Betta Watch Out!

Ever since she could talk, Avey has been asking for a pet. Because Kira and I are not really the type to keep pets, we told Avey that she would have to prove that she is responsible enough to take care of it. We set up the deal that if she could keep a plant alive for 6 months, then she could try a fish, then a small mammal, and so on, working her way up to whatever.

She finally passed the first round this week, so she is now taking care of a betta fish, whom she named “Gill.”

She’s been doing very well so far, keeping up a regular feeding schedule, and learning how to change the water. She’s also taught him a trick; she puts a little drop of water about half an inch above the water line, and then Gill watches it and jumps up to touch it, making the drop fall into the tank. She’s also had a great time decorating Gill’s little home. She may need to consider charging her brothers money to come view the fish – Merritt especially loves to see it, making the “fish” sign each time. 

A more depressing turn of events is Hakan’s napping, or lack thereof. He seems to want to transition out of a midday nap, but his body is just not ready. As far as his body is concerned, it wants to wake up around 6 a.m., nap around 1 p.m. for 90 minutes or so, and then go to bed at 8:30 or 9 p.m. We just can’t stand the thought of having him up that late, so we try to push his nap earlier, make it shorter, or sometimes he just wants to skip it altogether. So far, the result is that he has a hair trigger in the afternoons, and then bedtime looks like the high-security wing of a mental asylum. We’re sure that the whole situation is exacerbated by our weening him from the pacifier, but we dare not revert to that vice. 

Yesterday, Kira thought she would try taking Hakan for a drive to see if he would fall asleep in the car seat. Carver wanted to go along, too. Of course, what happened was that Hakan stayed awake the whole time, and Carver fell asleep for a few minutes. When Hakan went to sleep first that night, and Carver got a few minutes to himself before his normal bed time, he thought it was a really special treat. He went to bed at 7 like always, but said, “Wow, I got to stay up really late because of my nap!” I declined to comment.

Merritt is as adorable as ever. He has taken to shouting with glee, “DAAADAAA!” whenever I come home from my spurts of work at the library. He continues to mimic sounds, and shows clearer understanding of language with each day. Last week, he brought me one of his shoes, and I told him to bring me his other shoe so I could put it on him. He looked around to find it, and sure enough, brought it right over. Before we know it, he’ll be ignoring us entirely, just like his older siblings.

Kira had a call from another potential client this week, so we’re hoping to have that work out. I am doing my best to get out far ahead of the work for the coming semester, and my summer course is almost running itself. Otherwise, we enjoy the weather when we can.

#Happenings