Lepidoptera

Our latest batch of board books from the library includes a Smithsonian butterfly book, with barely any text (What has orange and black wings?  A monarch butterfly.) and enlarged photographs of butterflies.  I thought the Nugget might enjoy flipping through it at leisure, since the butterfly was one of the first animals he could identify for us.  Well, it is a hit in a way that neither Daddy nor I expected.  The first reading was pretty tame - the Nugget gaped through the entire book, a steady line of amazed drool hanging from his pink lips.  During the second and all subsequent readings, the Nugget has burst out laughing maniacally with the name of each butterfly, like it's the punchline of the funniest joke on earth.  That of course makes us laugh, and then he laughs even harder, until we're all rolling on the floor and clutching our sides.  I'm pretty sure that author Melissa Stuart had no idea her educational prose and pretty pictures would cause this kind of hysteria.

Our local zoo has opened their summer butterfly house, which we have yet to visit...I wonder if the real live butterflies will prompt the same response.  And if they do, I will be sorely tempted to arm myself with cash (all it will cost you is $2 eaches) to bring on the maniacal laughter at each visit.

P.S.  Just saw the live butterflies today.  Sadly, the Nugget decided they did not live up to the hype and was begging for a second train ride the entire time we were in the exhibit.