41-pound monsters

Gus is five months old today. Sydney is four years, four months and...wait... I'm doing the math... 15 days.

And they're the exact same weight: 41 pounds.

I figure if Gus tops out around 75 pounds, then we'll be able to take this picture again in a few years when Sydney catches up to him.

In the meantime, they seem to share possess a similar level (or lack) of maturity and stubbornness. They run around and have fun doing things that make no sense to anyone but them. And they go deaf at will, totally ignoring commands. It gets a little embarrassing when I catch myself, while trying to comb Sydney's hair, ordering her to "sit" or "stay". 

One area where Gus has surpassed Sydney the lost tooth department. It's a good thing the tooth fairy doesn't make the rounds for canines. I'd be shelling out the cash. Gus has lost at least three teeth in the last week. AJ actually found one of the teeth. We started looking after I noticed a reddish stain on two of AJ's foam swords, which are favorite tug-of-war toys for Gus. Sure enough, when I pried open Gus's jaws, it was obvious one tooth had just come out, and the gums were still a dark purple where two other teeth were missing.

Sydney and Gus continue to battle to determine who's the alpha dog. Sydney's pretty sure she should be in charge, since there's no other option for her to control other than the cat, and Spike tends to stay downstairs, so where's the fun in that? Gus, meanwhile, considers both kids to be his playmates. Where as he'll calm down and snuggle with me, he only wants to wrestle with the kids.

He ignores her shouts all the time (as opposed to my shouts which he might respond to 10 percent of the time. Which  means a lot of yelling happens. First Sydney yells at Gus. Then, when she realizes it's not working, she yells to me to yell at Gus. "Mom! Gus has something in his mouth again."

And then we all run around the couch a couple times until he either drops whatever he's grabbed, or I (or AJ, who's gotten quite good at this) can tackle him and pry from his mouth whatever it is he grabbed this time. It's swell.

Give me patience. They're 41-pound monsters, and they're only going to get bigger.