Added a new family member....

Well, we adopted a puppy yesterday. She's this cute little, 8 week old, Samoyed puppy. We actually adopted her on Tuesday, technically, but weren't able to pick her up till yesterday, post-spay-surgery. It's also a good thing she's so adorable, because I'm honestly about to kick her butt if I spend another night with only 2 hours of sleep after listening to her wail and whine all night long (and honest to goodness, when she gets going, she sounds like a freaking emergency siren). She's, ironically, developed this attatchment to Bashy (our 7 year old, husky-chow mix male) and follows him around, attempting to do whatever he does, to the point of favoring her back leg when she sees him lift his up after being outside in the cold for a few minutes too long. She follows him outside, she follows him inside, she won't pee unless he's watching (well, not OUTSIDE the house, anyway, she's got no problem peeing inside the house, audience or not). *shaking head* She so badly wants to play with Bashy, but on the other hand, he's a middle aged dog who's rather mellow and has never been very playful. He doesn't quite know what to make of her. LOL

Got Tay's report card on Friday, and frankly it was pretty consistently bad news. She and her teacher agree, from different points of view, that Tay has a problem concentrating in class and that it's hampering her ability to learn. The teacher thinks that if Tay just tries harder, she'll pick up on the things she's missing. Tay seems to be of the opinion that the distractions of class-room-movement around her are too much to overcome at this point. And seeing as how things have gotten worse from first quarter to second, I'm inclined to agree with Tay. *shaking head* I'm trying to figure out if we've got enough $$ to check out Sylvan learning centers, my mom has recommended an Early Childhood Delay study, but I'm going to have a heck of a time persuading DH that this might be of some help (both in figuring out what's going on, and in getting Tay the help in school that she needs). But she's a smart kid, I just don't get why she's having such a problem. None of her past day-care providers, teachers, Drs, or other adults who've come in contact with her think she's ADHD (though there is a family history of this), and even her current teacher thinks it's a long stretch to say she's ADHD. She's proven she can concentrate, she just needs a smaller group of class-mates, and a quieter place to learn, I think. I don'tk now if that's a developmental delay, or what. *shaking head* So, I'm trapped between a rock and a hard spot: a child who's failing to thrive in an academic setting, and a husband and school system who are of the opinion that it's ok to wait and see what comes along naturally, rather than trying to intervene before things take a drastic turn for the worse, one that may not be re-directional. *sigh*

We had 1-1/2 days of nice warm weather, but by last night the temperature dropped drastically again, and we have been between -15 deg. F, and -35 deg. F. today. It sucks, and the forcast is for another 4 days of this kind of cold temperatures, which also means ice-fog again. Goddess, I hate that stuff!!!!!!! I'd rather see another 6 inches of snow, than ice-fog for the next 4 or 5 days.

Ok, that's it for now. Need to take the puppy for a "walk" again. Don't want any more accidents on the floor.

Blessings. --Kati