Our lizard Daniel has been quite the living biology lesson. He is thriving in his tank, eating insects.
The first lesson we had was on the food chain. Daniel the lizard is an insectivore. We buy a steady supply of crickets for him. And they have to be moving before he'll eat them. The kids have been fascinated with what we feed the crickets. Crickets eat carrots, and grain. So Daniel is a secondary predator. We sometimes talk about what do carrots, corn, and wheat eat? Soil, water, and Sun are the standard answer.
Last night we introduced meal worms to Daniel's diet. He was fascinated. As we watched Daniel, he kept a very close eye on the meal worms. Daniel is a very attentive lizard. Normally when we gather round his tank he keeps a good eye on us. But he's relaxed about that realizing that we mean him no harm. And those meal worms were wriggling in the dish. His little head bobbed up and down, turning to the side to keep them in view. We never saw him eat his dinner, but this morning there are no more meal worms in the tank.
My daughter spotted the fact that Daniel was shedding. Around his legs we could see the white patches of skin peeling off. Fresh green skin was visible underneath. A white patch on his back soon peeled off as he crawled between the leaves of his palm tree. I thought it would be really neat to look at the skin once it was completely peeled off. Later though all the loose skin was gone, and no where to be seen. I had to assume that he had eaten the skin.
Daniel the lizard is quite the biology lesson. Food chain, reptile habitat, and life cycle, even insect life cycles as we feed him.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Yesterday was a very busy day for our house. We just had a lot of activities on the calender. It started out with a kids activity at church, and went from there.
In the afternoon I was getting us ready to go over to Dallas. We had a skating trip planned, followed by a potluck dinner. As I was pulling up maps, and directions, a child came to the door to ask my son to play. Paying more attention to the maps, I reminded him, we'll be leaving in a few minutes. The door shut, and I wrote down the last of the directions. I looked up and realized that he had left the house. Oh well, he's outside. I grabbed my purse, and a few other things, and went out to the car.
He wasn't easily visible. I yelled a few times to no avail. Finally I got in the car, expecting him to come running when he saw us getting ready to go. I started the car, and still no sign of him. Now I was starting to get mad. He's done this so many times already, run off. I drove around our complex, looking for him. But he was no where to be seen.
My mind was racing, trying to think. I pulled out my phone, an idea half formed in my mind. Maye someone could come over and stay at the house until my son decided to come home. I called a few friends, and no one picked up. Finally I reached one of my friends. She set me straight, we'll come look with you, and we'll take him to your place, but you do have to stay there until he shows his face. True. I was too upset to be thinking rationally. I was too angry, scared, anxious and everything else. But that was exactly what we needed to do. She promised, I'll make it boring, he can come over here as his consequence, instead of having a fun evening with Mom.
As this was going on, my neighbor, the people I've had tons of problems with, came home. As they came in they asked me, is everything okay. I guess the tears streaming down my face kind of gave it away that I was a touch upset. I explained the issue, and the grandfather went out to look and see if he could locate my son.
I paced my apartment, emotions sky rocketing, muttering to myself. My son burst thru the door, a look of concern on his face. I latched onto him, and began to cry. For a few minutes nothing was said as I simply held him close to me. The child has no idea of the dangers of this world. In between crying myself I explained to him the consequences of his actions.
"Baby, you don't get to come skating with us. You weren't here when we were ready to go."
His face fell, and he began to cry in earnest now.
Shortly my friend's husband arrived. My son realized this wasn't just talk, but real. He curled himself into a tiny ball underneath the stairs. I had to pry him off, dragging him to the car. I put him in the car, and had to simply walk away.
As I pulled out of the parking lot, I cried.
As I was typing this, his friend knocked on the door. He opened the door, and vacillated on accepting her offer to come play. He explained to her, we can't go play so far from my house, I have to stay close to my house. Maybe he has learned something.
In the afternoon I was getting us ready to go over to Dallas. We had a skating trip planned, followed by a potluck dinner. As I was pulling up maps, and directions, a child came to the door to ask my son to play. Paying more attention to the maps, I reminded him, we'll be leaving in a few minutes. The door shut, and I wrote down the last of the directions. I looked up and realized that he had left the house. Oh well, he's outside. I grabbed my purse, and a few other things, and went out to the car.
He wasn't easily visible. I yelled a few times to no avail. Finally I got in the car, expecting him to come running when he saw us getting ready to go. I started the car, and still no sign of him. Now I was starting to get mad. He's done this so many times already, run off. I drove around our complex, looking for him. But he was no where to be seen.
My mind was racing, trying to think. I pulled out my phone, an idea half formed in my mind. Maye someone could come over and stay at the house until my son decided to come home. I called a few friends, and no one picked up. Finally I reached one of my friends. She set me straight, we'll come look with you, and we'll take him to your place, but you do have to stay there until he shows his face. True. I was too upset to be thinking rationally. I was too angry, scared, anxious and everything else. But that was exactly what we needed to do. She promised, I'll make it boring, he can come over here as his consequence, instead of having a fun evening with Mom.
As this was going on, my neighbor, the people I've had tons of problems with, came home. As they came in they asked me, is everything okay. I guess the tears streaming down my face kind of gave it away that I was a touch upset. I explained the issue, and the grandfather went out to look and see if he could locate my son.
I paced my apartment, emotions sky rocketing, muttering to myself. My son burst thru the door, a look of concern on his face. I latched onto him, and began to cry. For a few minutes nothing was said as I simply held him close to me. The child has no idea of the dangers of this world. In between crying myself I explained to him the consequences of his actions.
"Baby, you don't get to come skating with us. You weren't here when we were ready to go."
His face fell, and he began to cry in earnest now.
Shortly my friend's husband arrived. My son realized this wasn't just talk, but real. He curled himself into a tiny ball underneath the stairs. I had to pry him off, dragging him to the car. I put him in the car, and had to simply walk away.
As I pulled out of the parking lot, I cried.
As I was typing this, his friend knocked on the door. He opened the door, and vacillated on accepting her offer to come play. He explained to her, we can't go play so far from my house, I have to stay close to my house. Maybe he has learned something.
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