New things learned...

Tyler continues to grow and learn new things daily. His most recent thing is learning to sign "Thank You". It is so much fun watching him try out new signs all the time. I haven't taken the time to count up how many signs he knows, but he has quite a few, the most important ones being "More", "Please", & "Thank You". Of course, I think "Banana" is also very important, at least to him; he signs that for EVERYTHING, but especially food. Matt & I both think he's growing because his reach has suddenly become a lot longer. We both have to be careful of what is hanging over the edge or even near the edge of the counters and table now. But then again, maybe he just has his mother's long arms!!! (My cousin told me after we were married, that I should always put things on the top shelf so they were out of Matt's reach.) :)

On a different note, one thing I've learned is that puppies, especially 6 month old labs, need a LOT of exercise. If they don't get exercise, they tend to chew on things and become really destructive. I learned this when our air conditioner didn't work the one time I turned it on. When the repairman came to diagnose the problem, he found a chewed wire...unfortunately it was only the low voltage wire and wouldn't have zapped the dog while he was chewing. Rats. I was hoping it would teach him to stay away from it. Another thing I learned from this experience is when you let the dog out after the repairman leaves and he catches his scent, don't leave the house until you make sure the dog doesn't REPEAT the problem that was just fixed...yup, he sure did. Lesson learned: Tie up dog whenever we leave the house and can't be there to watch what he does.