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fish update

I eventually decided to tackle the strange smell in O's room. First, I tentatively pulled back to covers more than half expecting to see a shriveled orange fish tucked in next to his stuffed animals. No Rhonda. Next step, let in the dog. Surely Maz would sniff out the fish and swallow it in one disgusting gulp. O might be scarred for life, but his room would still be habitable. No luck.So then I take apart the top of the aquarium and take out the filter. I'm not really expecting to find anything because the fish is way too big and the hole for the filter way too small. I unhook it, pry the darn suction cup off the back and dump out the charcoal bag. I empty the container out and still see nothing.............until a small silvery fish floating right on top of the water next to me. Orange fish is completely scale-free and floating belly up in the aquarium. Apparently allowing itself to be sucked up by the filter seemed a much more promising demise than sleeping with a toddler. I scoop Rhonda out with a little green net and transport her to her final resting place -- the toilet. I try to flush before O is further tramatized and our potty training takes about 20 steps backwards.

We go pick up another orange fish from Wendy ( the actual person, not the surviving brown fish) and add it to the aquarium. O happily watches the pair gobble up a few fish flakes and never tries to catch it. Lesson learned.............I hope.

Later that night O decides to give orange and brown fish real names ( rather than my friends' names). He dubs them CheezeIt and Poop-in-there, respectively. Good to know he has his color associations down.

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