Didi showed Grandpa an issue of BIRTHDAY magazine, with a picture of wizard and dragon puppets on the front cover, and the words, BEST BUY FOR YOUR BIRTHDAY BUCK in red letters below. "And besides, do we want to be remembered as the family that settled for less?" asked Stu. I reached for the spoon. "Look out, Stu, or you'll get strained carrots all over your shirt!" warned Didi. I swated at the spoons, spilling the strained carrots, though thankfully, not on Stu's shirt. Stu gasped. "This isn't working!" he said. "Wait! I've got an idea!" Stu reached into his pants pocket and pulls out a rubber duck. He squeezed it, and it squeaked. "Oh, I don't know, Stu. All my books reccomend avoiding decoys." said Didi. "Trust me, Didi, you gotta let him know whose boss." advised Stu. I put the highlighter back in Stu's pocket. "Look over here, Tommy!" suggested Stu as he squeezed the rubber duck and it squeaked. Tommy giggled, then turned his attention to the TV on top of the bookshelf, which plays a commercial for HUSKIE'S CHOICE brand dog food. In the commercial, a white dog runs through the forest and up to his owner's house. The owner opens the door, and reveals that he has a can of dog food with the HUSKIE'S CHOICE logo in one hand and a dog bowl with the same logo in the other. When the bowl was full, I sat it down in front of the dog. "Huskie's choice. He'll run faster and jump higher. So good, you'll almost wish you were a dog!" said the TV commercial man. I smiled when I saw the commercial. The white dog in the commercial jumped and barks excitedly. I then looked down at Spike eating dog food from his bowl.] "Here's your chance, lunge!" said Didi as she walked away. I cooed and swatted the spoon, spilling strained carrots onto Stu's shirt. Didi walked back to him. "Oh, no! My favorite shirt!" moaned Stu. "Oh, dear!" said Didi. They walked away. I reached under my high chair and grabbed a screwdriver, which was taped under the tray, which I used to unbuckle the high chair belt and fell onto the floor. "I paid seventy-five dollars for this shirt, it's a Georgio Lorenti!" Stu said to Didi. "I know, honey." she replied. "It's irreplacable!" said Stu. "Oh, for the love of Betsy, it's just a shirt!" complained Grandpa. "You think the stain'll come out?" asked Stu in puzzle. I crawled towards Spike's bowl. "Oh, I bet it will if we get at it quickly enough!" suggested Didi. "Let me just get a sponge." "Hurry, Didi, hurry! Every moment counts!" said Stu in a panic. "Here, I'll just..." gasped Didi. "Ow, that sponge is cold, Didi!" cried Stu. I licked my lips as he saw the food in Spike's bowl. Before I can eat it, though, Lou picked me up and pulled me away. Grandpa: "Just a minute there, scout. You don't want any of that. Eee-yucko!" Grandpa carried me back to my high chair, and we both look down at the bowl of strained carrots. "What you want is some of the..." A bubble popped in the bowl of strained carrots. "I see your point." he said. Tommy cooed sadly and looked at Spike's bowl. The doorbell rang as Didi has finished wiping the stain off Stu's shirt. "I'll get it!" Didi walked up to the front door. She looked at herself in the mirror, then opened the front door. On the other side were Phil, Lil and their Mommy and Daddy, as well as my present in the latter's arms. "Hi, Howard, Hi, Betty, how are you?" Didi greeted them. "Swell, Deed. We are totally psyched for this birthday thing, aren't we, Howard?" she replied. "Oh, don't mind Howard, Didi." said Betty. "He's just a little frazzed on account of all these kids!" "I mean, the twins are enough of an armload, and today, we got little Chuckster!" "Hey, you think we could just pen these pups?" asked Betty. In the living room, I watched as Grandpa was on a ladder, putting up party decorations. "Puppet show for one-year-olds? Why, when I was a spud, we didn't have puppet shows!" complained Grandpa. "If we wanted entertainment, we went out back and pulled up stumps!" Didi picked me up as Howard walked in. Grandpa walked away, but Betty walked up to him. "Then we'd walk fifteen miles in the snow, to..." he said before he got interrupted, "Hey, there, old-timer! How the heck are you?" asked Betty. "I've felt better!" replied Grandpa. Just then, the sounds of hammering and drilling were heard "Is somebody excavating downstairs or what?" asked Betty "That would be Stu tinkering with his hovawhatsit down there in his workshop." answered Lou. He, Did and Howard all ran away. "The Hovawhat?" gasped Betty. Grandpa put up a banner that says, HAPPY BIRTHDAY in yellow letters. "Don't worry, you'll hear all about it." Inside the basement, Stu, who was holding a wrench, was working on the Hoverama. "Tommy's gonna love this!" Stu turned the mechanism on the hoverama with his wrench. Me, Chuckie, Phil, and Lil were all in the playpen. I was crawling, Phil and Lil were playing patty-cake, and Chuckie was playing with my ball, which jingled as it rolled. He then fell over. Didi, Betty, and Howard watched them as they play. "Frisky little critters, aren't they?" Phil and Lil stood up. Outside, Spike was heard growling. Chuckie, Phil, Lil and I all walked up to the window, and watched Spike as he growled and chewed on a teddy bear. "Uh-oh! Looks like Spike's gonna tear that thing's leg off!" Betty said. Didi walked up and stared in shock. "Oh, no! Spike, Spike, down, boy!" Didi, Betty, and Howard all ran outside. Chuckie, Phil, Lil and I all look at each other. "Chuckie, Phil, Lil, I got just one word to say to you." I said. "What?" asked Phil and Lil "Dog food." I answered. "I tried to get some from Spike's bowl, but Grandpa stopped me." I kicked my ball towards Chuckie, who picked it up. "Why would you want to eat that stuff?" he asked as he kicked my ball back to me. "Well, Spike eats it, and look at him!" I replied. "He can do antything he wants! He even gets to sleep in the flowers! Maybe, if we eat that dog food, we'll turn into dogs!" "Shoo, shoo! Get out of those flowers!" scolded Grandpa from outside. "You mean we could sleep in the flowers?" asked Lil. Spike jumped onto Lou and licked his face. "Down, boy, stop it! Stop it, Spike! Get off of me, you big galoot!" "And lick people?" added Phil. "And wear a collar with our names on it?" added his twin. "I don't know. Maybe it's not such a good idea." Chuckie finished. "Dogs don't have it so good. They always get fleas and junk." "Fleas? Let's do it!" We all walked towards the other end of the playpen, but stopped when we saw Didi and Betty. "Oh, I almost forgot to put on their little party hats!" she realized as she put a party hat on me. Chuckie then pulled on the hat on his head, as did Phil and Lil with the hats on their heads. "Those will stay on for, oh, three minutes tops!" said Betty. Didi took a picture of us with her camera. We all rubbed our eyes, then she took another picture. "Hey, isn't it time to bust the piñata?" asked Betty. "Let's wait till all the kids get here!" suggested Didi. We all removed our party hats. "Well, who's missing?" wondered Betty to Didi "Tommy's cousin, Angelica." she replied. "Oh, right, Angelica." realized Betty. Meanwhile, in the basement, Stu was humming as he wrapped my present. The Doorbell Messenger Robot popped out. "Doorbell, doorbell, doorbell!" it went. Stu rolled his stool up to the control panel, pulled a lever, and pressed buttons. A TV screen with a camera moved up to him, and the screen turned on, revealing Drew and Angelica to be at the front door. Drew was now holding the present. "Great, Drew's here! Hey, big bro! Hi, Angelica!" greeted Stu. "Where are you, Stu?" asked Drew. "I'm down in the workshop, working on Tommy's present." he replied. "Wait just a second, I'll be right up!" Stu shut off the screen. He then opened the front door and kissed Angelica on the forehead. Angelica giggled, then she and Drew walked in. "So, what are you working on this time?" he asked Stu. "I'm glad you asked me that question, Drew. One word; Hoverama!", a toy I invented for Tommy. It's got, I'm not kidding, three reverse fan thrusters, all mounted vertically, and then three on the back to turn the thing. Come on downstairs, I'll show you! I'm just now wrapping it up." We all backed away as Stu and Drew walk into the kitchen. Didi walked out, carrying a party hat and her camera. She put the party hat on Angelica, then took a picture of her. Angelica pulled me and Chuckie towards her and smiled, then Didi took a picture of all three of us together. Didi walked back into the kitchen, and I rubbed my eyes. "Um, um, hi, Angelica. Say, do you know anything about... dog food?" I muttered. "Listen up, Dummy. This may be your birthday, but when the presents are open, I get first dibs on the toys!" she threatened grabbing me by the suspenders of my overalls. "What about dog food?" I asked. "Tommy thinks if you eat some, maybe you turn into a dog." said Chuckie. "You mean I could wear a collar with spikes on it?" Angelica also asked to Phil. "And chase cats!" "And howl at the moon!" answered Lil. "Could I even bite the mailman?" wondered Angelica. Phil and Lil nodded their heads, "Yes" in agreement. Angelica then let go of the suspenders of my overalls. "Let's do it!" "Yeah, let's get some dog food!"