Anna's Soapbox

What the heck do babies dream about? Lazarus makes the most dramatic faces as he's dropping off into sleep - even in his first days of life he cycled through facial expressions, from smiles to grimaces to sad little frowns. Now, he'll sometimes make his crying face and even whimper - what the heck could he be dreaming about? Here's my gander:
-Baby Lazarus to Psychoanalyst: Mom popped the bottle in my mouth - and it was EMPTY!
-Psychoanalyst to Baby Lazarus: And how did that make you feel?
...
And sometimes he smiles and almost giggles in his sleep -- is he dreaming of ducks, like his mama does?

A fish story: as I was feeding the frogs this morning, I noticed that one of the tinfoil barbs in the tank was missing. Head count -- Frogs: check, check, check, check. Plecostemus: check. Tinfoil barbs: check, check... #3 was nowhere to be found. Not even a carcass; nary fin nor fishy eyeball plastered to the filter intake. Could one of my beloved goofy frogs have eaten it? The frogs were delighted at the feeder fish and ghost shrimp Antonio put in there a while back, but we put the barbs in as companions, not snacks, and figured they were big enough to evade their amphibian tankmates. I guess Xenopus laevis (a.k.a. African clawed frog, a.k.a. Spike, Sparky, Lucky, and Cartman) are more aggressive (and have even bigger mouths) than I thought... so what to do with the remaining two barbs? It's not like we don't have another tank to put them in -- maybe I'll put the barbs in Antonio's big tank and put the big mean ol' Goby in with the frogs. He's taken out whole schools of tetras - he'll give those frogs something to think about if they go after him.

Okay, so back here in grownup-land - yeah, I've been spending way too much time here at home. Laz and I spent a lovely afternoon in Seal Beach with auntie Sandy, who gets big smiles from Laz every time we see her. My back is still hurting a lot, but I was more mobile today, and the cool ocean air was a great relief from the heat. To celebrate being sprung (temporarily, at least) from house arrest, I scarfed on onion rings, a green chile (Garden) burger, and a chocolate shake. Laz smiled a lot and charmed many, and was a wonderful companion - what a great little guy. No, no pictures today - I'll get some tomorrow.

Antonio's update from the road: made it to Denver last night; stayed up till 4 a.m. talking with cousins; it's dreadfully hot there....

Grandma (Laz's, that is) comes to town tomorrow night! Yay!!!