#the water column is fish daycare

[littledoughty]

A baby oarfish trying to survive to adulthood in the water column. Giant oarfish are the longest bony fish.

[roykent6]

talk to me about Elijah Forrest and his parents!!! (important: does he have a bar mitzvah and does he ever get a baby sibling)

ahhhh sweet Elijah, he is just like the Best Boy. he’s very smart and sassy and silly, the perfect little combination of both Elle and Emmett. he hits a lot of his milestones early as he’s growing up, and is already reading by the time he gets to pre-k. his parents are unspeakably proud of him, and they cherish each new thing thing he learns and accomplishes. Elle gets into scrapbooking after he’s born, and keeps a very diligent baby book noting each new thing he does.

before he starts daycare, Emmett’s mom is their go-to babysitter. she is absolutely head over heels crazy about her grandson, and lives for hanging out with him all week. but every now and then, when work isn’t bad, Elle and Emmett will play hooky for a day and take their boy to do something fun around Boston. Eli loves the aquarium, and could stand in front of that giant column fish tank thing for hours just watching all the fish go by. He also loves being near the aquarium because they can sit by the water and watch the boats.

in school, it becomes clear that he’s a really bright kid, and he gets put in the gifted classes and things. Elle and Emmett are really careful with him to make sure they teach him good study habits early. they don’t want him to coast for years and then suddenly find himself struggling later on, so they work with him to be a good student and to find the best homework and study methods that work for him. they push him and encourage him to challenge himself in school, but they’re careful to never force him to go past his limits. that also goes for sports and activities, like if he tries soccer for a while and ends up hating it, they wouldn’t force him to keep playing it.

that also is how they feel about Hebrew school! they start him in Sunday school when he’s in 1st grade, because it’s important to Emmett that he learn about Judaism that way. but they talk to him about it pretty regularly, especially as he gets older and starts the process of studying for his bar mitzvah. they want him to do it for himself, and not feel like he’s doing it for them or anyone else. it’s a personal milestone, and if he doesn’t want to take that step or doesn’t feel like he’s ready to, then they won’t make him. but I think he decides to go for it, and he learns and studies, and really puts his heart into it. his mitzvah project is volunteering at battered women’s shelters in Roxbury, where his dad grew up. he starts a storytime program at one of them for kids who are living there, and goes each weekend to read books to the kids there. he also donates a good portion of the money he gets as presents to that shelter to buy books and games for the kids. Elle and Emmett are unspeakably proud of him, and they can’t believe how lucky they got to have such a great kid.

as far as a younger sibling, I think maybe when he’s like 6 or 7, Elle gets pregnant very much as a surprise. they had always kind of talked about having more children but never did because their jobs keep them busy, and Eli is a busy kid so it just never happened, until it does by surprise. on their 10th anniversary they leave Eli with his grandmother and get a hotel room downtown and drink way too much with dinner before going back to their room and celebrating some more. then a few weeks later Elle starts to feel nauseous and notices that she’s late, and she just knows. she takes a home test and surprises Emmett with the news and they’re both shocked but overjoyed at getting to add to their family.

after the first sonogram, they take Eli out for a nice dinner and surprise him with the news. they get him a card for a big brother and put the sonogram picture inside of it, and write a cute note that’s something along the lines of “dear Eli, I can’t wait to meet you next year! I know you’re going to be the best big brother ever. love, your future sibling” and this kid starts crying in the restaurant because he’s so happy. he can’t wait to have a new baby in the family, and he does absolutely everything he can to help while Elle is pregnant. he helps decorate the nursery and gives Elle back rubs and is obsessed with feeling the baby kick. when his sister Emma (they had to keep the E thing going at this point) is born, he always wants to be with her. Elle and Emmett find him asleep either on the floor next to her crib or in the rocking chair in her room more than once. he’s an amazing big brother, and loves to play with her and look out for her however he can.

[littledoughty]

Today we have some goofy mola mola or sunfish larva. These are teeny tiny, smaller than a lentil, and some of them will grow into the heaviest bony fish in the sea.

[littledoughty]

A very speedy marlin fish larvae for today. That's the nice thing about fish babies, they're all tiny.

[littledoughty]

Anchovies are an abundant filter feeding fish, their larva have been found in marine neustons and are abundant source of food for many predatory marine animals. And also people.

[littledoughty]

Juvenile tripod fish grow up in the water column like many other fish before settling down on the ocean floor. They're mostly transparent so I took some liberties with the color.

[littledoughty]

This is a pelagic tube anemone larvae, eventually it will settle on the ocean floor and burrow its tube half into the sediment. But first its gotta survive growing up in the water column.