Rizzerd

I NEVER thought I'd have a lizard in my house. At least not in the 'pet' capacity. But, parenting is all about surprising yourself. This isn't the story of how the lizard came to reside in my house - that's a story that only Cole and I find interesting. This post is just because I find myself amazed at how a reptile can so endear himself to naysayers. Chad and I had serious reservations about having the lizard in our home. Two other pets and a 3-year-old seemed like an insurmountable number of death traps for a new tiny, soft-sided, scurrying animal. But Cole won with his research, good grades, respectful attitude, and long eyelashes (those eyelashes are going to be the death of me).

Right from the pet store, we knew this little guy was going to be funny. When we walked over to him, he started scratching at the cage like a crazy person in a padded cell. I've read all about bearded dragons and I know this behavior is common, but until you've seen it in action - and especially seen it while watching other bearded dragons just sit like lumps on their basking rocks, you can't imagine how cute it is.

Because he's a lizard, he has a constant look of curiosity. He's always tilting his head when you move and running toward the movement in the room to check it out. He doesn't hide or cower at all. When we brought him home, we looked like the other bearded dragons at the pet store; climbing all over one another to get a better look at him. There the 6 of us were, admiring and pointing out the obvious to the room. "Look, he just jumped from that branch to that other branch!" "Oh, see how he tilts his head every time we talk?" And my favorite; Cade's continuous use of the sentence, "I unna hold de rizzerd! I unna hold de rizzerd!"

Even watching him eat live crickets is the highlight of our family time. We wait until he's caught one and we all say, "Om nom nom nom" and then laugh like we are all stand up comics.

I've been the the pet store no less than 6 times since we bought the lizard looking for easier ways to feed him, and better ways to make sure he's warm or cool, or humid enough. I'm not at all sure Cole is any more excited than Chad and I about the new pet. In fact, whenever Cole takes Bumbledore (that's his name) out of his terrarium, Chad magically appears and pretty much takes over.

It's official, we are a lizard household. Here are some pictures of Bumbledore, the Bearded Dragon.


Here's his sexy picture: