6 Months

Today marks 6 month since Kobe's death.  It's been a long six months, and at the same time it often feels like it was just yesterday.  Having Levi is a nice distraction, and I love Levi, but he can't ever replace Kobe.  I wish I had blogged about Kobe's and my life together so I had written memories of all of his funny behaviors and our good times together.  One thing he did every time before I fed him as a puppy was what I called the lip quiver.  His mouth would open and close really quickly and his tongue would stick out a little.  Levi does it occasionally when I give him good treats and it reminds me of Kobe.  He loved food and would finish his meals in like 40 seconds (I timed him once).  He maybe chewed one or two of the kibbles in his bowl, and the rest he just gulped down.

He used to love lights and shadows (which made me frustrated sometimes) but it is part of what made him him.  He could stare at lights on the wall for hours.  I think it all started when we played with a laser pointer with him as a puppy, but maybe he would have developed that quirk no matter what, I'll never know.

He loved to have a toy in his mouth, and had to go find one before he could greet someone that came home.  If there wasn't one close by he looked so troubled because he really wanted to go say hi to the person coming in but he couldn't find a toy to carry.

That being said, he was always so good about knowing what were his toys and what wasn't.  He rarely took slippers or other items that weren't his.  One time I had brought home a stuffed moose from Washington that was supposed to be a souvenier for him but I decided I really liked it and wanted to put it on my bed.  He really wanted that moose but he knew that it wasn't his.  A few times when he was in a really playful mood he would grab the moose, but otherwise he left it completely alone.  He would sleep up against it, but he wouldn't ever chew on it.  After a few months I was ready to let him have the moose and he was so excited to finally get to play with it.

He loved riding in the car, and would go back and forth between the windows to look out at the world.  As he got older, he also would rest his head on my shoulder so I would pet him.  I still miss that.

He also loved to swim in the pool.  Once he learned how to swim we couldn't keep him out of it.  He didn't care if he was the only one in the pool, he would just jump in and start swimming around.  He liked to go in and out of the water, taking lots of water out with him each time.  He was so happy though so no one minded (except Melissa who was usually getting water shaken on her while she read her magazine or book).

I remember when he was around 6 months old I started letting him sleep outside of his crate at night.  This was also when I started allowing him on my bed.  I was sleeping in a twin bed and he would take up the whole bed so I would squish myself into a tiny ball so I didn't disturb him.  Shortly after this I got a queen bed because we both just couldn't fit on the twin.  I thought that with all that extra room I could sleep normally.  I thought wrong.  He just realized that there was more room for him to stretch out so I ended up sleeping sideways or crooked most of the time.  Sometimes it got so bad that I had to scoot him over in the middle of the night because I couldn't sleep.

He always had plenty of energy if I took him out for a walk or hiking, but if I didn't have time to take him out for a couple days he was still perfectly behaved and would just sleep.  He definitely loved to sleep.  He would often sleep with his back legs stretched out behind him like a frog.

Another favorite position was upside down on his back.  He had some of the most unique sleeping positions.

He also loved it when I played the guitar.  When he heard the case open he would run into the room.  I think he really just liked to look at the lights that shined off of it, but I like to think he was my biggest fan.

Ok, I guess that's all the memories for tonight.  Most of my pictures of Kobe are on my external hard-drive back in Davis so I had to re-use pictures from other posts or take them from my facebook album.

From the beginning to the end, you were my best friend.  I love you Kobe and I miss you.