Happy Birthday Duchess!

Duchess our Schnoodle was six years old yesterday; so, Hannah and I had fun baking and decorating a cake for the occasion.  She (Hannah, not the dog) likes helping in the kitchen and enjoyed "making a mess" as she called it.  The more flour that fell on the floor, the better she liked it.

When I took Hannah's picture with the finished cake, I said, "Smile."  She gave a big smile and said the cake was smiling too. 

I do think it was smiling. 

Especially considering its rough start.  (It crusted over too soon, and, like a volcano, burst open oosing batter out the side.)  There was nothing wrong with the taste, however.

Hannah and Duchess' relationship has grown quite a bit over the past year.  The first day we were all home together,  Duchess curiously investigated Hannah while Hannah screamed.  For weeks after that, Hannah would look at us and point to the dog as if to say, "Don't you know that thing is in the house?"  She eventually accepted that the dog was a part of the environment, but tried to keep her distance.  Here are a couple of pictures from our first month home.  Hannah had put on her red, squeaky Chinese shoes and poudly began prancing suqeakily through the house.  Duchess assumed that Hannah had a new squeaky toy and came ready to chase it wherever it went.  Hannah screamed and tried to get away, but wherever she went, the dog followed with great intensity.  Hannah didn't think it was funny (but it really was :).  We finally put the shoes away for a along time. 

Except for a little sibling rivalry, they get along quite well now.  Hannah helps feed Duchess every day and when we go off, she says things like, "Let's go home and see Duchess."  There is a little jealousy occasionally when she realizes that Duchess is sitting in Mama or Papa's lap.  Then Hannah says, "I want to sit THERE."  We tell her that she has to take turns with Duchess for two reasons.  First, Duchess deserves to have some lap time too, and Hannah needs to practice sharing before her future brother or sister comes home.  Eventually I guess she will accept her human siblings just as well as she has Duchess. 

We love you Duchess and hope you have many more birthdays to come!