My Little Ballerina

Lily has been taking a 'pre-ballet' class for 3-4 year olds. The school she goes to is a pretty serious school and the focus of this class is to get the kids ready to really participate and learn when they are in the older classes. These girls are expected to pay attention and do what they are told and for a bunch of little ones it is pretty amazing how well they do! Parents are not usually allowed to watch the class so once a semester, they have an observation day. Here is some of what I got to see:

At home with Jasper

Jasper is doing well. He is a very subdued dog. He doesn't play much, he doesn't bark at all (unless we leave the house w/out him), he doesn't do much of anything. He likes to be near us and he likes to be petted and he LOVES to eat.

I think he is confused and missing his foster family. I hope that as time passes we will start to see more of his personality. But for now, I really can't complain...he doesn't try to get on the furniture, he hasn't messed in the house, he doesn't jump up on us or slobber all over us. He is very well behaved and that is saying a lot for a dog who was raised at the racetrack with very little human interaction.

We just have to be patient.

Not so Clueless anymore...

Nope. Now, he's Jasper. And he has arrived.

He spent the afternoon checking out the house, marking his territory outside, and destroying all of the squeaker toys we got him (he's really very skilled at this--goes straight for the squeaking part and rips it right out). He hasn't made a single peep let a lone a bark and is sleeping in his crate (with the door open) at this moment. He balks at our stairs but with good reason (I balk at them too--maybe he will be the impetus we need for getting those stair treads) and it will be interesting to see what he does tonight when we all go upstairs to bed (there is a nice cozy dog bed on the floor just for him...).

The kids love him and pretty much followed him around all afternoon. Noah keeps saying that it seems like he's only here for a sleepover and that he's gonna go home tomorrow. I wonder if that's what Jasper is thinking too. Well, hopefully in a few days we'll all have realized the truth: this is his 'forever home'.

BREAKING NEWS: Luke has successfully gotten Jasper up the offending staircase. Now to see if he will come back down.

INTERESTING TRIVIA: Jasper "means 'treasurer' in Persian. This name was traditionally assigned to one of the wise men (also known as the Magi, or three kings) who were said to have visited the newborn Jesus. It has occasionally been used in the English-speaking world since the Middle Ages. The name can also be given in reference to the English word for the gemstone."