Friday, June 08, 2012

Who's that Girl?


Ok. What do I do now? In my quest to gently steer my daughter through the rough and craggy channel between Nature and Nurture, I'm afraid I created a monster. 

A-Ro has entered a reptile and amphibian fetish phase. 


It started when Mommy found "Nemo 2" in our backyard. To see Nemo 1, check out this post from last summer: Nemo 1

This Nemo was not an Eastern Painted Turtle like our first Nemo but your good old fashioned American Box Turtle. He hung around awhile until we finally convinced A-Ro that he was "sad." What do you think?

Well, there was peace at Ericksons until a Gray Tree Frog took up residence in our pool. Guess who caught it.


We convinced her to set "Squirmie" the Gray Tree Frog free. However, in the process, A-Ro discovered that Little Miss Tree Frog had blessed us with a few hundred progeny. A-Ro scooped up a hundred or so. We now have a tadpole farm on our porch. 

She then found"Scaredy-Cat" the Warty Toad


She decided to put it with the tadpoles and trick Mommy by telling her that one of the tadpoles must have "growed up."


Mommy knew better. But A-Ro did manage to sufficiently scare the willies out of her. 


Then, it was on to salamanders. 


Notice she's the only one holding them. 


The last three weekends have been spent "creekin" (guess where you do that), and we've caught more salamanders and crawdads (which are less photogenic it seems) than you can shake a net at. 


The question all this reptilian/amphibian-lovin leaves me with is this: what does it all mean? Is my daughter following in the footsteps of her Beautiful Biology Major Mother? Or is she turning into a Dirt Loving Dudette like her dad? Or, and this is the scariest of them all, is she becoming herself?

Why does the thought make me shiver and quiver with excitement and anticipation?


I love who you are Anna Rose. I can't wait to see who you become. 





1 comment:

Rich and Renee Erickson said...

This world is not our home, but while we're passing through, we should definitely enjoy it!! I hope Anna Rose will just see more and more of those natural wonders as she grows -- into whoever she becomes. And of course, that whoever will be just Anna Rose forever and ever. Thanks for sharing.