It sure aint Gus!

We've got a visitor. Of the rodent variety. We've got proof. It's here. Beady eyes, long tail, germy droppings (ok, I haven't seen any droppings, but I just know they're there!). And no matter what my dad says about having had a pet mouse when he was young, this one is not friendly. I can say that with full confidence because a friendly mouse would not choose the home of a baby. This is not the cute, round, tee-shirt-sporting, hat-wearing Gus of Cinderella. This one is evil, I just know it!

Last weekend, Terry and I were turning off all the lights and preparing for bed and that's when we got our first clue. We heard the scurrying and scratching in the ceiling that can only come from a rodent. Stupidly, we ignored it, since we weren't 100% sure it was a mouse and not Simon, Alvin, or Theodore. This morning I found a piece of foil-wrapped chocolate candy on the floor. I've had a big plate of them on the island in the kitchen. I bent down to pick it up and my thumb immediately went through a big hole in the candy. I was horrified to see teeth marks in the chocolate! Then later I noticed something shiny in the back of the closet and it was more of the candy. The mice had somehow gotten the candy off the island (eww yuck, they're crawling on my table!!) and dragged it UNDER the door of the closet and underneath the tv trays we've got in there!

I've called every person I could think to call regarding our apartment maintenance, including making a plea in person to the manager. It's not so much that I'm scared of mice. It's more that I'm scared of mice around Micah! After all, he spends 90% of his day on the floor and chewing on toys. Toys that mice could have been crawling over and chewing on themselves!!

I called my mom and when I shared the news all she did was laugh. I told her it wasn't funny and she said, "No, I know. It's just that we had a mouse when Jill was a baby, so I know how you feel!" I don't believe her. If she knew how I feel, she would not be laughing!

They are building on an empty lot about one block north of us, so I'm assuming many rodents and insects lost their homes when the construction started and that would explain how we wound up with the mouse. Or, it could be a rat, as my mom so graciously pointed out.

I've already bagged up all of Micah's stuffed animals to wash and wiped his other toys down with disinfectant. Tonight, I'll pack them all up in hopes that they'll stay far away from them. And, who knows, Micah might end up sleeping in our room tonight just so I don't have nightmares about mice in his crib! Oh!