More Cute Puppy Pics (and Hannah too, of course!)

Above photos:
Top: Mel (far right) with some of his brothers & sisters
Center: Jazz and Mel's mom (left) and dad (right)
Bottom: Hannah and Jazz

The puppies are really settling in here. Hannah is slowly learning that she really CAN'T leave her toys, stuffed animals, or shoes on the floor, because to Jazz and Mel, everything is a new toy for them to chew! They are also learning to pee and poop outside. Every so often we come upon a "surprise" of the liquid OR solid variety; fortunately, no one has yet stepped on one. That can be a nasty surprise, especially in the dark, in bare feet (you may recognize the voice of experience here!).

Hannah is so proud of the puppies - she wants to show them to everyone. She also wants to take them with us everywhere in the car. I've been resisting the "everywhere" part. When we take them, we put them in a dog crate in the back of the Outback, and they tend to turn it into one of those "cage fighting" venues. They don't hurt one another, but the noise can be unbearable - they sound really fierce when they "play". It's really probably too small for both of them to be in one crate, but a bigger one won't fit back there. We can't just let them loose in the back because they refuse to stay in the cargo area, they want to be up with the people. I hate to hear Hannah yell, "No, puppy, NO!", and look in the rear-view mirror to see a puppy climbing on her head to get into the back seat. We're planning to get one of those grilles we can put up between the back seat and the cargo area like we did with our last station wagon. For now I've been putting them in a crate together at home when I go out. No way am I trusting them loose in the house!

Last Friday Hannah had her pictures taken for her dance recital, which is in June. The costumes are actually not that bad - nothing I would wear (ha ha!), but they don't look too trashy. Her teacher sent all the parents an email telling us what kind of makeup (blush, mascara, eye shadow, and lipstick) they recommend for the photos! I told Hannah she was already beautiful without makeup. I can't imagine putting makeup on four year olds - this is not one of those child beauty pageants, after all! They're dancing a tap routine to the tune "I'm Coming Out So You Better Get This Party Started". I don't know what their ballet routine is. Of course, I will be videotaping it, and taking lots of pictures. Raw talent on parade, I'm sure! It will be funny to see if they can all kick their feet in the same direction at the same time.

Here's a picture of Hannah and her friend Jenna (who's also from China) trying on their costumes for the first time before they got their pictures taken):