For the amphibian-loving, no crap-taking, glittery gold boot-wearing 7-year-old girl on your list...

For at least the last year (and maybe longer - I never smoked weed but you sure wouldn't know given my memory lapses), A has been begging for a pet frog. We tried tadpoles... 2 of which arrived boiled in their own froggy brine, one from the next shipment died after a few days in spectacular stomach-rupturing fashion, and one remains. He/she has little leg buds and we're hopeful for his survival. The thing is, it takes a hell of a long time for a tadpole to turn into a frog and as A says, "a tadpole is just a glorified fish and fish are B-O-R-I-N-G!" Speaking of which, we also tried to scratch her new pet itch with a Betta fish (who was already too boring by the time we got home from Petco). Lucy the fish bit the dust several days later which proves that a life that involves a significant stint living in a deli container on a shelf at Petco is likely not to last long.

To make this short (ish), meet "Leafpool" - fulfiller of dreams, eater of crickets, pooper of disturbingly large poops. I have to admit I like the little croaker. I'm not wildly happy about having a tub of live mealworms living in the refrigerator but let's face it, I haven't scrubbed it in a while, there were probably other creepy crawlies in there already.

"Now," A says... "When can I get a tortoise?" Um... give mom a few weeks to adjust to her weekly trips to the store for a sack of crickets and then we'll talk, OK?

She also wants some art supplies and she has some pretty strong opinions about her room remodel but otherwise, she's in frog-induced bliss (and no, I don't let her lick the frog... er does that only work with toads?).

I'll probably get her a pair of Tom's because what girl doesn't need a pair of glittery shoes? Well, I probably don't... or maybe I do!