bugs

Joshua loves bugs.  He had more fun and spent more time looking for bugs this summer than just about anything else.  He loves bugs so much that when he would capture one, he always wanted to bring it in the house, feed it, take care of it, and once even wanted to sleep with one in his bedroom.  When I would tell Josh that he really can't bring the bugs in the house, he would then say, "Okay, but can I sleep with it outside?"  Just a few weeks ago Josh found his first praying mantis in our flower garden and just loved it so much that he couldn't sleep knowing it was in a bucket out on our deck.  It was unreal!  He kept getting up out of bed to check on it.  Needless to say, Alan finally went out with him and his blanket, and stayed outside with the praying mantis until Josh fell asleep.  Once he was sound asleep, Alan carried him in and tucked him in bed.  I wasn't at all surprised when Josh woke up in the early morning hours wondering about his bug.

We had a cricket, the praying mantis, a worm, a butterfly, a couple grasshoppers, and several ladybugs and potato bugs come into our home this past summer.  Most the time I was able to convince Joshua that bugs like to be outside, but I literally went through almost my entire storage of Tupperware so that Josh could have something to put them in.  He actually did a pretty good job of keeping most of the little critters outside, but someday I'm going to find a dried up worm somewhere in our home... don't ask me how, but that one got away somehow.  And thank goodness we don't live in an area filled with snakes and lizards... that would not be good!