Sydney's First Pet

 

Sydney has been asking on and off to have a pet, specifically a kitty, for quite some time now.  Paul and I aren't quite ready to take on the responsibility of a household pet just yet, so I told Syd in early December that I would get her her very own fish as her first pet.


She decided that she wanted a goldfish, just like Elmo, so I told her that when we were back from holidays she and I would go out and get her a fish.

So this morning she and I had planned to visit April's Aquarium, a shop just a couple of blocks from our house that sells fish to go and pick up her new pet.  We made a special trip there, only to find out that it is closed on Mondays!

So I did a quick Google search on my phone to find the next nearest pet store and we headed down to Noah's Pet Ark on Broadway instead.  Syd had great fun looking at all of the different fish in the tanks there.  She found two beautiful goldfish that she desperately wanted, only to be disappointed once again, as the store was sold out of goldfish bowls big enough to house them!

So I let her look at the Siamese Fighting Fish instead and she settled on a beautiful blue one to take home.  She even chose some rainbow coloured rocks and a plant for the inside of the bowl to complete her set up!

We brought the fish home and carefully followed all of the directions for preparing the water in his bowl to ensure that he was comfortable in his new home.  Then, just as I was about to transfer the poor fish from his bag into the bowl, he slipped out of the bag and flopped onto the counter!  I screeched as he flopped helplessly around, tail and fins flying in every direction.  After a few minutes of scrambling, I managed to get him caught in the little net that we had and into his bowl!  Poor guy, it's a wonder he survived after all that trauma, but he happily swam around his new habitat and ate the pellets that Syd dropped in for him for dinner.

Sydney told me that she wanted to name her fish 'Elmo' but changed her mind when Daddy reminded her that it was blue, not red like Elmo.  So her first fish is formally named 'Cookie Monster', which we shorten to Cookie.

Syd loves the fish!  She was showing him her new cupcake game today, so cute!

All three of us spent a good deal of time watching him swim around his new bowl today, he is so beautiful and it's very relaxing watching a fish swim quietly around.

I think he's the perfect first pet for Syd!