Wednesday, June 22, 2011

baa baa black sheep

"one for my master, one for my feet..."

Sunday, June 19, 2011

Goldie and Goldy

We have two goldfish now. Right now, they are facing each other like two police cars in conversation. Maybe they are sleeping.

Pictures and pictures and pictures to come -- Max and LIA are a formidable pair -- but until then, Here is the story of Goldy.

After a month of exploring his new home, Goldie needed a friend, so we headed to the pet store. We got a lovely little goldfish named Paulie. Paulie was in the tank with the legions of small goldfish, the ones advertised as food for people who keep fish-eating fish. Maybe an early death was in the cards for Paulie, though, because I came home for lunch and found Paulie lying still at the bottom of the tank, next to the tree stump. Was it was the stress of the move? Maybe he thought it was his time, since that's what happens to fish from that tank. Could Goldie have...? No,not Goldie. I gave Paulie the traditional goldfish burial.

When I picked up Max, I broke the news to him and offered to go to petsmart to get another fish. He took it pretty well, and off we went. As it turns out, we had a filter issue that was mucking up the water. Goldie, being a carnival fish, adapted to his environment and soldiered on. For poor Paulie though, used to the pristine pet store waters, it was too much. So we looked for a hardier goldfish. Goldy was bigger than Paulie, and very fast. It took the sales associate a full few minutes to catch him. We took him home, fixed the water issue, and he's been adjusting quite well since then.

His name is Goldy (just Goldy, mind you. no designations like "other" or "2nd" allowed). Max named him Goldy because, according to Max, "Paulie is a girl's name." He didn't specify a spelling for either so Goldie and Goldy it is. We can tell them apart.

Saturday, June 18, 2011

"I gotta tell you something!"

Lately my Facebook feed has been virally dominated (mostly among nonparents, funnily enough) by Samuel L. Jackson's reading of the new fake children's book, Go the ___ to Sleep. It's a funny book that does touch a nerve about the frustrations of "bedtime battles." It's really too profane to even link. But we've all been there. Here are some classic Max sleep-fighting quotes.


"Snails don't have arms. or feet. But they do have backs."
"Beetles are different from lightning bugs because lightning bugs have a light in their tails"
"I'm hungry."
"I'm thirsty."
"I miss Alex."
"Can you tell me the story about the tornado and the fire tornado?"
"I need to give [sleeping] L.I.A. a kiss and a hug."
"I'm making Teddy a new home."
"I made you a present."
[pries eyes open with fingers] "I can't close my eyes, I'm like a goldfish!"

I don't know Max. As a grown up, I have learned to appreciate the priceless gift of sleep. Maybe you will too one day. Your thought process is amazing though.

pictures coming soon!

Friday, June 3, 2011