The kids got a pet today. It’s a 1.5″ long caterpillar that they have optimistically named Dart “because he’s sneaky”. I have been getting regular Dart updates since he joined our family around noon.

12:10 Maggie finds Dart atop a plant and freaks out until I went out to ID her discovery.

12:11-12:25 kids gather food and environmental comforts for Dart and manhandle him until they eventually decide to put him in a bowl home. After covering one of my outdoor tables with dirt, rocks and floral detritus.

12:28-12:39 The kids and Dart enjoy lunch together on the patio.

12:40 my announcement that we must leave for piano lesson triggers widespread panic over the logistical nightmare of containing Dart during our absence. Problem solved with a flip flop lid for his home.

1:20 we arrive home and both kids rush to check on Dart. He lives!!!!

1:55 I am informed gravely that Dart has a rash. Maggie flips out and demands immediate medical care while Tommy tries to reassure her that it’s a “common” occurrence.

2:00-3:00 a search is mounted for lepidopteric companionship for lonely Dart. Two candidates are discovered: Little Dart and Little Dart.

3:39 Dart can tightrope walk on a bubble wand! It’s super adorable.

4:26 “Dart pooped! It was red!”

[at some point in here, Little Dart and Little Dart are lost in the loving mayhem]

5:16 “Dart is sleeping. I brought him in the kitchen in his house to sleep. Do you think I’m taking really good care of him? I’m treating him like a baby. He’s my favorite person in the whole. Wide. World. I’m so happy Dart is my pet.”

5:31 Dart doesn’t have a rash anymore.

5:50 Maggie brings me a princess purse full of Legos with the instructions to “build a really high wall in case Dart wakes up before us in the morning.

Maggie’s Bedtime: “I need to go check on Dart. Can he sleep up here? You know what? Me and tommy gave Dart a tour around the backyard. I think he likes it.”

Tommy’s Bedtime: I need to check on Dart. I can see him breathing!!! [ok, this part WAS really cool. There is a small line behind his head that expands and contracts.]

Dart Liuser: Day 2
7:03 Maggie’s first action of the day (after whining me awake) is to check on Dart. She announces with relish “look at all that poop in there!” And indeed, there IS a lot of surprisingly large red round balls of caterpillar poop.

7:16 Maggie: I’m hungry. Do you think we should take Dart to Discovery Kingdom to the butterfly house so they have another butterfly in there? What do they do if they turn into a moth? Do moths hurt you?

7:20 “I need you to do me a favor. Watch Dart while I go upstairs to get more Legos to make him a better wall.

10:30 it’s feeding time at the zoo.
Me: quit pushing him!
Maggie: mama, it’s a girl not a boy.

And in the interests of scientific exploration: caterpillar poop

11:56 “mama, I had a Bad Accident. I lost Dart in the house.”

He was located about 3 inches from where she left him.

4:00 Dart is lost for real now. It’s the end of an era.