Today is Cleo’s adoption day, the day that will forever after be known as her birthday. When I got her one year ago, they told me she was about two years old. So today, Cleo turns three!

Here she is before we named her, when she was known as “Baby.” We knew that would have to go. We chose her because out of all the dogs at the pound, she was the only one that wasn’t barking. Little did I know that one year later, barking would be her major flaw.

When we first brought her home, she was so scared she wouldn’t eat. When she finally did, I was so excited that I captured the moment. I didn’t care that I had to bring her bowl right out into the living room.

After awhile we decided she needed a bath. We gave her exactly one before deciding that $20 at the groomer would be money well spent. She never got over her fear of the bathroom after that.

Cleo’s made a lot of friends over the past year. I’m not the only one who’s getting a new family soon!

Cleo still misses Molly…

But she gained a cousin, Bentley:

Cleo and I have discovered that the dog park is one of our favorite places. It makes me incredibly happy to see her so happy, and I find it so relaxing to sit on a bench and read while she runs (and swims!) her little tail off.

But my favorite time of all with Cleo is bedtime. We have our little routine – she starts out underneath the covers, licks my legs and feet for awhile, then crawls out and settles at the foot of the bed. I’ll fall asleep, but after awhile I’ll feel her stirring, wanting to climb back underneath the covers. Sometimes she sprawls out next to me and lets me sleep with my arm thrown over her. She never wakes me up in the morning – I’m the one tossing her out of bed. This bedtime routine is ending soon, but that’s OK with me because I’ll have a new bedmate, and I think it’ll be OK with Cleo too because she’ll have her new sisters to play with.

I love you Cleo, you’ve made the best year of my life even better!