A Little Sweet Tooth

My good pal Jessie eats a lot of candy, and lately she noticed me eyeing it. Now she thinks I have a sweet tooth. Now, I know that I have two of the sweetest little teeth around—sometimes I flash them when I smile—but apparently that is not what she was talking about.

Aren't they the cutest little teeth though?

Anyways, she didn't seem to want me getting into her stash of candy, so she got me my very own bubble gum machine—and it's just my size too!

Now all I need to do is find a smaller quarter.

 Or a tiny box of cookies.

Family Picnic

This was my first ever picnic. And I have to say, I'm a fan. We went to the park, and we got to eat sandwiches on a nice blanket instead of a boring table. I liked having Mark and Jessie coming down to ground level for a change so I wasn't worried about teetering off the edge of the table. 

Plus I had ample space to run around in after our meal.

Jessie of course wanted to take a family picture, so I obliged for one photo.

But only ONE. When she tried to have Mark take a second one, I made my best attempt to flee the premises.

But I made up for it later by flashing this smile for a solo pic. 

All in all, I would definitely recommend picnics. They are pretty great.

Gotta Catch 'em All

Ok, so I know what you're thinking. Pokémon? Really? Behind the times much? Well, I wasn't alive in the late 90s, so I didn't have the chance to trade cards at recess or play it on my gameboy. Lucky for me, a part of Mark's heart still lives in the 90s, so he and Jessie recently introduced me to the enchanting world of Pokémon. 

I was immediately hooked. I mean, the adorable creatures, the lovable Ash Ketchum—who never really seems to learn his lesson, or rather remember what he learned in the previous episode—the epic battles, what's not to love? 

I found I really identified with one thing in particular. You're probably thinking Shaymin or Rattata, but it was actually the Poké Ball. I mean come on? The resemblance is striking:

 

Mark happens to have Pokémon Y, and he is gone for most of the day. Do the math—it might as well be my game for how much I play it.  I've beaten the elite four several times, but I'm still working on catching all of the original 150. 

Wish me luck on my journey to become a Pokémon Master!

Back to School

Is it September already? Man, time sure can fly. Everyone else seemed to be headed back to school, so I told Jessie I wanted her to set me up with some schoolwork. She got me some tiny school supplies and gave me a spelling test. 

I filled it out and got all four words correct, so she gave me a smiley face sticker. That was pretty great, but I decided that I'd rather just stay in summer.

So I immediately turned my back on my schoolwork and found my shark costume.

How can summer really be over when you are dressed in this beach-themed costume?

I Guess I'll Go Eat Some Worms

So you know that song that goes something like: 

      Nobody likes me

      Everybody hates me

      Guess I'll go eat some worms

Well, whoever wrote it can't have been a hedgehog. If he or she was, it would have gone something like this:

      Nobody hates me

      Everybody likes me

      Guess I'll go eat some mealworms

Bath Time

Sometimes I get a little bit messy when I play outside in the garden. 

Whenever that happens, Mark and Jessie give me a bath. Now, I don't hate water quite to the level that a cat does, but I'm no fish either. If I had to pick a side of the spectrum that I leaned towards, I would probably side with the cat. I'm just not a fan of how slippery the ground is when it is covered with two inches of water! I run and I run, but I can never seem to escape my little bathtub.

But I sure do look cute snuggled up in a towel afterwards!

How the West Was Fun

Jessie was nice enough to find me this hat. I have to say that it is not easy finding hats that fit my head. I guess the market for hedgehog clothing and accessories falls somewhere in between small and nonexistent. I can't understand why though, aren't I even cuter with the hat?

I like the tiny cowboy hat, because despite my being an African pygmy hedgehog, I do consider myself a true blue American. I like baseball, apple pie (at least the idea of it—hedgehogs don't eat sugar), and of course a good old fashioned country western. Now all I need is for Jessie to get me two small pistols so that I can engage in duels with other small animals. 

P.S. I fully acknowledge that I am referencing a Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen movie with my title here. Though I do consider myself a rather manly hedgehog, I will admit to occasionally watching an MK&A movie—I do live with Jessie after all (though I should probably focus on watching more movies with Mark). Anyways, I think this would have made for a more interesting movie: 

Who knows, maybe this will be the start to a new franchise? Mary-Kate, Ashley and Leo movies. I think it could be a good reboot to their career.

The Snuggle Sack

Now I've heard of humans going crazy over something called a snuggie. A sort of wearable blanket from what I hear. But, I'm pretty sure that hedgehogs are even crazier for the snuggle sack. Jessie was nice enough to make me one of my very own—and even out of hedgehog-themed fabric! I'm pretty sure it serves as a bribe for my love, but still, I like it. 

Here I am checking it out for the first time. See, I even turned away a mealworm (my favorite treat) to be engulfed by the safety and warmth of my new snuggle sack.

The best part is, I can have breakfast in bed any old time by just popping my head out of my snuggle sack. Now, may I ask, does a snuggie give you that?

Meet the Grandparents

Last week I skyped with Jessie's family in Virginia because they were so excited to meet me—their first grand-pet. Grand in every sense of the word, of course. I came out of my shell and paraded around on the desk for them to see me in all my glory. Maybe even a little too much glory.  I mean, I had been in my cage all day, which is really all night for me. Mark and Jessie had woken me up special for this occasion, so I hadn't had a chance to go yet. Go in the potty sense of the word here, which led to this embarrassing moment:

Oh well. If there is one thing I've learned from Mark and Jessie, it's that you better have a sense of humor if you are going to tolerate life.

War or Peace: My New Life with Mark and Jessie

Ok, I know what you are probably thinking: dramatic much with the title? But seriously, this is what I looked like the first time Mark and Jessie saw me:

Yup, that's me. I know I may look like a sea urchin, but really, that's cute little me. I had all my armor up and ready to defend myself against the potentially threatening forms that turned out to be Mark and Jessie. Eventually they managed to coax me out of my intense defensive mode, and I even let their niece Ashley take this photo with me:

But then, they started driving. I was freaking out and hissing in my typical for new situations non-warm-attitude. Jessie kept shrieking every time I hissed. Finally, she took the hint and put me inside a container so that I could find some attempt at peace not in her lap.

After nearly an hour of driving, we finally arrived at my new house. Mark and Jessie showed me the yard—my favorite thing so far. 

I warmed up to Mark and Jessie enough that they could hold me in my more-cute-less-sea-urchin form.

Hopefully I will find some peace amongst the war zone that is living with Mark and Jessie.

Hi, I'm Leo

When people meet me, they tend to be curious about what it's like to be a hedgehog. I mean a tiny creature that is both incredibly adorable, but also constantly armed with a defensive weapon? What's not to wonder? Then they look closer and notice that part of my adorable physique stems from my only having one eye. Seriously though, look:

So cute! Anyways, when people realize this, I can practically see the wheels turning in their heads—wondering what it must be like to live life as a one-eyed hedgehog? I mean, hedgehogs alone are not particularly common around these parts, but hedgehogs with one eye are even less so. Hence my blog. I decided it was time for people to know what its like to be a hedgehog—and more specifically what its like to be me: Leo-Tolstoy Brown.

I live a very lazy, yet eccentric and adventuresome life—mostly thanks to my owners who I'm still not quite sure about yet. But, more on that later.