :)