Howard: 1, Table: 0

I was minding my own business, sitting at the dining room table, when I saw something outside that caught my eye.  I wasn't the only one who saw it.  "Do you see what Howard's doing?" asked Chad.  "He got up there all by himself, look!"

Howard had been banished from the house about 5 minutes earlier.  We had someone coming to give a landscaping estimate and we didn't want Howard losing his marbles and barking like crazy since Charlotte had just gone down for a nap.  He may be small, but his bark could wake the dead.  Anyhow, we have a large baby gate that we put up across the deck so he can roam freely up there (we don't have a fenced in yard).  He was not happy, since he knew he was being locked up because there was someone coming over and really, how does one bark effectively when one cannot see who is coming?

So Howard was outside and Chad and I were in the kitchen and dining room, respectively, waiting for the landscaper and cleaning up.  There are windows in both rooms that give a clear view to the back deck, and this is what we saw:

Banished me, huh?  Well, I'll just show them who's boss.  I'll just go ahead and SIT ON THE TABLE.  They think they've tricked me into laying on this wooden deck, but noooo Sir.  I am on the table.

 Aaackk, she sees me.  Ok Howard, be cool, be cool.  Just turn away and try to stretch away from her juuust like....that.  Good, good, keep stretching, she won't be able to see you anymore....

I think she's gone.  Turn slowly, slowly....
 
Shoot.  


I'm kind of out of ideas at the moment.

Ok, ok, maybe if I just get up and hide...Yes, genius.

 
 Good hiding, Howard.  It's like Where's Waldo, only if Waldo wore a totally different outfit and there was no one else in the picture.  I love that he knew he wasn't supposed to be up there enough to hide but that he also wanted to up there so badly he tried everything in his power to get away with it.  Look at those legs--they're about 3.5 inches long on a good day and he can jump effortlessly onto anything.  Our bed is pretty high off the ground--higher than Henry could ever jump, despite his greatest effort and a running start from the hallway.  We figured we were safe with Howard, but not so.  He was just a few months old and all of a sudden one evening, he just appeared on the bed.  I think he'd been staking it out for awhile and would practice when we were gone.  I'll know Howard's age is catching up to him when he can no longer jump onto inappropriate things.  You know, like my patio furniture.

I hope you enjoyed today's episode of "Howard's Greatest Hits."

Have a great weekend!

~Stacy