Can't spell clover without l.o.v.e: 2014

This post is dedicated to this guy

The turtle formally known as Toby.

Toby is great. He has officially made it in our household for 1 year!!

Here is my disclaimer for this post, lest everyone who reads it think I am a crazy turtle freak. I know that no one cares about the things that he does enough for me to put them on my instagram or facebook. Thankfully I have some self-awareness. However, 1/2 of the pics on my phone are of this guy because he's so weird. This is where I will share them with the world.

This is him when we got him 1 year ago (RIP hair :( ).

Look how tiny he is basking away!

We've had some good times with this guy over the last year.

There was that one time we took him to Idaho in a tupperware container.

He stopped eating for like 3 days after that so I don't think car trips are his "thing"

Or small tupperware boxes, for that matter.

Toby is a very interesting pet. We can't really play with him or we could die from Salmonella as shown here:

Trying to avoid nuzzling him is almost impossible (sarcasm).

But we sure do like to watch the weird things that he does! And they are frequent.

Here's a little background (and also everything I know about turtles): Turtles require a lamp of some kind in their habitat to regulate their body temperature. That's why our little guy will climb on top of this rock and do really weird things. It's awesome.

Here are Toby's top 10 poses:

10. The "Your Majesty"

What a majestic beast.

9. Arms in, legs out, aka the "Prepare for Takeoff"

And a close up

8. The Houdini

Another variation: The "Risky Business" (how does he stay on??)

7. The "Sunbather"

6. The "Legs in the Air Like you Just Don't Care"

5. The "One Legger"

4. The "Defying Gravity"

3. The "Loch Ness Monster"

2. The "I'm a Human"

1. The "Tiny Dancer"

Is he cool or what?? Now for some videos that I love.

(That others may find boring-sorry)

He takes after me in his zeal for life- and food. Toby can be best described in this video as "hangry"

Pretty magical to watch him respond to my voice by losing control of all muscle control.

Watch him as he drinks and twitches uncontrollably at the same time.

Watch him climb up his rock!

He is truly a 5-star animal. While I wish he was still as little as the day we got him and a little less dinosaur-like, he still earns his keep around here and is a great addition to our house (or now, to our backyard).