Happier days. Here I am with my scruffy hair and my new Kong. XOXO, Chicco
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Marcello: Yawn! Good morning. Would you mind making me a cappuccino?

Chicco: You must be kidding.

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Lest you forget how small we are.
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This photo shows my general malaise over my haircut. I think Papa' needs to find a new groomer.
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Oh, woe is me. This haircut is awful. My ears are too long. I look like Piccolo.

I'd give anything for a cucumber!

So this is what happens when you complain. Dad made an appointment for us at the hair salon. What I wouldn't do to have a bath from mom and her weird cucumber shampoo instead. --Marcello

Cello, You're such a grump. You totally forgot to mention doggie school. You were even brave enough to be in the class with the pit bull. I, on the other hand, was in the class with all of the lab puppies. They're kinda big. XXXOOO, Chicco-bean!

PS I should have mentioned this before. My name is Francesco. It used to be Stefano for two days, but my parents wanted to call me Chicco (KI-ko) so they changed my name so I could be Chicco for short. Chicco means BEAN in Italian, you know, like coffee bean.

We were looking at Sheba the Hug Pug's blog today. WOOF woof WO-oof! That means Sheba, we have stamps too! We have two grandmas, one in the US, and one overseas, so we had to get two sets of stamps so that we can mail them. Only one of our grandmas uses email.
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The deer came to our backyard tonight. Chicco took a photo, but he's not the best at nighttime photography, so I had to manipulate it a bit on the computer. It looks like we have nightvision goggles, doesn't it? Chicco told the deer that they should come back in the spring when Papa' plants tomatoes. They agreed, but in the meantime decided to use the garden as a salad bar. Chicco is going to be in so much trouble when I tell Papa'! --Marcello
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Look who I caught walking in our backyard.
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Today Mom's law school friends came over for a little party. Two BIG doggies came too, but we barked enough to scare them away. But, Papa' got tired of us barking and locked us in the bedroom. Woof woof! At the end, though, we got to hang out with Renata. How come Mom never takes us to the law school? We used to go to the hospital with Papa', sometimes go to work with Mom, but have never gone to law school. Tomorrow we start doggie school, which I bet is going to be more fun than law school anyway. WOOF WOOF!
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I am not happy! I don't like taking baths! I don't like cucumber shampoo! I don't like Mom very much today. When is Chicco going to get his?
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What is she doing to Marcello? And why is she wearing those socks?
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Waaaah!
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This is a photo of us when we found out about the cucumber shampoo.
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Fear of cucumbers

Mom is really into cucumbers these days. She has been wearing green all summer. She eats them, she has cucumber candles, and there's even talk of cucumber sorbet. Well, now I'm really worried because there is cucumber doggie shampoo on the way to our house. What?? Can you believe this? She is going too far. I don't want to smell like cucumbers. I like to smell like stuff I find to roll in the the backyard. Please call the FDA, or the Pet-DA! Marcello

I am against baths generally. Chicco

We want to go outside on the deck! But it's nice to sit here with mom drinking the coffe.
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Scary

Marcello: We moved to our new house. It's right next to the forest, and I want to go play in the forest and look for squirrels, but Mommie and Papa' won't let me. They are worried about coyotes. Daddy is making us a fence and Mom says we can't be alone outside even after the fence is finished... That is no fun at all. Plus, there is all this talk about doggie school where we will have to learn to come 100% of the time when called. I much prefer coming when I feel like it, not every single time Mom or Papa' happens to say Marcello. Blah!

Chicco: Our new house is great. Don't let Marcello's attitude fool you. He loves looking out the window at the hummingbirds coming to the feeder. I, for one, love running around the deck and Daddy is building me a playpen in the backyard! There are these mean dogs in the forest, so I stay away and Daddy will keep me company outside in the backyard playpen. Do you know he is really good at playing fetch? Grumpy Marcello also forgot to mention that he has a new squeaky toy.