26 Weeks and The Fish

So, I'm 26 weeks, and look like I'm 46 weeks (in my opinion). But still no stretch marks! WOO HOO! We have another fetal assessment on Monday so I will have more news then. But I don't need the fetal assessment to confirm that these kids are growing like crazy and moving around tons too!

In other news, we acquired a new family member last week. A fish. For Rylen, as he is fascinated by fish, every time he sees an aquarium or fish tank he can spend hours if we let him, just watching and talking to the fish.

Someone gave Mark a little fish tank suitable for a beta fish. So, off Mark and Rylen went to get his new pet. The lady at the pet shop told Mark that beta fish are super easy to take care of and very kid friendly. She assured us that "they can even live out of water!" Well, Mark was sold. What could possibly go wrong?

Although Rylen was super excited about the fish and would not stop talking about him, or looking at him, for some reason he did not want to name him. So we just called him  "Fish" or "Fishie".
We got Fish last Wednesday. The first day he swam around his little tank (and I use the word "tank" loosely....it was more a "cubicle") like it was a fancy 5 star fish palace...seriously he was so excited!

The rules were (according to the lady at the pet store) that the fish would die if anyone stuck their fingers in the tank, or soap, chemicals, people food, etc got in there. She gave us a "procedure" for cleaning the tank to ensure the proper balance of bacteria and whatever else to keep the fish alive (I think she mentioned all of this after Fish was already purchased with understanding that "they are so easy to look after").  We taught Rylen that he was not allowed to touch the fish, only look at him and talk to him. He did pretty good after a few "tests" to see if we meant business (with his finger hovering just over the surface of the water, saying "can I touch? can I touch?" with a mischievous smile on his face).

Anyways, after the first night, I personally felt that Fish became depressed. He seemed a lot more lethargic and wouldn't eat his "supper" that Rylen fed him nightly (maybe it had something to do with the super loud two year old, with his face millimeters from the water yelling "SUPPER TIME!") Or maybe the novelty of his new cubicle wore off. He realized it was not the 5 star accommodation that he originally thought. I'm not sure. Either way, he became less active.

I'm sure you can see what's coming....

Sadly, today, we discovered the Fish is no longer with us. We found him floating perfectly vertical in the water with his little mouth and nose (do they fish have noses?) right at the surface.

Now, there are a few possible causes of death:
1. He froze to death. (This is Mark's theory based on the fact that his pregnant wife insists on sleeping with the windows wide open resulting in temperatures of 59 degrees in the morning. I think this might be his "subtle" way of letting me know that he's freezing his a** off at night and would like me to please turn the heat on!)
2. Someone's fingers ended up in the water ( I think we all know who that someone is)
3. Mark killed it when he cleaned the cubicle/tank yesterday by not following the "procedure".  (My theory, mostly because I am disputing the "freezing to death" theory)

Anyways, we aren't sure what happened. But it is slightly alarming to us that we cannot keep a fish alive for a week and here we are expecting triplets.

Now before you call the authorities ("Seriously they are having triplets and they can't even manage a FISH!") ,keep in mind that we have managed to keep our 2.5 year old alive and well and relatively unscathed for this long. See? Isn't he cute?

 So, are kids easier to raise than fish? One would think not, but apparently in our household this is the case! Thank goodness we already have Rylen as living proof we can be decent parents, otherwise this whole fish thing would be a major confidence killer!

Tomorrow we will likely have another fish (Rylen has not noticed that Fish has disappeared, so we can sneakily replace him). Hopefully this next one lasts a bit longer than a week. A month at least! Surely we can keep a fish alive for a month!

Feel free to post "fish care" tips/advice!