Amy Lu's View

Friday was StanLee B.’s Second Birthday! We think. As he was a rescue dog, we don’t know his birthday for certain. June 19 is the date our vet picked for him based on their best guess. (We don’t think they were trying to honor Juneteenth).

The resuce organization that we adopted him from told us his birthday was in April, so I’m happier to think his birthday is in June. Hopefully that means we’ll have a little more time with him.

Yes, I’m getting a bit morbid about SLB’s lifespan already. It’s hard not to with pets, as our time with them feels so limited. Not that I want SLB to have quite as much youthful energy as he does for the rest of his life. I’m hopeful that at three he’ll achieve more of a balance between energy and maturity (as in not being quite so hyper and actually able to live with our cats).

How about he just stops aging at three, and stays three until we die. Is that too much to ask?

Oh, and I don’t want to go too far down this rabbit hole, but that whole “one dog year = seven human years” equation is completely inaccurate. I’m actually a little shocked to have just Googled that a two-year-old dog is equivalent to a 24-year-old human (https://pets.webmd.com/dogs/how-to-calculate-your-dogs-age).

We don’t usually celebrate our pets’ birthdays because we lack the wherewithal and they don’t feel slighted. But this year I was inspired to take note because I was shamed by his puppy daycare sending a birthday card and treat home with him. I also realized I was missing out on a great social media/blog opportunity if I didn’t mark his birthday in some way.

So, what better way to celebrate StanLee’s birthday than by making him take selfies with me! Okay, he actually got to go “fishing” with Chad (his favorite game) and I made him a cake! I’m actually pretty proud of the quick and lazy cake I came up with–a rice cake topped with peanut butter and dried banana chips, two of StanLee’s favorite foods (actually, mine too). I’m constantly having to watch myself so that I don’t eat up his banana chips.