Oh my God, you guys.  We have even more cuteness to share from our trip to Chicago.

Two of Brian’s good friends from college, Nate and Angelica, were in northern Indiana visiting family, and they brought along their amazingly precocious and adorable daughter, Kit (duh, what were they gonna do, leave her at home?).  Since we were in the same general region, Brian, Sid and I took a quick road trip into the Hoosier State so we could hang out with them for the afternoon.

This was really epic for a few reasons:

1.  Despite Sid’s gruff demeanor, he loves meeting kids, especially ones that are super cute and are named Kit.  He even picked out a gift to bring for Kit – a little plush pug in a pink camo purse – and wore his coolest black tee-shirt.

2.  This was the first time we got to meet Kit, too. We also wore our coolest clothes, but we forgot about the whole gift thing so we quickly added our names to the present that Sid brought along when he wasn’t looking.

3.  Kit is very smart and she’s an avid reader of Pug Slope.  For real. She dropped the phrase “Sid Vids” about four or five times while we were hanging out and talked in depth about her favorite videos of Sid, which planets she’d like to visit, and her favorite types of trees (coniferous, obviously).

As you can see from the pics, we had a very long, very chilly , but very ADORABLE walk. We then settled in to Kit’s grandparents’ house for some mulled cider, cookies, and play time.  We all had a blast.

Also, just so there’s no confusion, I’d like to point out that Kit is indeed a human child in a bear suit, and not a bear proper.  Sid, of course, is all pug.

Okay, Sid, we get it.*  You LOVE potatoes, you LOVE your new gigantic duck, you LOVE using unconventional items as bolsters, and you LOVED hanging out with Payton.  Now stop being so absurdly cute so your dad and I can get some work done!

*I swear on the integrity of this blog that we humans played no part in arranging the toys in this photo.  This was all Sid’s doing.  

Well, like I mentioned in a previous post, not only did we get to hang out with my family over Christmas, we also finally got the opportunity to meet up with another pug blogger and her family. Yep, we got to meet “Pugnacious P” herself – Payton!

After some initial meet-n-greet circle-n-sniff (by the pugs of course – the humans shook hands), Payton’s dad brought out a bag of dried apple treats, immediately gaining the undivided attention of the flat-faced two-some.

Even though the treat is out of the frame, its location is pretty obvious to gauge. Just follow the intense stares emanating from Sid and Payton. Sid had never eaten dried apples before but that didn’t stop him from immediately bowing down to the unknown-but-sure-to-be-tasty enigma (as he often does with anything in a bag).

Still, the treats were held captive by the humans. While Payton chose to do the aloof  “I don’t care about that stupid treat” reverse-psychology technique, Sid went even deeper down, into a Full Jimmy. This pug wanted one of those delicious dried apple treats – and he wanted it NOW.

And finally the treats started flowing!

Payton’s dad was lucky he didn’t lose a finger in the nosh-fest that followed.

Oh, and not only did Payton’s family bring treats, they also brought a present for Sid. Without even being told about it, he dug the wrapped present out of their tote bag and started tearing into it while we weren’t looking – c’mon, Sid, really? We need to work on those manners, dude.

While Sid paraded around the living room squalking his giant plush duck, we sat down with Payton and her parents, ate a little pizza and talked shop – pug shop. Among other interesting stories, we found out Payton’s name comes from running back Walter Payton of Chicago Bears (aka “Da Bearce”) fame. I’m not really a huge football fan, but I certainly was in 1985 and can recite the entire Superbowl Shuffle verbatim at the drop of a hat (don’t make me do it!).

After the pizza and pug-talk, we moved over to the living room for a shot of the whole gang.

 Thank you to Payton and her family for meeting up with us and for the gifts. We hope to hang with you guys again the next time we’re in Chicago!

First of all, Happy New Year, everyone!

Christmas and New Year’s have already passed and I’m sure everyone is eager to get on with 2012 and return to normal life, but we wanted to do a quick recap of our trip with Sid to Chicago for Christmas with my side of the family.

I’m sorry, Sid – but all those presents aren’t just for you!

The three of us stayed with my sister and her husband in their amazing pug-proof house. See, they are also familiar with a food-motivated dog – their Bichon/Poodle mix named Sweetie has an appetite on par with our flat-faced wonder. Sid had met Sweetie before when we passed through Chicago on our cross country drive from California to New York. For the most part they got along well – although Sid was a bit of a jerk and commandeered all of Sweetie’s favorite toys. Luckily, Sweetie lives up to her name and was kind enough to let him chew on her prized possessions.

Sid and Sweetie teamed up anytime someone was in the kitchen. They would turn on the charm, do tricks, create distractions, basically anything they could think of to obtain a morsel of what was on the counter. We were extremely diligent in assuring that nothing fell down to their level, but that didn’t squash their optimism.

My sister’s house is very sunny and Sid quickly discovered many warm, cozy spots to lay down and relax in. In addition to taking over Sweetie’s favorite toys, he also found her favorite spot on the back couch cushion and after a few spins was soon nested in. (Sorry, Sweetie! Sid can be a turd sometimes.)

Sid received many nice toys and treats for Christmas, including a Christmas neckerchief handmade by my sister and a new plush frog toy from my parents. Almost immediately after getting the frog, one of the little legs came off. Sid forgot about the rest of the frog and carried the little lone leg around with him the whole night. He loved that little leg.

Um, Sid – you sure you want to play with just the leg?

He also got a package of his one of his all time favorite toys – plush potatoes. Yes, these seemingly simple toys are one of Sid’s favorites. His favorite game is catch and these potatoes are the perfect size for him to catch. Plus – they have a squeaker inside which he adores (and quickly destroys).

Hope everyone else had a wonderful holiday. We’re hoping to get back to regular commenting and posting now that we are slowly getting back to normal life. We have a few more stories and photos from Sid’s trip, including a special “in-the-fur” meeting with one of Sid’s pug-blog pals, Payton!

P.S. Thank you all for your tips for flying with your pug – I think we used just about every single one. I’m so proud of how good Sid did! He’s a flying ace now.