Today: Happy Birthday, Clark.
Everyone’s favorite Frenchie turns four today. That makes him 28 in human years. It’s high time he got a job and considered moving out.
Just kidding. I wouldn’t mind if he learned how to drive and could swing by the office with some piping hot Nespresso every now and then, though.
We’ve had some good times over the past three-ish years since bringing Clark home. This past year has been especially great, given our therapy visits to the hospital and local schools. I love being able to share him with such awesome kids. Just this week, I got to watch Clark curl up on a rug in one of the classrooms at Franciscan Hospital for Children while one of the kids practiced reading to him. My heart got all mushy.
It was similarly mushy a few weeks ago when a package of hand drawn cards arrived in the mail from a group of kids we visited earlier this year. I will post the rest on Clark’s very own Facebook page later today. That’s right. I am officially a creep and created a Facebook page for my dog. Judge freely.
In celebration of Clark’s fourth birthday, here are a few Frenchie “fours.”
Clark’s four favorite foods:
- Cheese
- Carrots
- Cucumbers
- Boiled chicken (which, by the way, smells like a dead body… a dead chicken body, I suppose)
Four things an animal communicator (yes, I brought him to a pet psychic) told us about Clark:
- He loves Christmas (who doesn’t?)
- He likes Taylor Swift and wishes we would leave the radio on for him while we’re at work
- Nick is his favorite
- He wants a turtle, a hermit crab, a rabbit or a baby (at least he’s not picky)
The four things kids always ask us at pet therapy:
- Where is his tail?
- Does he have any puppies?
- Does he snore?
- When is he coming back?
Four things we call him (besides his real name):
- Min (short for Mini, which is short for Mini Vegas, which… nevermind)
- Little muffin (see below)
- o meu menino (Portuguese for “my boy”)
- French fry
A couple of years ago, I was walking Clark in Southie when a bus driver opened his window and started yelling, “Muffins! Hey! Muffins!” I thought either I was being sexually harassed or that the man was operating some sort of mobile MBTA bakery… until I realized he was calling out to Clark. He asked how “little muffins” was doing, and I was like, “Um… his name his Clark.”
“I know,” he replied, “but my nickname for him is Mr. Muffins.” Well, alright. I immediately told Nick about this, as we often wonder what sort of nonsense Clark gets into with his best friend and dog walker while we’re at work. I am not sure if Nick totally believed the muffins story. Months and months passed and finally that same bus driver pulled up while the three of us were out walking. The door opened, and Nick got to hear “Muffins!” for himself. It was awesome.
Life is never boring with Clark. Happy birthday, little muffin.
Also On Tap for Today:
- Happy Birthday to my older brother,too 🙂
- Thanks to Alex, Stephanie and Michelle for sharing this amazing set of photos
- Blasting T-Swift for Clark while I am at the office
Do you give your pet weird nicknames?
Comments (6)
Kristi @ lifesprinkles.com
April 11, 2013 at 11:44 am
Happy birthday to Clark!
My pets all have weird nicknames. Alan’s is probably the best – we call her Beans because, well, apparently that was supposed to be less random and confusing than having a girl dog named Alan. 😉
koolimut
April 11, 2013 at 1:36 pm
Happy Birthday, Clark! Stay healthy and happy! – from Stitch (Mom & Dad, too)
We call our 11-year old baby anything but Stitch: Piglet, Peeps, Sniglet, Pickles, Koolimut, Bimbi – gosh, you name it! We don’t know exactly why but we both felt compelled to do so. I think Frenchies are begging for a term of endearment! 🙂
Michelle
April 12, 2013 at 9:12 am
Happy Birthday Clark!! I’d say from Joey, but I’m not sure that you’re friendly with cats.
Weird names for said cat: Bubs, Creeper, and Helloseph. And LetsGoseph. And OhNoseph. Basically anything we can morph with Joseph. I don’t think he knows his real name any more.
alex eats green
April 12, 2013 at 11:10 am
Happy Birthday Muffin!!! I don’t have any pets, so I’ll continue to live vicariously through your life with Clark.
Molly Galler
April 13, 2013 at 1:05 pm
Happy birthday Clark! Cheers to a new year of more cuteness!
Stephanie
April 14, 2013 at 10:50 pm
Happy birthday to Clark! I love the fact that multiple people shared the buzzfeed pictures with you. It’s like you have a reputation for loving frencies 🙂
No pets for me (allergic/waiting for a big yard for a future dog) so I just like meeting other people’s pets. And babies. You know, cute things.