Brandt and Shy

Brandt has been wanting to get a hamster for the past few months and that's what he really wanted for his birthday.  Since we've been having such a difficult time with some of his behaviors lately we decided to use that desire to our advantage and we started a sticker chart to earn a hamster.  Buddy could earn stickers for positive behaviors such as sitting in church, not running through the parking lot, making it on the bus in the mornings, settling down for bed, talking to his teachers, saying nice words and not calling names, etc.  As we looked into hamsters it became evident that they required more upkeep than we were ready to take on, so over the course of a couple months we convinced him that what he really wanted was hermit crabs.  He was super excited when he finished his chart just in time for our trip to Logan for his dentist appointment with Dr. Doug.  He was less than thrilled with having to go to the dentist and he struggled with the sedation a little bit again (although they tried a different kind this time-a combo of Demerol, Chloral hydrate, and hydroxyzine-which didn't make him as agitated or as sick but also didn't knock him out), but he knew that Logan is also the home of Pet Smart, so that was something to look forward to.  We also went to another of our favorite places, Willow Park, and spent some time looking at the animals and feeding the ducks.  Brandt picked out two Hermit crabs that were close in size and the basics that we would need to care for them such as water and food dishes, colored mineral sand, and crab food.  We still had his aquarium from when he had fish and crabs in the past, so we got it out and set everything up when we got home.  He loved helping his dad get their habitat ready for them and he very quickly became attached to them and came up with the perfect names for them on his own.  "Brandt" for the one who is the most active and "Shy" for the one who spends most of his time hiding and pulls into his shell and plays dead whenever he's picked up.  My favorite part of the day was watching a little boy who was so proud of what he had accomplished by working hard in order to earn something he wanted so badly and seeing that smile beaming from his cute little face.