The Backseat Pug 5 or The Road to Absolution is Paved with Toys II

It's official: Oliver has truly become the Backseat Pug. He had a birthday yesterday, and I completely forgot. Come to think of it, I also forgot Oliver's birthday the year before. And the year before that. But in my defense, I forgot my own birthday last year. And as for the year before, I was in the throes of planning my wedding, so I was hard pressed to remember anything at all. So I guess this means that either Oliver has always been the Backseat Pug, or that I'm suffering from early senility.

To make up for my forgetting Oliver's special day, I did what any mother would do: I bought back his affection with toys. You may recall that I used a similar tactic last week when I bought my way back into Benjamin's graces following an agonizing blood draw. This time, I went to the local mommy mecca (Target!), and purchased a bag of Oliver's favorite treats and a new toy. I'd also originally planned to buy him this cute Halloween costume, but then decided against it after realizing that was more a gift for me than for the Pug. Anyway, Oliver seemed to enjoy his belated birthday presents, and all was forgiven. At least that's what I told myself.

Perhaps Oliver can find some comfort in the fact that there is one member of the household who always pays attention to him. In fact, he pays attention to him so much that he's adapted one of the Pug's more distinctive mannerisms: snorting. Here is Oliver...

And here is Benjamin...

As they say, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery!