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Enter Gregor
Fortunately, Merritt’s stomach bug appears to be done. I type this with caution, however, because he surprised me Tuesday morning when he woke up, happy as a clam, and I picked him up. He promptly vomited all over himself and me. He seemed hardly to notice, though, and his appetite was alright the rest of the day, so we don’t know what that was all about. He has been eating normally for the last few days, at least.
Aside from the kids going back to school with mixed feelings, this weekend marks 6 months since Avey got her fish. He’s still alive, so per our agreement, she has graduated to small mammals. She spent some time reading up on the needs of gerbils, mice, hamsters, and even rats, before finally settling on a dwarf hamster. Yesterday, on a shopping trip, she found a cage that was to her liking, so we bought the little guy to go with it. She named him Gregor, after a character in a book series she’s been reading. He is a Chinese dwarf hamster.
Gregor hid as soon as we put him in his new mansion, but then quickly went out exploring. He even started eating his food almost right away, so we think he’s quite cozy in his home.
He’s so small, that just about everything he does seems adorable. For what seemed like a long time, we all just stood around the cage, watching every little move he made, saying, “Oh look!” He kept Avey awake last night, so we’re working out where he will stay exactly, but we’re sure excited to have him with us. Avey is learning great responsibility, modeling it for the boys (who are inheriting her fish), and we can bribe the kids to do things by offering to let them watch Gregor for a few minutes. We’ll see how long that lasts…
While we were enjoying our Saturday, we thought we would take the kids out to eat for their dinner. We piled in the car, and went out. It was dark, and our route took us through downtown La Grange. Hakan commented ecstatically to Kira, “Mom, isn’t that beautiful?” Kira and I laughed, and she responded, “Yes, do you like the lights?” assuming that he was referring to the lit up storefronts and lingering Christmas lights along the road. His entire demeanor changed from excited and elated to defiant and obstinate. “No,” he said, as if the lights were totally lame. We all chuckled at his change in tone, confused. Kira then asked, “Oh, well what do you like?” He remained defiant, and said, “Nothing,” as if he truly meant that nothing on this planet impressed him, ever.
We are excited for a day off tomorrow, glad that Dr. King had the courage to do all he did, and that the schools see fit to honor him with a whole day! It’s back to campus for me on Tuesday.