Isn't she precious?
It all started 4 or 5 years ago with one of those promises we parents make without much thought, thinking whatever kid is involved will either forget all about it or else we'll worry about crossing the bridge when we come to it. . . Well, Ashley wanted a baby brother or sister. Many of her friends had baby siblings and all I heard for several months were questions about when she could have one too. It didn't matter that she already had a little brother, because they're so close in age that she was still a baby when he was born and she doesn't remember a thing about it.
So I promised her a dog. The deal was if she didn't have a baby brother or sister by the time she was ten years old, I'd get her a puppy. I never heard another word about a baby. Every statement from that moment forward went something like, "I can't wait until my 10th birthday when I get my puppy!" I heard this several times per month for a couple of years. She hadn't forgotten. She wasn't going to forget.
As soon as I realized this, I began researching. Ashley wanted a small dog that would stay sort of puppy-sized for its whole life. I figured puppy-sized compared to Stetson, our gigantic Golden Retriever, would be easy. She already had something in mind, though, and she called it a "poodle." My good friend, Carolyn, (and Ashley and Brandon's first-grade teacher) got a little white "Bichon Frise" and named her Daisy. Ashley loves Daisy with all her heart and thought she was a "poodle" because of her curly white coat. So she requested a poodle. After doing my research, I amazingly came up with a list of 2 (TWO!) breeds of small dog that were both friendly enough by nature to get along with our resident large-breed, and have a sturdy enough bone structure to hold up to hectic family life with three of not-the-gentlest kids (is that a nice way to put it?) And only one of them had a curly white coat -- the Bichon Frise. So I talked with my friend Carolyn, and told her the whole story. She said that she was considering breeding Daisy!!! We got the calendar out and counted backwards. As it turned out, Ashley's birthday would fall almost exactly to the week when the next possible litter of puppies could be adopted. Everything went right exactly according to schedule. Carolyn and I jumped up and down when we found a "husband" for Daisy. We jumped up and down when we found out she was expecting. All a secret to Ashley. Meanwhile, to throw her off track, I took Ashley to Petland and checked out a Maltese and a Westie. When Daisy finally got so huge, we couldn't keep the secret any more, Carolyn and I talked to Ashley after school. Ashley was so happy - just for Daisy - she was about to burst, and then we told her that one of the puppies would be her birthday present. The joy couldn't be contained. She was beaming. She was crying. She had to sit down. She hugged Daisy. She hugged Carolyn. I hugged them both. Ashley loved Steffi before she was even born.
The puppies were born the Saturday after Thanksgiving. There were three girls and two boys. I couldn't believe tiny little Daisy had 5 puppies! (where did she keep them?) Carolyn brought the puppies to school occasionally in December and then every day after Christmas break. We got to hold them and play with them every day. They were all adorable, but our puppy, Steffiann, was like the little lamb of the bunch. Plus she had the most darling little face with a nose perfect enough to look like it'd been swiped off a toy. What an Angel. We had planned to name her Steffy to go along with Steve, our box turtle, and Stetson, our Golden Retriever. But when we met her, she was so much less that perky A-type personality (though there's plenty of that in her) and more like a sweetheart "Mary Ann," so we just added "Ann" to "Steffy" and called her Steffiann.
What an adventure it's been these three weeks! Stetson wasn't quite sure what to make of her at first, but it only took a few days. He LOVES Steffi as much as the rest of us. It's very entertaining to watch them play together. He likes to go get a toy, dangle it in front of her, and then play "swing Steffi around" after she jumps up to grab it. Just in the past few days, they've been content enough to snooze together without picking a playdate.
Even our most pragmatic family members (Karlon and Brandon) have had their hearts melted by our little Steffiann. Her tail wags so fast you can hardly see it when either one of them enter the room.
Ashley is an excellent, responsible dog owner. She's been nearly 100% responsible for potty training, to the point of getting up at "opening yelp" at 7ish each morning and sometimes standing outside in her raincoat with Steffi on the leash. Those first few days when Stetson didn't quite know what to think of Steffi, Ashley kneeled down next to Stetson, hugged him and cried and cried and cried because she never ever wanted him to feel scared or sad or lonely. . . and there was no way she could tell him what she meant. I told her to tell him anyway. He understands more than you'd think.
So that's the amazing story of Steffiann. We're so proud of her! And I'm so proud of Ashley. She totally deserves to own the sweetest, cutest puppy in the world.
