Benders 1ST Birthday -- WEEKEND!

[Joanna, Zoe & Bender]

Hi All,

Friday was unofficially Benders FIRST birthday! I say unofficial because he was born Feb 29, 2012 and there was no 29th day on the calendar for February this year.
DH and I love him SO much and can't believe he's already a ONE YEAR OLD! He has grown so much in one year.

I can't even begin to express how much we love our Bender. He is my PLUSHY PIE, SWEET PIE, BABY BENNY, CUTIE PATOOTIE, FLUFFY BABY!!! Lover of plush dolls, ultimate cuddle bear, and 7AM alarm clock!  I have to admit it was really hard when we first brought him home and we still have a lot of things to work on but I think he is the sweetest little big guy in the world!!!!  

Friday we celebrated with extra treats and a lot of love!  I went to two stores looking for a birthday hat but both Rite-Aid AND CVS did not have them!  I was shocked but decided to spend that extra couple of dollars on more treats for him.  DH said Bender was "food drunk" on Friday night LOL.  (I didn't over feed...just gave small bits of a variety of treats he loved PLUS new cod twists!)  He was a little weary of the COD twists but as soon as he heard Zoe chomping away he followed.

 FOOD DRUNK BEN LOL!

Saturday we took the day to take them out to the beach.  Considering it was around the 80's in LA we figured EVERYONE would be out to the beaches in LA and OC.  SO...we drove about 1 hr north to the beaches of Channel Islands in Oxnard,CA.  It was so lovely!  Very empty and so much space for the pups to run around!!!  The water was a little cold so Zoe didn't throw herself in the water as usual but the weather was nice and the scenery was BEAUTIFUL!

Ben did great!  Although he was a little freaked out when the off leash (reallyyyyy hyper) Puggle ran up to him and kept trying to bounce at him to play he was over all a good boy!  I tried to get the Puggle away to play with Zoe but he wouldn't leave Ben alone (Ben just yelped tho).  There was about 3 different kids that ran up to him and wanted to pet him and he had absolutely NO issues with them!  It was a happy day!  We drove home the scenic way through Malibu and DH and I had a blast!  Ben threw up only once =X.

BTW Bender got his MAN POOF!  We had to stop by PetSmart to get him a LARGE Gentle Leader because he grew out of his!!!  My baby is turning into a big boy!  *sniffsniff*

[Joanna, Zoe & Bender]

Thanks everyone! We all had a blast!!!

[Joanna, Zoe & Bender]

@JD bender says Whew it was close!
@Star Bender is named after a certain robot on a certain cartoon that DH used to love haha

[Donna K & Quincy]

Happy Birthday Bender, what a wonderful way to enjoy your birthday!

[Ricki and Tara (doodle)]

Happy Birthday Bender! Looks like you had a wonderful weekend with your family!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Happy 1st Birthday, Bender! JD says congratulations on not having to wear a hat!

[Rose]

Happy Birthday, Bender!

[Anne & Mr. Haley]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BENDER!  Sounds like you had a great birthday.

[Joanna, Zoe & Bender]

Thanks Lonnie! I feel like I can go on and on about how much I love him but pretty sure everyone on DK loves their doodles the same and understands haha! :)

[Joanna, Zoe & Bender]

Bender says THANK YOU everyone!!! He's happy to be a one year old but still let's mommy call him BABY.

[Lonnie & Libby Lu]

Happy Birthday Bender!  What a great way to celebrate your "first"!  Mommy and Daddy went all out for their special guy!  Joanna I love the way you describe your love for Bender, that is exactly how we feel about Libby too!  Your pictures are fantastic and show a celebration for a great Doodle:)