Christmas 2012

Here are a few shots from the Christmas with the Lodwigs.

Christmas this year was fantastic. We had a long stretch of family and friends and great events. Frankly I'm amazed we made it through. Zoolights, Jackys and the Garcia-Cabales, a HUGE Scheuer Family Christmas (we did it a day early so everyone could come...and boy did they), a Minnie-Irving-McEvoy Christmas Eve, and a very long and relaxing Christmas day at Grandma and Grandpa's.

The Wizard of Oz loomed large this year.  Somewhere around October or so Anya got the Oz bug, which gave Amy enough time to make her a Dorothy dress giving us two months of explaining why there were little scraps of gingim fabric being tracked around the house and eaten by the dogs.  And since Grandma Lodwig has managed to make it to 2012 without ever having seen the Wizard of Oz, we bought the DVD and sat around at their house watching it Christmas day.  The crowning achievement had to have been when we checked on Anya last night we was cuddled up and sleeping on her Dorothy Dress like it was her new lovey.

Anya was into all things stuffed this year, asking for a stuffed cat (received) stuffed dragon (received) stuffed angel (asked for too late - not received). She theorized that the reason her new dragon's nose was shorter than her old dragon's nose was that she asked for it late and Santa didn't have time to make a longer nose.  That made us chuckle.  She also got a veritable driftnet of stuffed sea life from her uncle Matt which she adored.

Her other favorite was the Ant farm. She kept jumping up from the dinner table, "I need to check on my ants!"  We had to remove it from her room last night so she would sleep.  She's also convinced that the direction of their tunnels are guided by their desire to be close to her, so that if she turns the farm around they will switch directions and start burrowing back toward her. 

We told everyone that she was into dragons and cats this year, Danielle managed to find a book about a dragon and a cat which was awesome.

Anya looking forward to digging into the gingerbread house her and Amy made. 

 

Zoolights at Woodland Park Zoo. 

The best part about Zoolights was the indoor snow ball fight at the Zoomaseum.  This short video gives you a tiny taste of the chaos that ensued.

We bought the Dogs some new Elk Antlers, an "indestructible" chew toy (which Copper has already destroyed) and a dog cookie.  Anya wanted to write the "to:"  and "from:".  Seems Dogs ends with an S, and Humans with a Z.

She was really into Peter (her Elf on the Shelf) this year, going so far as to talk to him and leave him notes to bring to Santa. She cried when he went home to Santa and she told us this morning that she misses him.  Here we see him whiling away the time hitting on a mermaid.

The big hit of the year was of course The Dorothy Dress Amy made.

 

Dorothy at Grandma and Grandpa's. 

And last but not least Grandpa trying not to cry while reading "The Carpenter's Gift."  He did better than I would have expected.  I think he took strategic breaks to point out pictures to Anya when his eyes welled up.  Well played Grandpa...well played.

Anya and dad write their first song together

Anya asked me this morning why the song Jingle Bells was the way it was.  So I decided to teach her how songs are written. 

I started with:
"What mood are you in?"  "Happy"
"What are you thinking about?"  "Christmas"
"What does that make you think of?" "Santa, Candy Day, Angels, Elves... Angels getting prizes.  Sea Shells (because they're pretty)"

From there it progressed with my asking questions such as, "What are the Angels and Elves doing? Where is this all happening? How fast should this song be? Etc..."  Here is the song Anya came up and I wrote down (with as little input from me as possible): Merry Christmas!

Pegasus Running

At Swan Lake
The prettiest angels run a race
To win a prize
And everybody wins or at least ties.

At Swan Lake
The elves use wands to make
rainbows pretty as sea shells
Sparkling with Jewels

[Double Time]

At Swan Lake
A bad man sets traps on the hill
and the elves and the angels all get trapped
And miniaturized but not Peter!

[normal time]

At Santa's Workshop
Peter Finds scissors and frees them all
From the trap
But they are still miniaturized

Fall Parent-Teacher Conference

This morning, I had Anya's Fall parent-teacher conference. She's doing well developmentally and enjoys going to school. The director and her teacher think the transition to Kindergarten in the Fall will be seamless (I, on the other hand, will be a blubbering mess). I guess the only thing that surprised me a bit was regarding her social-emotional development. They said she is highly advanced in how she deals with other kids, especially when problems arise. That she can always articulate her feelings and ask for what she wants or try to work toward a solution (example they gave: "You hurt my feelings when you xxx. I'd like you to apologize."). I have to say, as her mom, I don't see this behavior all that often. Yes, she can tell us what she's feeling, but she doesn't often deal well with the problem in the moment (usually, later on after she's vented emotionally for a bit). Perhaps we can attribute it to her feeling comfortable enough to let go and break down when she's at home.

We spoke a little bit about Kindergarten and our options. They believe (as do we) that Anya is adaptable and will likely be "fine" whichever school we choose. Chris and I decided recently to give public school a try. If it doesn't meet her needs, then we will look again into private. There was one private school in particular that we love. Unfortunately, it's over $16k per year...while public school is free(ish). We are down to two schools on our list and I'm sure I'll agonize over that decision all Spring, since that's how I roll.

Anyway, here's the conference write-up. Grandparents, click on the image to view a larger version.

5 year update

I'm a bit behind in posting the now-yearly kid status update. We've had a very busy few weeks with birthday, Halloween festivities, birthday party, and then trip to Disneyland. It's nice to take a breather.

Anyway, 5. We went for Anya's well-child visit today. She's doing great. Doc says she should drink more milk (I disagree and think her calcium intake is just fine without 3 cups of milk. I didn't feel like an argument, so I smiled and nodded). She took her vaccines very bravely, so we went to Menchie's Yogurt (a recommended source of calcium!) as a treat for being so well-behaved for the visit.

Weight: 38 lbs (25-50%)
Height: 42.25 inches (25-50%)
BMI: 14.97 (25-50%)
BP:93/59, HR:94
Vision 20/25 both eyes; hearing: pass

General Interests
This seems to be the Year of the Dragon (last year was year of Rapunzel, before that Little Mermaid, and before that, Jungle Book). She's really been into dragons ever since she watched How to Train Your Dragon. Imaginative play often involved dragons, she was one for Halloween, has a stuffed one, etc.

Besides dragons, Anya still like cats. That creeps up in imaginative play often as well (Monster vs Cat is still a common game of pretend she makes us play). Faeries are still popular. Any animals, both real and stuffed.

Anya likes science in general. She's mostly into zoology and natural sciences...but really, it all interests her. She just got a kitchen science kit for her birthday this afternoon and went nutso over it.

Not surprisingly, she still has a love for gymnastics. Recently, she was moved to the advanced group. She fits in well skill-wise and is happy. It's something she looks forward to every week. She's fantastic on the balance beam. She's also strong on the bars - such upper body and core strength and can easily do anything the teacher asks of her. Best of all, she's having a blast.

Skills Development
Reading is going well. She's sometimes very interested in it; other times, not at all. We're still trying not to put any pressure on her to read. It has been something extra on her reward chart this year -- 15 words and she can earn a bonus star. Chris and I talked about it and are going to stop doing that...it might still be a form of pressure and we want reading to be enjoyable for her. She can read any short to medium, uncomplicated words. She's also learned a few sight words, just from coming across them enough times. Today I noticed a little developmental jump. We were at a coffee shop and there was a semi-transparent sign facing the parking lot. She noticed it from inside and read the words, even though they were backward.

Anya can count to 100 (has been able to for a little while I think). Yesterday, we were counting cards and, on her own, she started counting them by two's. She also counts by tens. And there's some rudimentary math she gets.

Misc.
Anya's final year of preschool is going well. We just decided to knock her down to 3 mornings at Sweet Pea Cottage instead of 4. 4 seemed like too much. She was acting possibly over-scheduled, plus this is my last year to be at home with her before Kindergarten. I want more Anya-Mom fun days. Besides Sweet Pea, she has been going Monday and Fridays for 2 hours at Roaring Mouse "Artists of the Heart" program. It's a class for kids entering Kindergarten next fall. It focuses on interpersonal readiness for elementary school. She loves it. And it's across the street from our house - bonus!

Anya's current favorite friends: Eva, Eloise, Natalie at school (although they fight often and their friendship is on and off), Ella F., Avi, Max (Carol and Shelly's grandson), Izzy, and Noelle.

A while ago we started giving her an allowance to teach her about money and trade offs etc.  She gets a dollar for every year, so now she gets $5 per week.  We use this when she wants something we don't want to or do think we should buy for her.  "Well you have your allowance honey..." This has made her a. stop bugging us for things b. forced her to make trade offs which will hopefully pay off for her in the future.  She's taken to it very well and seems genuinely please with the sense of empowerment it gives her. 

Still a good eater.  Not much to say here.  She's not as adventurous as she once was, but compared to most of her friends she's very easy to deal with at meal times.

One of the most interesting things about Anya is her well developed sense of reality.  She always seems to know when things are real or imaginary. For example at Disney last week, she didn't even bother meeting any of the characters because, as she put it, "they're just people dressed like the characters".  My favorite moment of realism/fantasy mix was while waiting in line at the Disney haunted house. There was a grave stone with a cat on it. With no previous discussion, she asked "Is there a pretend dead cat buried under there?" Like she new it wasn't real, but that it was a cat's grave, and that pretend cats would likely be buried under pretend grave stones. 

Anya's Suprise Trip to Disney Land

For Anya's 5th birthday, Grandma and Grandpa got a World Mark Condo in Anaheim, and we all went to Disney Land (thanks to a friend for generously gifting us some tickets to the park). Having been tricked by YouTube videos of tearfully surprised children (which I'm now certain were disseminated by Disney itself) Amy and I decided to surprise Anya and record it. 

Having tried to surprise Amy once before her coffee (the day I proposed to her) I should have been prepared for Anya's reaction to waking up early and having to deal with the "cleverness" of others.  In short the Miller/Lodwig girls don't take kindly to early morning surprises. 

Here is us breaking the news of our imminent Disney voyage to Anya. Note that she wants to go to school instead, despite the fact that it's not even a school day.



Moments after I stopped filming Anya began screaming and yelling that she didn't want to go.  She hid behind the couch and took off her shoes and threw them. 

We had to physically carry her in her PJs to the car and strap her down.  Her tantrum woke up our neighbors on both sides (and likely others we don't know of).

She abruptly stopped freaking out when she saw the Space Needle.  That moment sounded exactly like this: "WAAAaahhahaaa AahahahaA...Hey look there's the Wheedle and the Needle!"

After a brief discussion as to whether all red lights on all buildings were each a member of a vast wheedle herd (her theory not ours)  she was magically better. 

Here she is enjoying one of her favorite parts of any trip.



And Grandma and Grandpa Lodwig couldn't be left out of the awesome, "Let's surprise Anya" action.  And decided to surprise her at the Anaheim airport.  Anya is duly impressed as you can see.


It's funny how many people have a similar story.  Both Amy and I have told our parents that we didn't want to go to Disney Land (Brian and I wanted to stay on at Lincoln City Oregon, Amy wanted to keep hanging out at her grand parent's place).  I think Disney really means more to us than to the kids. 

That being said, the trip itself was great.

Anya was a total champ.  She never begged for anything, she didn't even spend all of her allowance.
She was charming to everyone we met.  And she genuinely seemed to enjoy herself and she really wants to go back soon.

Now that she's home she's been telling folks that her favorite things were the Dumbo ride, And the Jungle River Cruise.  She also walks around singing "In the Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki room, In the Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki room..."
 

Day #2 Disney

Today was day two at Disney. We went to Disney Land proper. Today we took a risk and decided not to come home in the middle of the day for lunch and chill time.
Worked great. Anya nearly fell asleep during the Enchanted Tiki Hut, but other than that it was great.
Anya's favorites today:

• Dumbo ride. She liked that she could make it go up and down
• The Tarzan Tree House. She ran through that twice and would have kept doing it if we didn't talk her out of it.
• Pirates of the Caribbean. It scared her and she demanded we do it again the moment it was over.

My vote for things she will remember forever:

• Chasing ducks. A lady gave her a bunch of Cheerios to lure the ducks in. This was a proud moment for me, because another girl was there, and she gave the girl a handful of cheerios with out the girl even asking. 
• A lizard she saw on a topiary horse outside of Small World, she asked me to catch it so we could bring it home.
• The Pinocchio ride. The Pinocchio ride didn't seem to effect her at all today, but I'm telling you it was terrifying, and she'll require therapy for some nebulous reason down the line.
• The Giant Door leading out of Toon Town She was very interested in this door and she herself theorized it probably lead to the dump. She really wanted to see the dump.

Door to the Toon Town Dump.

 

Anya on yet another Carousel

 

Anya and Grandpa getting onto "It's a Small World"

 

Anya takes the castle

 

Can't contain herself

 

Anya's favorite ride, Dumbo.

 

Day 1 at Disney Land

Today was our first of two days at Disney Land. Actually today we were at California adventure. It rained the second half of the day, but that didn't slow a bunch of Seattlites down.

Things Anya loved:
Areal's Under Sea Adventure. We went on that twice. It was surprisingly cool, and we all liked it too.
Toy Story Mania was also visited twice. Dad was victorious on that one. Very cool ride/game.
The Aladdin show was very cool, singing and dancing and puppet elephants and camels. 
The giant Farris Wheel would have been cool except it was raining and windy while we were up there.
The Tuck and Roll (Bug's Life) bumper cars were lame. Anya is currently sitting on the floor telling grandpa how awesome the Heimlich Snack Train was. In her mind it is already much more exciting than it actually was.

Anya and a new friend climb the light pole while waiting for the bus to Disney Land

 

Anya on one of her favorites, a carousel (this was the King Triton Carousel)

 

Inside Arial's Undersea Adventure

 

Look up at Mikey's big Wheel of Fun or what ever it was called.

Anya the dragon

Amy made this! Anya is toothless the dragon from How to Train Your Dragon. Mom and Dad were Vikings which Amy also made.

5!

Happy Birthday, Anya! I can't believe you are already 5. My, how time has flown. I still clearly remember my pregnancy, the day you were born (there were a few very fuzzy, sleep-deprived weeks right after you were born where I don't remember much), and so many of your "firsts". Rolling over, sitting, crawling, walking, your first word ("kitty"), running, preschool. And now you're 5 and talking about your first crush - ack! (whose name is Marlowe, by the way. He's the charismatic "bad boy" at preschool. Of course). And you are so very much looking forward to Kindergarten and being a big girl. These past five years have gone by so quickly and you've grown and blossomed.

___

From what I can tell, you had a great birthday today. For breakfast, you got pumpkin-cinnamon swirl bread (Grandma B.'s awesome recipe), a present from us (a stuffed dragon and the first 3 books in the How to Train Your Dragon series, which went over very well) and then off to preschool at Sweet Pea Cottage. There, I came 20 minutes early bearing popsicles for your class and got to join you for lunch. Everyone sang "Happy Birthday". A little playtime after school on grounds, a little downtime at home (with a phone call from cousins Mia and Cole) and then Artists of the Heart across the street - with another round of "Happy Birthday". The weather turned gorgeous and warm-ish in the afternoon, so we had an impromptu playdate with several friends at Dahl park. On the way home, we stopped at neighbor Byron and Susan's house for a visit and birthday present. Phone calls with some grandparents. Special birthday dinner (requested spaghetti and meatballs). Opened a few presents and now bedtime reading. Phew! A very full day and I'm sure you're exhausted.

More Pre-Halloween

Here are some more pre-halloween 2012 shots.
They are a mix between pumpkin-pickin' at "The Farm" in Snohomish, and carving said pumpkins.
Anya is still a bit young to wield a knife, so instead we let her draw the faces and Chris carved them as faithfully as possible.

Spooky Art for Halloween

Pumpkin patch #1

Today we took Anya to her first of four pumpkin patches planned this year.
On the way home we stopped by Uff Da, a Norwegian gift shop in Stanwood. I was hoping to find a Viking helmet for a halloween costume. No such luck. Uff da - believe it or not - took it self a bit too seriously. But the shop owner gave Anya a hand made stuffed mouse her sister had made years ago and she was "looking for the right kid to give it to". Very cool.
All in all, a very good start to the pumpkin patch season.

Anya's understanding of Mom and Dad

Anya's understanding of Mom and Dad

1. Mommy's name is Amy
2. Mommy's hair is Black
3. Mommy's eyes are BLUE
4. Mommy likes to Spend Time with Me
5. Mommy is 50 years old
6. Mommy's job is To take care of me 
7. Mommy's favorite food Pepperoni Mushroom Pizza
8. Mommy carries Lipstick tissues and underwear in her purse
9. I love mommy because She Feeds me

1. Dad's name is Beady
2.  Dad's  hair is Brown
3.  Dad's  eyes are BLUE
4.  Dad's  likes to Hug me and play at REI
5.  Dad's  is 55 years old
6.  Dad's  job is He goes to work.  Boooriiiing! 
7.  Dad's  favorite food APPLES 
8.  Dad's  carries His Computer, cat food and dog food in case a dog goes to work with him. 
9. I love  Dad because he makes sure have enough money to have this house as long as we want.

Extra Credit: Why do we love you: Because I'm nice to you?

11 months of Kid Quotes for your skimming pleasure! 

See previous digest here

October 15, 2011 at 6:55 pm
Kid quote of the day: (apropos of nothing) Eloise, I want to tell you something:
Santa clause did not live at the same time as the dinosaurs.

October 22, 2011 at 10:26 pm
Kid quote of the day: [laying in the surf in Hawaii] I like everything about water.

October 23, 2011 at 1:58 pm
Kid quote of the day: [letting Hawaiian sand run through her fingers] This is tiny bits of coral reef.

October 23, 2011 at 2:33 pm
Seattle Kid quote of the day: [pointing at the rising Hawaiian sun] What's that huge red thing in the sky?

October 26, 2011 at 4:22 pm
Kid quote of the day: [after squealing an alert regarding the 6 inch centipede I pummeled in the cabin in Hawaii] I saved the day!

October 29, 2011 at 5:44 pm
Kid quote of the day: I'm like a mazombie. (That's how she says zombie for some reason)
Mom: How so?
Kid: I'm always hungry.

November 23, 2011 at 1:03 pm
Kid quote of the day: Dad: how did you get to be so funny?
Kid: I ate a lot of green food!

November 26, 2011 at 2:43 pm
Kid quote of the day: [trying to play a guitar Christmas ornament]
Dad: Hey don't play that ornament. If you want to play a guitar I'll teach you.
Kid: But this one is fake, I like the sound of fake.

December 10, 2011 at 3:56 pm
Kid quote of the day: [to a friend] I love you Ruth! [conspiratorially to me] Now she'll buy me a Christmas present!

December 11, 2011 at 3:09 pm
Kid quote of the day: [playing with mom's phone]
Mom: hey you never asked to use that!
Kid: Yes I did. But I asked very quietly.

December 13, 2011 at 10:37 am
Kid quote of the day: Dad you ruined my life!
Dad: How's that?
Kid: Making me wash my hands.

December 14, 2011 at 8:36 pm
Kid pun of the day: (those of you who know me know how happy this makes me)
Dad: we never got to talk over dinner.
Kid: Taco for dinner!?

December 15, 2011 at 10:40 am
Kid quote of the day: [Watching Go Diego Go!]
Diego: We've got to help save baby river dolphin!
Kid: Oh, She's fine.

December 20, 2011 at 9:18 am
Kid pun of the day:
Dad: ...I think her name was Patsy.
Kid: Phad See Ew!?

December 21, 2011 at 9:19 pm
Kid quote of the day: [regarding dream catcher] Dad: The dream catcher catches all your bad dreams and lets the good dreams through.
Kid: Does that mean bad dreams are really big?

December 23, 2011 at 9:44 pm
Kid quote of the day: Mom, when will Chad and Megan be here? Mom, when will Chad and Megan be here? (rinse, repeat)... Mom, when will Chad and Megan be here, the SUSPENSE IS KILLING ME!

December 29, 2011 at 8:40 pm
Kid quote of the day: I had a dream last night. I was trying to teach Ovi (friend from school) how to say trilobite, and he just wouldn't remember it!

August 8, 2012 at 12:15 pm
Kid quote of the day: Let's decide what to get mom for Christmas. What does she like besides Swedish Fish candy, hugs, and kisses?

August 12, 2012 at 9:05 pm
Kid quote of he say: [worried about Laika's too closely clipped claw] Laika could be dead by tomorrow.
Dad: Honey, no dog has ever died of a too closely clipped toe nail.
Kid: So Laika will be the first?

August 15, 2012 at 9:08 pm
Kid quote of the day - Blanchet High-school 20 year reunion edition:
The other day, when I was at the park with all of dad's friends from highschool except they were really old...(How funny are the kid quotes now, classmates!?)

August 20, 2012 at 9:02 pm
Kid quote of the day: [on final approach to SeaTac]
Dad! My ear farted!

August 20, 2012 at 11:16 pm
Kid quote of the day: [crying and gagging after I accidentally put adult toothpaste on her tooth brush]
You put alcohol tooth paste on my tooth brush!

August 28, 2012 at 8:06 am
Kid quote of the day:
Dad: Soon it will start getting dark before bed time and we can pull out the telescope and look at the planets!
Kid: Ooo! Can we see the rings and the spots on the planets!?
Dad: Yeah, I think our telescope is that good!
Kid: Ooo! Before that, can we play princess?!

September 1, 2012 at 10:04 pm
Kid quote of the day: [looking at the moon through the telescope] I can see the critters on the moon!
Dad: Those are craters honey.

September 14, 2012 at 8:08 pm
Kid quote of the day: [upon seeing a water skier going by at the lake] look it's a water walking man!

Evergreen state fair

The Lodwig family made our annual pilgrimage to the Evergreen state fair in Monroe last weekend.  This has become a tradition and it's a lot of fun.  The food leaves something to be desired, but as long as we don't combine it with the rides in quick succession we seem to make it out okay.
This was the first year Anya didn't insist on going on the ponies or the carousel, but she did insist on playing the fairway games.  She wanted to throw the darts at the balloons. A guaranteed loser if you recall from your childhood.  Anya actually won "Rainbow the Unicorn"...sort of.  Remember when we were kids and you would blow all your tickets trying to win something?  Now they sort of wink and nod and tell you exactly how much it will cost to "win" whatever it is the kid wants. Much easier on every one.  Giant Unicorn: $15.  An unjustified and un-earned sense of personal accomplishment: Priceless. And we get to put off explaining the inherent unfairness of life for at least another year.

Anya on the rubber-band assisted trampolines. This was her first back flip.

 Anya in the aquatic hamster ball. She still tells me she wants to do this one again. I have to admit I really wanted to do it too.

Anya petting a very cute piglet.  

Anya and "Rainbow" the unicorn checking out the stiff competition in the sheep show.

This funky little pigeon was called a "nun" because it was black and white and had a funny head dress and collar. (not kidding)

Another shot of the girl in the bubble.  She just wants to have friends like a normal kid!

Dr. Anya Lodwig DVM

A little bit of the day in the life of the Lodwig household now that we have two dogs and a precocious child.
I just found a cyst on Laika's face two minutes before this was shot (not much of a surprise since Laika seems prone to such things. Anya responded accordingly, and copper is helping out.

First Day of Preschool

Today marks the first day of Anya's final year of preschool. For fun, we did a little questionnaire with her. The unicorn is a prize she won at the Evergreen State Fair the other day. She's very proud of it. :-)

Copper

Last Wednesday evening, we got to welcome a new member to the family, Copper, a six (maybe 5, but probably just barely 6) month old pup.

The decision to get him was pretty much on a whim. The house felt a little lonely to me since Zahra passed away in June. I don't want to have another baby (adoption of an older child down the line, maybe) and we love dogs. The timing is good, since I'm still at home with Anya and will have time to train and be with a puppy. And Laika is still young enough to accept and play with a young dog.

We looked on petfinder.com and Copper was the one that jumped out at both Chris and me. We ended up getting him from Georgia Peaches Rescue, who were great. They rescue young dogs from Clayton County, Georgia shelters -- apparently, people don't spay/neuter their dogs there and there are so many puppies. They have one of the highest dog euthanasia rates in the country. Mister Copper was scheduled to be put down (I think) August 10th and was one of the lucky 6 dogs to be rescued and flown to Seattle. And we were the lucky family to get him.

We love having him. He and Laika get along beautifully. They were playing within seconds of their initial meeting last Wednesday and have been playing nearly nonstop ever since. He's a smart boy and is learning his commands easily enough and house breaking is going very well (knock on wood). I'm pleasantly surprised, as he's had zero training the first 6 months of his life. He's very sweet as well and has lots of puppy energy. He have no idea what breed he is and there are many opinions. We initially thought Rhodesian Ridgeback mix. Georgia Peaches thinks hound mix. Our vet and technician are guessing Boxer and German Shepherd. So, basically, a mutt. The guess is also that he'll end up being 45-50 pounds as an adult - so much smaller than Laika, but he can hold his own with her just fine, thankyouverymuch.

 Copper with the other lucky shelter rescues, getting ready to board the plane from Atlanta to Seattle.Copper is 2nd from left. 

Copper's petfinder pics. How can you resist that cute face?

At his foster mom, Amanda's place before we adopted him. Poor boy needs some fattening up. We're working on it.

The morning after Laika and Copper met, playing with all the dog toys they could find. 

 Anya with Copper, testing out his kennel.

 At Copper's first vet appointment with Maple Leaf Veterinary this morning.