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Story #1: Stowaway Mantis

Saturday night we had a fun little adventure. Bryan was repairing his electric guitar in the garage, and Caleb was hanging out there with him. At bedtime, they came inside. Bryan noticed something on the back of Caleb's shirt. Thinking it was a dried-up leaf, he tried to brush it off. But it would not come off. In the dim light, he finally was able to knock it off Caleb's back, and when the item hit the floor with a noise louder than any leaf would produce, he realized it was a large green praying mantis.

I quickly went to get a jar to contain the intruder. Bryan caught the mantis in the jar and only at this point did Caleb lose his reluctance to come near it. We Googled "praying mantis" and found some information on them. Our little stowaway was a four-inch-long female. After a short time of inspecting the insect, Bryan and Caleb took it outside to freedom in the rose bushes.

The next day, Caleb was frequently heard talking about the "big bug" and saying "'member that?"


Story #2: What's so funny?

Last night, after Caleb was in bed, I was holding Micah on the couch. Bryan was on the computer, doing who knows what. I propped Micah up so he could look over the back of the couch, and Bryan started rolling back and forth in the computer chair, toward Micah and away. Micah smiled, so Bryan started adding the requisite funny faces and sound effects. Micah made a sound with his smile that we could only classify as a pre-laugh. The very next time Bryan executed the smile-producing maneuvers, Micah laughed!

As almost any parent can testify, the first laugh is one of the most beautiful sounds on earth. It insires awe and wonder, as well as parental laughter. This sound is encouragement for parents to continue doing whatever silly act elicited it in the first place. And of course this is what we did. He laughed and laughed. It was wonderful.