He's growing up so fast...

One of the unexpectedly gratifying parts of owning this dog so far has been watching little improvements in his behavior every day. He was never a bad dog, but he was (and still is) pretty timid and not exactly a social butterfly. So every time he does something new and fun it seems like his true personality is coming out more and more.
Banjo is at his most excitable in the morning. As soon as he hears our alarm go off, he trots into our room and sits on the floor to watch us. We usually "snooze" ten or fifteen more minutes, but as soon as the first foot hits the floor, Banjo declares it playtime. Toes get licked, pajama bottoms and blankets get pulled, and he spins around in circles over and over.
We took a long walk to the dog park after breakfast this morning, and there were only six dogs there, which was great for Banjo. After lingering on the edges for a little while, one particularly friendly dog lured him into more spirited play, which eventually escalated to Banjo tearing around the dog park as fast as his little legs could carry him being chased by the entire pack of dogs. It had been raining all day, so it was an absolute mud pit and all the dogs were skidding all over, and were covered in mud. He had a great time - he was jumping and playing with all the big dogs by the time we were ready to head home. He also stopped and visited with all the other people there - he loves to get petted.
We walked home via the busiest road in this area, El Camino Real. We had tried to take him on that road once before and only managed to drag our little wide-eyed terrier about a half a block before giving up. He really hates cars - probably a big part of the reason he survived as a stray long enough to get caught and taken to the pound. Anyway, we walked 5 or 6 blocks on El Camino, and Banjo only balked twice. He's clearly learning to trust us, which is really fun.
Anyway, that's the update for now. Tom put together a cool collage of new pictures of Banjo we thought we'd post. You can see his favorite sock, his first bath, and even a picture of his cousin Lucky. Fun days!!