"Does this shell make my butt look big?"

Nemo has not only brought joy into my life, Brian has slowly come to bond with the little guy as well. Initially, Brian had no expectations other than the stereotypical thoughts that a turtle would not interact and certainly would not have a personality. With his allergies, he rarely is comfortable around pets. Brian cautiously observed with fascination as I interacted with my new pet and listened curiously as I relayed numerous amusing stories of Nemo's adventures when Brian was not with me.

I didn't realize how cautious Brian was until I was recuperating from surgery and asked him to take the spray bottle and mist Nemo who was sleeping in his igloo. I saw the fear on Brian's face and couldn't stop laughing. He was afraid the turtle would bite him--not realizing there are no teeth and Nemo is so not aggressive to even head butt Brian's hand. After several weeks of watching me sit on the floor with Nemo and sometimes handfeeding him shrimp, toasted bagel pieces, and prosciutto, Brian spontaneously gave Nemo a piece of bagel which Nemo happily chowed down moments later. Today was a milestone because Nemo was being quite the explorer while Brian sat at the table in Nemo's space doing his work. When Nemo returned from checking out the living room and finding his way to the refrigerator and back, he walked under the table and nudged Brian's foot not once, but twice. He then meandered to one of his favorite napping spots behind the igloo under the soft mat. I believe Nemo officially accepted Brian with the foot nudge. Brian has a wonderful sense of humor and, early on in my pet turtle experience, he uttered the words that are the title of this post.

Nemo has been teaching us all kinds of new aspects to life. Brian learned how to add the Superman soundtrack to my video and a title clip which is now in the queue to go online. It makes me laugh every time I watch it. I even played with the moviemaker software to add an intro and a credit. Maybe I can figure out how to add it to this blog. And that's another thing--I'm blogging about my turtle and loving tweaking the template and colors. (Omg, was that just a dangling participle??) In my life prior to becoming a therapist, I was a writer and graphic designer. Whether anyone reads this or not, I'm having fun.

In yesterday's post I mentioned the turtle terrace. Here it is without the kiddie gate at the top step. Lovely little deck. Too bad he hates it. Oh well...maybe in time this "outdoor animal" may learn to enjoy a few minutes of fresh air.