Some New Pets!

2 weeks ago, on Valentine's Day, Jayden and I had a little date to the pet store.  He wanted to just "look at some fish" and "maybe a shark" and "maybe a couple birds".  Which we did.  He also ended up staring longingly at the hamsters and got to hold a couple which promptly bit him on the finger and then he also got to hold a baby gecko.  We left the store empty handed, other than having some brochures on how to take care of your new pets, but Jayden was sure he knew what he wanted. 

We came home that evening to bring up the subject with Royal.  Royal an adamant pet-hater immediately said "No" and crushed the dreams of a poor little 7 year old boy.   I then used my Mom-influence to come up with a deal for Jayden to help him get what he wanted and it also provided Royal some time to get used to the idea that this was going to happen.  Jayden took sole responsibility for our dog over the past 2 weeks - way more work than the pet he wanted would take - but he did it.  Got up every morning and let the dog outside.  Fed him in the morning and the evening and also did "poop patrol" (cleaned up Sam's business from the yard).  Jayden also had to save his allowance to pay for the pet.  I told him I'd buy all the stuff he needed to go with it when the time came.

It is a cold and brutal weekend here and Royal wanted to run some errands early in the day on Saturday, and I figured it was the perfect time to stop by the pet store and pick up the new pet Jayden had proved he was responsible enough to take care of.  Willow also managed to get a new pet for herself.  :)

Here is Royal's face after the transaction.

I just laughed.  Royal kept saying that it wasn't funny.  I kept laughing.  I'm still laughing.  I'm good for Royal.  That boy needs someone to make him do things he doesn't want to sometimes.  Not everybody gets their way ALL the time.   :) hehehehehe

Meet Scurry, the Winter White Dwarf Hamster.

And Marshmallow, Willow's new beta.

Jayden picked a good one, I think.  Scurry was pretty calm after getting him home and didn't really bite people's fingers.  He let people hold him right away - even though the pet store told us to give him 2 days before we tried to handle him.  Willow's a little jumpy with him, so we put both kids in the (dry) bathtub and let Scurry run around in there, so Willow can play with him too without us having to worry about her squeezing him or throwing him across the room on a reflex.   We can't afford to let Scurry get out of his cage, because we have a very serious predator in the house.  I caught Scooter on top of Scurry's cage last night, so Scurry gets out, he's going to lose his head for sure!  And that would be extremely traumatizing!

High Maintenance Sam

Sam is kind of high maintenance.  He likes comfort and once he gets a taste of it, there's no going back.  He's not allowed up on on our furniture, but one time he got up on the couch and for months, until we got a kennel for him to sleep in in the house, I had to pile laundry baskets up on every couch or chair at night because his fluffy blankets and cushy bed on the floor just wasn't enough.  And he's smart enough that he would only get up on the couch if we were in the basement or asleep and the minute he heard us coming up the stairs, he'd jump off the couch and go back to his bed.  Too bad he's got noisy tags on his collar or he might of gotten away with it!.  If he's outside laying in the sun, he pulls his bed out of his dog house over to where ever he plans on basking in the sun, so that way he doesn't have to lay on the grass.  He REALLY loves pillows.  When Jayden was preparing for his cousins to come, he made them up a bed on the floor, with sleeping bags and blankets for padding, and he picked out 3 dinosaur pillow cases for the pillows and had them all laid out on the floor just waiting for Brennie and Wy to show up.  Sam thought it was for him.  He laid right down in the middle and pulled all the pillows around himself so he had 2 of them for his back and one for his head.

It is starting to get really cold over here, so Sam's favorite place is hanging out in front of the fire, usually with his head on a caterpillar pillow chair.  Willow wanted to make sure Sam was extra comfy, so she covered him with a blanket.  He didn't move for hours....

Horsey Goes for a Ride

Jayden is always trying to love on Scooter. He tries to kiss her, pet her, put her up on the bed so he can jump with her. He’s finally given up on trying to carry her around, as he always ends up getting scratched and bit.  Scooter doesn’t really love Jayden like Jayden loves her. Scooter really doesn’t like any of us that much.

Today, Jayden wanted to share his favorite animal Horsey with her, or maybe he was showing Horsey just how much fun Scooter really is.