Guess who turns three today?!

Zeus does! Get ready for cuteness overload. The big dummy is three years old now. I've been fortunate enough to spend almost the last two years with him, as Matt and I have been together about two years. We've now merged our little families into one, and Zeus is the sweetest boy in the world. He is a Great Dane and Black Lab mix. About 75% dane, he weighs in around 100 pounds, and stands about 5'8". Thank goodness he's not full blooded Dane, he already steals whatever he wants from the kitchen counters when no one is looking, and thinks our king size bed is his that we borrow.

Here he is at six weeks old, when Matt first brought him home. Isn't he the sweetest thing you've ever seen in your entire life? I can't imagine him so small. Gah, I want another Dane puppy. Matt and I toss around the idea now and again, and then we travel somewhere with Zeus and realize how much work a big dog can be. We recently got busted for sneaking him into a motel, not everywhere is dog friendly, and then think of those problems times two. I think we'll wait a few years before we introduce another monster into the mix.

And Zeus at 10 weeks. Those ears just melt my heart! I wonder how long before he outgrew that harness. I'm sure a few weeks after this was taken he was needing another. When Zeus was a puppy the vet predicted he'd be 150 pound dane. 

That face. "Play with me. Puh-lease!" The first time I met Zeus, Matt warned me, "my dog is big and playful." What is the first thing I do? I put Zeus in a head lock and he gets so excited he jumps up, scratches my face and then arm from my shoulder to my wrist. But I kinda had it coming. 

Hipster Zeus. He wants to go hang out downtown with all the cool kids.

What is Zeus' favorite thing? The beach. Hands down. I can't wait for a weekend where we can take him to the ocean and swim now that it is the off season. This photo was from our Michigan trip in July. He LOVED Lake Michigan! Our first day at the lake, Zeus played fetch for hours, eventually learning to jump over the waves when going out to get the stick, and he'd body surf in and catch the waves. We even got him up on our kayak for a few minutes before he jumped off and swam with me to shore.

My boys. Love these two so much. Sometimes they forget I'd like to spend time with them too and they take up all the room I'd occupy. Nothing like a man and his dog though. Since Zeus is such a daddy's boy, it took a while for him to grow on me, and I hadn't really been around a dog since our family dog that passed when I was a senior in high school. For years it was just cats, cats, cats. I had to make an effort to open myself up to the item of a big dog again since I wasn't used to having something so obedient and loyal (as we all know, cats are brats).

When I'd notice his excitement to see me, or when I'd leave and he'd cry, I realized he loved me too and his attachment to me now is so heartwarming. When Matt and I get home from being gone a few hours and Matt enters the house first, Zeus looks for me and then "phew, okay she's here too" and back to his dad. Now we have our own little tricks and play games. 

It took the girls a LONG time to warm up to Zeus. For months and months, when Zeus came over they were never seen or heard, and hid under my bed. I read somewhere they'd never be truely acclimated until they live together. Matt and I have lived together for 9 months now, and this photo above was a few weeks ago when I had our new king size bed delivered. They stayed on the bed together for about 10 minutes before Clementine left. SO CLOSE to being friends. She still beats him up now and then, but my other cat Stella is secretly in love with him.

Always a lap dog. God it's so uncomfortable! Haha!

Slowly but surely, Zeus and I have become very close. Since I work from home, he spends all his days with me, we go on adventures around town, he sits in for all my little outfit photo shoots, and is basically the most spoiled dog ever. Just yesterday, he tagged along for my trip to the bank and he got to jump in a fountain downtown. A homeless man sleeping on a nearby bench was quite shocked when he woke up to see Zeus jumping on his hind legs trying to attack the falling water. 

We're headed to the dog park soon to hang out with his best friend, Klaus and my friend Katie. Someone is going to get spoiled rotten today!