So, some of you know that Caleb is pretty into bugs right now. Funny, because in early spring he was scared to death of most all of them; flies, ladybugs, and esp., dare I say, the occasional cockroach we'd find in the duplex?
Well, one day, we caught a lady bug in the backyard, and "befriended" it. Caleb held it and talked to it forever, and since then, he's been a little insect enthusiast.
So I mentioned to a couple of friends that a good b-day present for him would be bug-related, and they gave him a really cool terrarium and bug-catching vacuum. We housed a variety of odds and ends insects the first week. A stag beetle (he didn't last too long), fireflies, ants, crickets...
And then, when Grandma Joy was here, she and I discovered a baby Praying Mantis on our windshield in the Walmart parking lot! And Grandma managed to capture it, and bring it home in a coffee cup!
We've been crazy about the thing ever since, and have a learned a lot! Did you know they molt? Grow wings? Change color? Turn their heads around like aliens? And, catch their prey with amazing agility and speed (very fun to watch)? We've been faithfully feeding it (I know, like I needed another mouth to feed) and watching it grow. Very cool. My "Science and Children" teacher (Mrs. Croissant) from college would be very proud of me!
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