Follow us throughout our growth. Paul and I discovered that we are expecting twin girls. We are fascinated, and a little intimidated, by the whole change and welcome your wonder and support.
Barbie-Princess Fairy (Bettina), a Princess (Ava) and our Little Prince (Alessandro)
Halloween was a fantastic time this year. The girls made up their own
costumes (and carved a pumpkin) while Alessandro got a chance to "understand the rules" and routine of trick-or-treating. At first, he didn't quite know what to do; we had to convince him to take a candy at the first house. At the second house, he took the candy from the first house (which as half-eaten) and put it inside the basket of candy. At the third house, he just picked up the whole basket of treats and started to leave. But, following Ava & Bettina's lead, he learned to take just one..and later, just one handful, and put it in his basket. Funny to watch the whole learning curve.
The girls helped to carve a pumpkin which we entered into the Community Garden Jack-o-Lantern walk party and then Farley's Jack-o-Lantern contest. They won a free hot chocolate, a lollipop, and a whoopie cushion (which has proved to produce much slap-stick style laughter)!
All were tired when we got home and went to bed before eating too much candy. Tomorrow we start daylight savings and gain and hour. I wonder if the transition will be an easy one or if we will all be waking up far too early!
Ava and Bettina participated last year in a philanthropy event called "Boogie for Ba'ha" (picture is from last-year's event). Their pre-school sponsors the education of a young deaf Palestinian boy named Ba'ha. Ba'ha lives in the Gaza Strip and attends a specialized school for the deaf called the Atfaluna Society for Deaf Children. Ba'ha is the only deaf child in his family with six children and the specialized school helps him to communicate with them as well as the outside world, giving him lifetime skills that will allow him many options to grow up more self-sufficient and full of confidence.
Last year, Ava & Bettina raised $160.00 for Ba'ha's tuition, which is only $600/year. That meant that, together, they helped Ba'ha go to school for nearly one-quarter of a year! This year, they wish to be equally helpful and will promise to dance in the dance party the whole 10-minutes the music plays for your pledges. YOU CAN HELP by:
sponsoring their dancing efforts (a flat fee or a per-minute pledge) and/or
writing them encouraging notes confirming they are doing something important to help
They dance next week, Nov. 4th at 10:30am. Please let me know if you'd like to pledge. Checks (make out to LOPC - Lafayette-Orinda Presbyterian Church) need to be turned in by November 9th.
Cousin Braxton (almost 23 months) and Alessadnro (almost 16 months) entertain the crowd by showing they can jump off the fireplace hearth at Grandma's house (a whopping 4"!).
This month, Alessandro gets his 2nd haircut - atop a pony!
Alessandro is
growing like a weed. Each day seems to bring new surprises. While doing busy work around the kitchen, I realize I'm listening to Baby Brother sing "Happy Birthday." How he picked that up, I don't know. Perhaps at William's birthday party? (He was asleep during Elsa's.) However, the girls and I love hearing him so much, we sing it with him just to watch him grin at our recognition and the attention he gets from the applause. He is still experimenting with his gross motor skills, trying to master jumping. So, whenever he climbs a stair or the hearth on my mother's fireplace, we all count, "1, 2, 3!!!" and he jumps and grins, giving himself a hand at gaining both our attention as well as more practice. He is also getting anxious about wanting to hold the spoon during eating time and feeding himself. Usually a disaster, but it's good practice from time to time. I've also noticed that lately, he gets into the cabinets for the purpose of setting the table rather than just making a mess.
He melts hearts in public, insisting on greeting every person he sees with a dimpled smile, a "hi" and a hand wave. He will also blow kisses as he leaves. He is DESPERATE to join the girls at pre-school. He literally jumps from my arms and runs into the classroom, climbing up into a chair to reach the markers and paper or to join the other boys playing on the carpet. He doesn't understand why he can't stay with everyone all day long. The teachers suggest that I enroll him into the class for the 1-2 year olds, but that's not what he wants to do. He wants to be a Sunflower (4's class) just like Ava & Tina and their friends. Much more exciting to draw, do art and play with the big kids.
He still shows no signs of dropping his morning nap or drinking milk anytime soon. He loves watching and chasing the chickens. Sometimes he wants to be with them so much, he walks into their coop, swats and waits for them to come close enough to touch. He is captivated by animals and is nurturing a new love of books. He will carry books all around the house, stopping every now and again to open the pages and show them to people. His favorite is shaped like a race car and came from the Bairds' last visit. I'm loving this age where hugs and kisses come freely and he's usually not far from me - laced between my legs or singing or chatting closeby. He is a real blessing!
Uno home at last, head stuffed into her feeding trough. Ava & Tina posing below the "lost chicken" sign we posted at the local store.
Well, we are all celebrating a huge triumph over all the pitfalls of life here! After 3 1/2 days of being out in the wilds of the neighborhood, amid cats, hawks, raccoons and who-knows-what, Uno has returned!!
I must admit, I wasn't very hopeful after the first 24-hours were over Monday night. My email to the neighbors only resulted in stories with sad endings. And, although I didn't want to believe Uno would follow the same fate, the girls clearly didn't believe. In their childhood innocence, being devoured by another creature in the cruel backyard wasn't even on their radar, nor did I want it to be. So, we did all the things a family "should" do when looking for a lost pet. On Tuesday, we made up a sign, which the girls colored, describing our lost chicken, and posted it at the local market among the other fliers. Both on the way there and on return trip, the girls are searching for her and calling her name. As we near home, we timidly enter the state-owned land between our house and the freeway. Some homeless people have cut the fence and there are well-used trails that zig-zag through the giant retaining walls that are terraced above the freeway. I'm reluctant to wander too far, not knowing what I'd come across in the company of kids. Although, we see no sign of Uno there either, Baby Brother has now picked up a new word after hearing it repeated for the last hour: "Uno."
I also created a craigslist ad and posted her picture to it. All that came back Tuesday was another story about pet chickens that had a sad ending too. Today's email, however, was different. When we got back from school, I'd received an email from the craigslist ad I'd created:
"hello, i don't know if this will be any help at this point, but I was in a truck that was getting onto [the freeway] near [your house] and we saw a small white hen on the side of the highway very close to the on ramp. I was afraid for it, but at work and unable to stop. hope this is somehow helpful. good luck! ~kila"
"Was this today? We live right above there...." I answered.
"today around 11am. the [freeway] on ramp near [basically your street]. my co-workers and i really hope you find it."
Wow! There's hope! So, I grab the phone and dial Paul. I tell him the good news. He says he's on his way home. Knowing it's been nearly 6-hours since this nice person saw her, I tell him I'm going to call Nonna and ask her to watch the girls so I go now to see if by chance she's still there.
Nonna's there in 2-minutes.
I first start out running. I reach the on-ramp and realize it would be pretty dangerous for me to just walk out on the freeway. I look to make sure she's not someplace easy for me to get to, but end up running back up the hill and getting into my car. It's commute time, so the on-ramp is slow to merge with the freeway, which is also clogged with traffic. As I approach the freeway, I can't believe that I actually see her on the side of the road! She's stark white against the green ivy that climbs up the retaining wall. It's surreal, actually, seeing a white chicken on a busy city freeway! I slowly inch my way up the traffic-clogged ramp and closer to where she is. I pull to the side, put on my indicators and confuse a bunch of people as I get out of the car and walk to the side. Slowly I walk up to Uno, making sure to talk softly. She lets me get close and only makes a small complaint when I pick her up. I'm SO thankful that she didn't scurry or dart into traffic! The people watching, stuck in the slow commute, are very confused -- did that lady just pick up a chicken? I can hear it in their bewildered faces. I carefully carry her and don't relax until the car door is closed and she's sitting in the passenger seat looking at me. I notice she's got a very dirty face, but is otherwise very healthy. I am so emotional, I nearly cry!
I make my way back onto the freeway and then off the next exit. Uno seems to be thankful already. She walks from the passenger seat and onto my lap. Next up to my arm. She rides perched on my arm and seems to enjoy watching the short drive home. She remains on my arm as we get out of the car and happily announce our arrival to the team of kids at home. Together we take her outside to the coup. She instantly flies down and starts pecking at the food like there's no tomorrow. I let her eat and then fill it up to the top. The water, too. She must be thirsty with all the hot weather we've been having. I can't believe she's been out there for 3 1/2 days!!
Everything settled, I get back to my computer and thank our craigslist friend:
"OMG! I just went down and FOUND HER! Thank you, thank you, thank you! You and your co-worker are AWESOME! You saved a little chicken's life and three little kids' hearts. Can we buy you a round of coffees and some home-made brownies for your next commute???"
He writes back: "no brownies needed, but wow! she's quite a survivor! my co-workers will be so glad. i'm really amazed and happy to know she's at home with her family again."
Well, we are too. Just take a look at Alessandro...calling "Uno" and blowing kisses....
Well, we knew that there would be all sorts of stories to come out of our chicken-raising experiences. This is surely one that could have ended the whole series!
I remember yesterday, just after dark, that I didn't close the chickens in and left them to forage around the yard, just as they like to do. Since I was in Sacramento attending my cousin's kid's birthday, I called Paul, who stayed at home, to remind him to close the chickens in before the raccoons came out. When I get home, he's out in front. "Good," I think. "He can help me bring in these three sleeping kids." His eyes tell me he's deeply annoyed by this...or something else. He soon tells me he's been looking for chickens for an hour, "They're GONE!"
After I put the kids down, I go off with a flashlight and confirm what he says. I expect to see strewn feathers or at least a dirt pile where a struggle for life started/ended, but I don't see anything unsual. However, the chickens are not in our yard, nor are they in Nonna's yard next door. Paul and I shine the flashlight under her deck where tons and tons of old wood and building materials lay while we go over different scenarios about what could have happened to the chickens. Paul is so upset and angry at me and swears he's never getting chickens again; we're cruel and terrible guardians. He goes upstairs while I sit in the darkness listening for their cooing/roosting sounds. I get nothing. After about 45-minutes, I give up and go upstairs. As I pass Paul, he tells me that he's going to take a sledgehammer to the coup in the morning so I don't kill anymore innocent chicken-lives. A bit extreme, but I sense there is a little boy in that fury, upset about the unresolved lives of his little pets. I worry about how to explain this to the kids and soothe myself by researching different humane societies that adopt out chickens. Clearly this family loves raising chickens...
I go to sleep but am suddenly not tired. I can't believe I'm losing sleep over chickens! When sleep finally comes, I dream only about scenarios of finding chickens and hope to awake to hear their morning noises outside the window. However, when I do wake, it is still dark and 6am. I notice Paul's not in the bed and never made it, either. I wander around and find him sleeping in the basement with all the windows open. His ears are unusually aware; he awakes to tell me he was hoping to hear them during the night, wandering safely back into the yard so he could close the door behind them. I feel sorry for him as he's clearly fond and concerned about the chickens.
By 7am, the chickens would have started their normal routine of coming out of their boxes and starting to forage for food, waiting for me to come out and fill up their feeder and water. Hopeful and sad, I duck my head out amid getting 3-children ready to leave for school. Paul and I don't talk about it and he leaves for work. About 10-minutes later, he comes back in. "I heard them! They're in the corner lot! I think I saw two of them!" I run up to the neighbor's door and ring it. No one answers. I fly back. Paul asks what I'm doing. "I'm going to jump the fence and get them!"
"Get what, Mommy?" Ava asks. "The chickens," I answer. "What happened to the chickens, Mommy?" "They got lost last night." I go over my mother-in-law's fence and then over the 6-foot cyclone fence that separates her yard from the the next. Two of the chickens, Dos and Tres, are foraging under the rose bushes. It's clear that nearly 6-week old chicks can do something Paul & I didn't consider: fly....fly both far and high.
Hurray!! Within minutes, the two of them are back in the coup. I write a quick email to the neighborhood asking them to be on the lookout for Uno, the yellow-white one. So far, all that's come back is a note saying two chickens were taken from a different neighbor's yard by raccoons. Not encouraging, but we'll keep looking.
I do have to say, however, it is clear that these chickens are part of the family. After dropping off the kids at school, some mom friends were asking, with baited breath, about the chicken-saga. "These chickens have got to be in your holiday card photo this year," one mom ventured. I sort of have to believe that she is right!
Ava decided this morning that she didn't want to take a bath today with Baby Brother. She wanted to do what Bettina got to do last time: take a shower. So, while I bathed Baby Brother, I delegated the shower routine to Daddy, who was about to jump in anyhow. Ava has this thing about not getting her ears or eyes wet, so I was concerned about how she'd take the shower, but her confidence and determination said it was time to give it a try. From my perch upstairs, I could tell that the shower wasn't all that Ava thought it'd be. She started to complain as Daddy told her that her hair wasn't even wet enough to put in the shampoo. Then I hear more complaining, more screaming, and Daddy just trying to get it done. The scene escalates higher and higher until it sounds like the animalistic panic of pure survival. Then I hear a big crash...Uh, oh...time to investigate...and quickly. I run down the stairs and find the whole shower curtain and rod on the floor, both Daddy and Ava on their backs on top of it. Daddy finally got the water turned off. The only thing left standing is Bettina, wondering what the heck just happened. Apparently, Ava was so determined NOT to finish her shower that, when Daddy picked her up to go under the shower to wash her shampoo out, she kicked off the wall with such force, it sent both Daddy and she flying backwards out of the shower, taking the curtain and rod down with them. I couldn't help myself....listening to the story, tears of laughter were streaming down my face. That's one determined kid!!! Thank goodness no one was hurt! I guess its only baths again for Ava.
Barbie-Princess Fairy (Bettina), a Princess (Ava) and our Little Prince (Alessandro)
