Capybara Madness

Me with birthday card by Jim Perry

It finally happened! After all the hoopla, all the media-buildup, all the anticipation, I actually turned two on Friday.

The funny thing is, being two feels exactly like being one. I expected something more. I thought maybe my body would tingle all over. Or maybe I would sprout little wings on my back. Or maybe something even weirder like being able to speak human. But none of that happened. I did get blueberry yogurt for breakfast but then my owner nonchalantly meandered off to work, just like it was a regular day. In fact, she even came home a little late.

I tried to be all upset when my owner got home, I know you have to punish bad behavior and reward good behavior otherwise they will never learn, but I just got so excited to see her. Same thing happens every day but I never get used to it and I can’t control my emotions. I jumped in the pool and my owner got in with me. I think she did that ‘cause she loves me and not because it was 105 degrees.

My owner brought a new “thing” in the pool with her. She said it was my present and that it is perfect for me because it combines two things I love, a hoop to come up inside of and a floatation device. I looked at it and sure, it’s nice, but is it better than my inner tube or my tire? Plus, it’s white and I don’t think that’s a good color on me. So I decided to ignore it, at least for the short-term.

Next morning we got up early and rushed around the house. I only got about a 15 min soak in the bathtub instead of my usual hour so I wasn’t happy about that. Sheldon came over and helped pull stuff from hither and thither to pack in the car. I put on my new sequined harness that my FaceBook friend Mansie OLeary made for me. Then we were off to the park for my birthday party.

I have to say, the party was great! My owner even remembered to bring me a tub of water so I could soak and get some relief from the heat. My friend Clarissa walked me around a lot. A bunch of my old co-workers from when I had a job as company mascot at Obsidian Software came and lots of them brought their kids.

Becky Cavanaugh, one of Obsidian's founders, introduces me to her son Charlie

And new friends came too. People I’d met around town or who are my virtual friends and now became my physical friends. (That is actually kind-of weird.)

Everyone wanted to pet me and feed me. That's my kind of party!

And I got presents! I got a gift card for yogurt, lots of blueberries and other treats, and Jim Perry gave me the coolest birthday card ever. We had a new friend, Etienne Lepine, from the Austin American-Statesman come and take pictures and video for the newspaper. There were stickers and coloring pages for the kids. And a delicious blueberry upside-down cake that Monica made for me. Monica and I are birthday buddies too! We have the same birthday (but in different years). I don’t like my blueberries diluted so I didn’t have any cake but the humans all enjoyed it immensely.

Look at the great cake my birthday buddy Monica made for me.

After the party my owner and I were exhausted. We took a long nap. Then we went out to the pool and I played with my new toy. She’s right. I do love it.

About to consume my gift of organic blueberries

Me & my owner with my new pool toy