Some Journey

Wild About Harry

Harry the Bearded Dragon arrived this morning. Joseph ran out to the FedEx truck in his PJs and bounced all the way back to the house alongside the delivery man. I gotta tell you, with apologies to the dog and cat people out there, there is just no puppy or kitten as cute as this little lizard. He is down right adorable. His little body is only about two and half inches long. He's about eight weeks old, and will grow fast, maxing out at around 2 feet nose to tail. One of the things that makes Beardies so endearing is the way they tilt their little heads when you talk to them, and we have enjoyed watching him respond to us. I have read that once they get comfortable in their environment, they are often known to wave "hello" when they see other beardies. I'm tempted to put a mirror in the tank just to watch. We were warned that babies are much more excitable and more difficult to hold and play with, but we have found him quite easy to handle, and I am confident that as he grows he will be a very satisfying pet to interact with. I have limited the amount of handling today, and will for the next several weeks because he is just so darn tiny that it wouldn't take much to squoosh him. Joseph did manage to hand feed him a mealworm. . .really half a meal worm because a full size one is too big for him. I couldn't bring myself to do it, cause after we cut them in half the legs kept moving and it creeps me out a bit. Joseph, on the other hand, stared at the food dish for a few minutes and said, "Can I please keep one of those as a pet, too?" The kid is just not normal.

One other thing that cracks me up. We've always chuckled at Joseph because whenever he wants to know what size something is, he asks, "Is it bigger than your head?" Just one of his little "Joseph quirks". What is amusing about that is that as I've been researching lizards and their care, the primary rule of thumb when choosing food for your lizard is never to feed it prey that is bigger than it's head. So Joseph's rule of measure is right on in the herp world. I suppose that shouldn't surprise me.

Chugga chugga

Noah has recently started talking in his sleep. Now, I'm not really surprised. I have had other kids and they have all gone through some sort of talking/walking in their sleep phase. Sam walked in his sleep a lot. We never knew where we would find him in the morning or following a nap. One time shortly after potty training, he walked into our room, peed in the trash can, and went back to bed. Didn't remember it at all the next day. And one time he came running in to our room at 3 am, woke Stephen up and asked, "Dad! When is the next rodeo?!" then ran back to bed. Ethan actually did a phase about a year ago. He would knock on our door around midnight several times a week and ask random questions. *Knock knock* "What is the square root of 37 anyway?" "Mom, I'm starving and Ivan took all the matches."

But it just never gets old to me. Cracks me up every time. So I was delighted to hear Noah singing "Toot, toot, chugga chugga, Big Red Car!" at the top of his lungs the other night. Sound asleep. Tonight he had fallen asleep in our bed, and I was working on the computer. He had been asleep about an hour, and suddenly rolled over and started going, "chugga, chugga, chugga. All aboard. Chugga, chugga, chugga." For like two minutes. "Chugga, chugga, chugga."

Parenting is many things. But uneventful it is not.

Monty Python

Since I know Karen L. has been dying to meet him, and my blogging has been a bit sparse, I thought I'd introduce our latest family member, Monty. He's a ball python, and we agreed to babysit him for my cousin, Bill, a few weeks ago. But, what can I say, we got attached, and Bill was looking for a new home for Monty since he and his wife are on the road for a while, so Monty is now a resident of the Ethan and Sam's room. We originally had him in Joseph and Noah's room, but moved him to make room for the bearded dragon that Joseph is getting for his birthday. He plans to name him Harry ("Get it, Mom? Harry. . .Hairy. . .Beard. . .?"). I'll be sure to update.

Now, for those of you who are a little freaked by the idea of a snake for a pet, let me provide a little info that may explain why we're so much more happy with Monty than a dog. We only have to feed him a couple of times a month. A frozen rat is about $2.50 at Petco, making it around $5/month to feed him. He only poops once every 4-6 weeks. He doesn't bark at all. And if you know Joseph, you know he's most happy when he's with an insect or reptile. He has loved every second of his interactions with this snake.

One more thing: Ball pythons generally max out at around 4 feet. This snake is not going to mistake Noah for prey, so my kids are not endangered by him. We keep hand sanitizer next to the tank, and even Noah is already in the habit of immediately sanitizing after he handles the snake, so I'm not too concerned about salmanella.

And I really like him.

Television drivel

Haven't done an Alias entry in a while, and it seems it's time. The inevitible became official last night, as the tag line that went with previews was "Alias is going out with a bang. Last episodes coming soon."

Obviously, this did not come as a great shock to me. I had known (yea, and even hoped a bit) that this would be Alias' last season. So here are my hopes for the last episodes:
-MORE IRINA! I was so pumped. She was not listed in the TVGuide guest star credits, and I never saw it coming. I hope she will finish out the season, but I will be shocked if she does.
-I hope they cater to those of us who have stuck it out for five straight years and just give us what we want for the rest of the season. Basically, Irina MUST turn out to be good. She can be bad for the right motives, of course, but ultimately she loves Sydney and has done everything to protect her. Jack and Irina need at least one more toaster scene. MORE SARK. If we can't have Vaughn back, at least give us Will. But no more Francie. If she comes back again, I will be traumatized. MORE SARK. And we still need some answers: Vaughn's dad's watch? It can't be nothing. Rimbaldi's dna. Where did it go? And Sydney's stolen eggs? What was up with all that? Is Sark Irina's son? If not, couldn't we get just one Sarkney kiss before the series ends??
-Bring Weiss back, at least for the finale. He would want to see the baby, and it seems only right for him to be there at the end.
-Leave Sloan ambiguous. I really don't want to know if Sloan is ultimately bad or good. I think he is both, and that is what makes him such a great character. I don't want to see them completely resolve his character.
-Just for fun, I'd like to see the following scenario: Irina had an affair with Vaughn's dad. The result was, of course, Sark, making him *drumroll* Uncle Sark!! On both sides! Ha! 'rooby dooby doo!

And now for some LOST drivel:

WOULD YOU PUSH THE BUTTON?? It's driving me crazy. I think it's one of the more brilliant tv scenarios I've seen. It's so simple. But terribly complex. It is driving me crazy that they keep pushing the button. I would not push it. At least I don't think I would. I think I would figure we had nothing much to lose at this point, and there is no way I'm going to focus my life on pushing a button over and over when I don't even know WHY!!! It's a really great idea. All sorts of philosophical munchies to be had.

Androgeny

I know. I haven't updated in forever, and then this. It's pathetic. Hopefully I will soon be finished with all my Christmas prep and school activities for the kids and etc etc, and I'll make it back online. When that happens be prepared for an onslaught of photo updates. Til then, ponder my androgeny. I can't say I was surprised by these results. I've never been very good at being a girly girl (No, Karen, I would not have made a very good debutant :) ). I also took several tests a while back which compared left/right brain dominance, which I think would be similar to the results of this type of quiz. In one I scored 48% right and 52% left, another I scored 51%right and 49% left, and a third said I was equally left/right brain dominant. Maybe that's why I'm so confused all the time. The pasted html for the results is weird and has way too much empty space, but I do not feel like messing with it to get it right.

Androgynous You scored 53 masculinity and 50 femininity!

You scored high on both masculinity and femininity. You have a strong personality exhibiting characteristics of both traditional sex roles.