For your third birthday, my friend Tiki, I give you this tribute:

I'm prettier and those people are mine! You stay off my part of the bed and stop yapping all the freaking time while I'm trying to sleep! I'M THE BOSS!

 Happy birthday.

I have one of those "unlawful to remove" tags...

Just like they did with me, the people kept Tiki in the crate while they were away from home for a while until they decided they could trust her. She was far more interested than I was in finding things to chew on, play with, and tear into, so I wasn't sure when (if ever) she'd be freed from the crate. Well, I'm happy to announce that the time has come. Yesterday was Tiki's first day completely unconfined. She was okay with it until there was a little bit of thunder outside and then she got a little nervous. Fortunately, though, Shane came home a little bit early.

Today, though, she's out again and is much more herself. She's playing with her bird (she loves the bird), she's swapping beds, she's walking around and exploring, and best of all, we have been playing off and on all day long! It's way more fun with her outside of the crate. Earlier today we just stood staring and barking at each other for at least five minutes. There was no one around to tell us to be quiet. Barking is way fun. Shortly after our walk, we had a really good 30-minute play session. This video shows about ten minutes of us playing together.

Tiki thinks I'm a chair.

My people love two things. Me and sports. I know this. Tiki, apparently, does not. Shane's work gave him tickets to all of the NBA All-Star Events in Dallas last weekend and he had everything ready to pack, including the tickets, waiting on the bed to go in the suitcase. Tiki likes to play with things and rip them to shreds. This is a bad combination. While Cassandra was in the bath and Shane was at Tennis, here's what Tiki did to the tickets --

To be honest, I'm kind of surprised she still lives here.

Last night was a good night. Not only was I hanging out on the couch (since I've done almost every night since my birthday), but I also got to get propped up vertically like a real person. I watched TV like a pro! You know, until I got tired, fell over, and squished Shane while I fell asleep with a big smile on my face.

My birthday gift a month ago was getting to sit on Shane's lap on the couch all day long during a football day. It was glorious. Now, I ask to get up there every time they sit on the couch, and I've learned that they can't say "no." Well, Cassandra can but usually Shane can't. So when I walk over and plop my head down on the couch and make the "It will break my heart if you don't let me lay on your lap" face, I know I'm going to get to sit on the couch.

The other trick I learned? When they leave stuff on the couch during the day, I can just throw it all on the floor and it gives me a nice comfy place to sleep.

Tiki and I love playing with our toys... And biting each other's heads