13 weeks

13 weeks old brought his second trip to the vet for vaccinations!

This boy is getting big FAST.  Of course, we expected that, but we measure his growth weekly, and he has grown roughly an inch taller.  We weigh him weekly, and we have him at almost 44 lbs.  Paul joked that he isn't going to be able to hold him to weigh him on the scale much longer...

He is sleeping so much better also.  One morning I had to wake him up to eat breakfast (a true rarity, as this boy LOVES to eat his 5 cups of food daily)!

Jack is a little bit of a wimp, however.  We knew he was in the snow, who isn't?  But in the rain, you have to go outside with him, and even then, I have had to catch him by the collar a few times to keep him from running right back in!

This boy still believes himself to be a lap dog:

We hear this never ends, but secretly I love it!  

I brought Jack home a new toy the other day, Paul joked that I finally found a toy that made our boy look small!  

All in all, he has been such an amazing addition to our family.  Despite being huge, he is a cuddle bug.  He surely knows when we need extra love.  

Random side note: It feels good to be "mommy" and a new unique way too.  Paul will say "you left the room and he just stared at the door, waiting for you to come back.  He sure knows who his Mom is!"  Call it weird, but it feels nice to be loved/wanted/needed that way.  It is different than being a step-parent and I can only imagine it is somewhat closer to how it feels being a natural parent to children.  I think I needed that a little more than I thought... :)

Catching up, or attempting to catch up, on how fast he's grown!!



For starters, we know how big Great Danes get, that is why they were our breed of choice!  I don't think that we were prepared for how FAST they get that big.  We were warned that they do most of their growing in the first 6 months and so far, this has proven to be true!


 We got him at 8 weeks old and started these photos the next week...












We sure do love this big boy to DEATH though!! 

Meet Jack Walter Cooper, the teller of all Coopins stories...

Hello, friends and family, meet Jack! 


He is a blue, brindle, merle Great Dane. 


After a ton of searching, we found Jack (formerly Chevy) in Indiana, so we road tripped as a family of four to pick him up and bring him home when he was exactly 8 weeks old (February 21st)!


Here are the photos we saw that sealed the deal:





This is what Jack looked like when we picked him up:





He was such a good boy in the car, but was a little quiet and nervous.  Heoved sleeping on mommy's lap though.  He still thinks he is a lap dog, even though he doesn't fit very well anymore...


When he got home, it took him a couple of days to get used to the place.  He found a doggy door from the previous owners!  But he never quite fit....







Paul made him his very own dish.  Great Dane's can get 'bloat' very easily, especially if they don't eat with their heads at stomach level.


Jack's first few days home we had some excitement.  Reese had the flu and I stayed home one whole day, it was the first time he didn't have to be in the crate all day!





Also, myself Reese, and Cole took him to his new vet.  He is a friend of mine from running club, Dr. Harden at Clarke Animal Hospital.  Everyone there LOVED Jack, but he didn't love being on the leash.  He was very good though, even through the shots!





I think that catches you up pretty well.  Jack is getting better at going potty outside and letting us know when he needs to go.  He sometimes get left alone out of the crate for a few hours and does great! 









More posts to come pretty quickly, as this big boys growth is a LOT to catch you all up on, stay tuned!