Ellie's first pet

Well, Ellie's affinity for all animals has been officially established. We had been noticing how much more attention she pays to her stuffed animals, her sincere efforts to produce animal noises, and how for the first time she sat captivated through the entire "Babe" film. So, it was time to get her her first pet. We visited the pet store for FHE a couple weeks ago and found she loved the birds, turtles, bunnies, and dogs. Thankfully, she was equally fascinated by the fish, so we settled on a nice, low-maintenance beta fish, which she affectionately calls either "fff!" or "ish!" Hopefully Sesame Street will help her merge these utterings. And despite Fishy's lack of appetite, things have gone quite well. Several times a day, including first thing in the morning, all she wants to do is say and wave "hi" to her fishy. Her enthusiasm is undaunted--perhaps it's good we didn't get her a more interesting pet--it might have been TOO exciting for her little animal-loving heart to handle.