Betty's First Birthday

Can you believe it?! Betty White Bartoloni turned one year old on July 8, 2009. She has had an amazing and eventful first year - moving from Idaho to California, meeting her new family, going to puppy classes, becoming potty trained, making new friends, and finally being able to sleep in her mommy's bed. Amazing!

We decided to have a small birthday celebration of sorts. My mom called me in the middle of the day at work to see if she should get Betty something small from a bakery she had found in Yorba Linda called "Le Woof." She was supposed to get one small treat for Betty, but ended up getting a whole bunch more (which you can see in the following photos.)

On the day of her birthday (July 8), Betty got the special treatment. I stopped to get a #1 candle, which we put on her cake. My mom also go her a small party hat.



Betty did not like wearing the hat, as can be seen here:



...and she even hangs her head here:



We took off her hat and then put the "birthday girl" scarf my mom bought on here. Here we are together and then one just of the cutie herself.





Betty seemed to enjoy some of her cake.




Flash forward a few days. Betty was scheduled for a grooming and looked marvelous, so my mom wanted to get some new pictures of Betty and her birthday items. Think of this as birthday Take #2.

This time, Betty got a "pupcake" to eat. Yum.



Finally she eyes the pupcake and looks intently at her prey.



Before Betty could eat, my mom and dad wanted her to have the hat on again. She tried to protest, even kissing my mom's had here to say, "Please don't do it! Please! I love you!"



Next, Betty tried to take off across the table. Before she left, however, she attempted to grab her cupcake. I swear this picture is real and not doctored. She is trying to grab it with her paw!



My dad picked her up and her hat fell down over her eyes. Notice how he is still grinning for the camera. What a ham!



Don't worry, we fixed it. He's still smiling.



So Betty had a wonderful first birthday. She even got a toy ball that says happy birthday which she plays with all the time.

Betty then survived the longest week she's ever spent without her mommy or grandmommy as we went on a cruise to Alaska. We called her a few times and she tried to lick the phone. She was very excited to see us at the airport. And contrary to popular belief, she did not gain 10 pounds from being a week with just her granddaddy.

Betty's growing up!

Hello Friends!

Some exciting news from the vet yesterday. Betty has grown to a whopping 10 pounds! I guess it makes sense...her mom was 12 pounds and her dad was 8, so right in between sounds good. I told her that I can start lifting her over my head instead of a weight.

Betty still loves to cuddle with her stuffed animals. She especially loves the one my mom gave her for Valentine's Day.



Betty has also started to lay out in the sun. I'm excited for summer to come to see my Dad (the constant tanning machine) and Betty sit together, basking in the sun. Here she is on her towel with a pillow and her stuffed animal friend. My dad got her all ready to go.



But the biggest recent news on Betty is that she has learned to use a doggy door! I got one that snaps onto the screen door and spent some time getting it ready to go. Then it was time to test it out. My mom and I would stand one side and get her to come to us. I tried to take some snapshots along the way as we practiced.

Here Betty is inside looking at the door as we called her.


Next, she begins trying to push through the door.


And finally, after a lot of "Come here, Betty!", she made it through.



Then we thought we would test it the other way (coming back in the house.) My mom and I went back in and got ready to call Betty. She stood at the door for a second, wondering why she couldn't walk in right after us.


After a minute, she decided to try pawing at the door. We yelled "Push! Push!", but to no avail.


She started to get frustrated and lean against the door, waiting for me to open it. As her mother, this broke my heart, but I knew she had to do it herself.


But finally, we yelled enough encouragement that she finally made it through! And of course, she got a treat for a job well done!


Now Betty goes in and out of the door whenever she wants with no problem. What a big, grown up girl!
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To close, I wanted to share two pictures I took of Betty as she lay in bed. She loves soft blankets (as you can see.) Here she is lounging in bed...


And I call this one "wake-up call" as this is how I wake up every morning.


Too cute!

My Funny Valentine

Greetings all! I again apologize for the long time in between posts...life can get busy in a hurry!

In mid-January, Betty was blessed to have her two aunties, Lindsay and Amy, visit her all the way from Missouri and Texas, respectively. When they first arrived, she was a little timid and wanted to hide behind me. However, the girls moved to the living room, I went to the bathroom, and I came back to find Betty wedged between them and loving the attention. Here's a picture of the love.



Betty clearly wanted to hold on to Amy's hand as well...



They adored her, as was expected. Betty also got to meet her other auntie, Mindy, at my aunt's condo in Huntington. Here we all are together.




They all loved meeting her and she loved them all, too. It was a big love fest. :)

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Since I last wrote, we also had a somewhat traumatic experience. Betty went from being a miss to a ms. (she was fixed.) This was probably harder on me than on her. She did really well and didn't chew on her incision, so she didn't have to wear the cone on her head. She also had her dew claws removed on her back feet, which meant she had her feet wrapped tight, making it appear like she was walking on stilts. It was pretty funny. (I apologize for not taking pictures).

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After we could finally get her groomed, my mom really wanted to take pictures of her with her valentine scarf on (that the groomer gave her.) Some of the pictures were just adorable and a few of my favorites are below:

I love this one, even if you can't see her whole body.



Here she is stretching, which she loves to do...



and this is her pensive look...




SOOO CUTE.

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Lately, my mom has been wanting to buy things for Betty left and right. More than anything, she has wanted to get her little grandpuppy a small sofa-like bed with a backing. Well, we saw one today and she had to get it (even though it's bright pink). Betty seems to really enjoy it thus far.





In the excitement of getting the new bed, Betty jumped on my leg to stretch and I quickly got this picture that I love.



Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!