Flying the Cardboard Coop

The chicks turn 3-weeks tomorrow....they are much more feathered (almost a molted look) and are already testing the boundaries of "the box." This morning, I found the yellow one, Uno, patiently waiting on the OUTSIDE of their cardboard box to be put back in for her water and food. [More cleaning.] While changing their food again tonight, she jumped up on top of the water bottle to get a better look at my activities. Ah-ha! That's how you got out! Now I know to move the water to the middle of the box....and to hustle down to the feed store to buy me a more permanent coop.

Fun at the Zoo

We recently went to the zoo again with friends Dean and his mommy (one of my best friends), Tiffany. We spent over an hour in the farm yard alone and then rode the carousel. It was Alessandro's first time on a carousel! He loved it, but was a little nervous when his ostrich started moving up and down...Cute!

Uno, Dos, Tres - 2-Weeks old

Uno (the yellow one), Dos (the striped one) and Tres (the black one) are now 2-weeks old. We thought children grew quickly? How about chickens! They now have most of their wing feathers and some of their tail feather are coming out, too. They have 6-more weeks before all their feathers are in and they are ready to live outside full time.
I've decided, if they can live through the first 2-weeks at our house, they can live through a hurricane! There are many funny stories to tell of the misadventures of these fluffy friends -- funny only because they have survived this crazy life I'm so used to living: living among children.

Adventure #1:
Daddy: [goes downstairs and notices there are no chicks in the box] Girls? Do you know where the chicks are?
Bettina: Yeah.
Daddy: Well, could you show me? I can't see them.
Bettina: [takes a break from watching SpongeBob on the TV and walks downstairs and over to the play shopping cart. Pulls out the child-sized purse from the cart and unzips it. Out come three little chicks.] They're right here, Daddy. Silly!
Daddy: [comes upstairs after replacing the chicks in the box and looks at Mommy.] Did you know that Bettina zipped up the chicks - all three of them - into her purse?
Mommy: Ah, no....
[Mommy and Daddy wonder how long those poor chicks were stuffed into that little bag. Mommy quickly adds the purse to the dirty clothes pile.]

Adventure #2:
[Mommy is trying desprately to make the most of her *free time* while Baby Brother naps. She's on the phone trying manically to sort out business with a friend. Mommy stops talking in mid-sentance after peering out the window, hearing loud, unhappy chirping sounds from outside.] OMG, Anne, I have to call you back. Somethings going on with the chicks. [Mommy goes downstairs and sees Bettina with the garden hose. The back patio is drenched.] Bettina! What are you doing! You know not to play with water without an adult....
Bettina: But, Mommy, we're giving the chickies a bath.
[Mommy notices a totally soaked yellow chick trying to hide in the corner. It takes us three minutes to find the other two who are equally drenched and shivering from cold and fright. Mommy wags an angry finger at the two girls explaining how chicks can get sick and plops the chickies down under a heat lamp. Half an hour later, they are dry and fluffy again.]

There are also the unknown stories...questions like, "Why is there bird poop on the tops of all the books on the bookshelf?" or "Is that bird poop on the top of the guest bed?" I just shake my head, not bothering to ask what kind of carnival ride or game the poor chicks had to endure, and do a lot of laundry.

Go Donate Blood -- Now....

This baby's birth story is incredible and intense. It's about my friend Cindy and Ava's God-father, Mike. You must watch and heed the message. Warning - it may have you crying.....

13-Months - Little Man Looks Like a Litte Boy

Now, I wonder if I'm looking into the future with this shot. It looks to me more like the school picture of an 8-year old....not a snapshot of a little 13-month baby!

Nonetheless, this is Alessandro at 13-months old. The biggest news, of course, is that we're weaned!! Mom has reclaimed her breasts and they are thanking her very much for that. Alessandro is OK with that except he still won't take milk from a sippy cup (grr!). At least, not enough. Another upside is that it is now very easy to put him to sleep. Just a 2-3 minute relaxation routine instead of 15-20 minutes of nursing.

He is also in the middle cutting more teeth. Two more on the bottom have crowned, but there has got to be more. He hasn't slept longer than 2-hours in 4-days and he's screeching like a howler monkey most of the day. I try not to give him too much Motrin, although that and the Baby Oragel seem to work the best in alleviating his discomfort.

He is very physical and adept at throwing balls and anything else he can get his hands on. Seems very "boy" in the regard for sure. He is great at climbing down stairs carefully, although I still worry if he stands up in the middle of a stair case lest he take a step backwards and fall. He is all over the place in a playground. I'm fine with him climbing around the toddler section, but he can't help himself in following the girls into the "big kid" sections. He climbs up the stairs after them, tries to straddle the teeter-totter and runs across the tall bridges which have me worrying at every corner. He's not bold enough to try the slides yet. He opts instead to master each section of the climbing by scaling a section, backing down carefully and repeating a number of times. His favorite toys remain balls, especially the liquid-filled glitter balls that Grandma bought for him. The one with the floating eyeball that lights up when bounced is one he will always hunt down and claim.

He's added a couple more words to vocabulary: "done," "momma," "juice," "more", "hi" are the ones he can do without prompting and he'll mimic a number more. He can ASL sign "hat," "shoes," "dog," "more," and "done." He's also starting to change his nap schedule, getting ready to drop a nap. We now nap around 10:30am and again around 4pm. Lights-out is around 8:30 or 9pm.

He LOVES the pet chickens we have, as well as any animal that moves! He often watches the chicks in the box and will start walking toward any animal that's near. It was fun taking him to the farmyard at the zoo. He spent half the time watching the ducks in the water and the other half following around the different goats. We love this little guy to pieces!

Uno, Dos, Tres

Meet the newest members of the household....

And, I mean household.... they need to stay indoors under a heat lamp for 2 more months. We picked them up at the feed store where we get Misty's treats. The girls spend time looking at chicks and ducklings while I get all the things I need for the horse. This time, however, we boxed up a couple and took them home.

The guy helping us out to the car asks the girls, "What are you going to name them?" Ava answers, "How about something in Spanish." The man tells her, "My name is in Spanish...why don't you name them Jose?" I remind him that we want them to be hens, not roosters. Ava, still contemplating the Spanish, quotes from Baby Brother's English/Spanish counting table: "How about Uno, Dos, Tres?" Somehow, it sticks. Paul pushes it when he gets home so Tina thinks of other English names for them as well: Pancake, SpongeBob and Popcorn. Who is which, I don't know. I think I prefer their Spanish names.

Although the girls have always admired chickens, I think it was really Paul who placed the idea of getting one in their head. When he was a little boy, his family has some chickens and Paul was infatuated. He used to tell me stories about how he'd get up out of bed in the middle of the night and go sleep next to the chicks or bring one back to bed with him. He laughs about how they pooped in his bed. I think Paul secretly wants to relive those fond childhood memories and share them with his own kids.

Me? I think it'd be cool to raise chickens. Even cooler if they eat all the bugs and spiders that have taken over the backyard in the 4-years since we used it for something other than a construction staging area. I think it will be a great experience for the kids. Fresh eggs are also a benefit. Welcome, Uno, Dos, and Tres! I'm sure there will be many entertaining stories about you to come!

Feeling Like Madonna

Alessandro is just a few days shy of 13-months when I decide I'm ready. With six teeth, breastfeeding has become a not-so-cute-and-sweet event for me. I put up with it because he still will not take milk any other way. He has never taken to a bottle and, although he will drink water and juice from a sippy cup, he refuses milk. I worry about him not getting all the calcium his little growing body needs.
A few days shy of 13-months, I worry no more. I worry instead how my nipples will ever recover as not just one, but both of them are chewed raw and are incredibly painful. "That's it," I huff to our little man, two mornings before our vacation. "You're done! No more boob for you!"
"Finally!" Cheers my husband, who has complained about the lack of weaning for a month or more already.
His cheers only last a day. Soon, Alessandro is upset and frustrated, unable to fall asleep. Paul takes back all encouragement and tries to persuade me instead to "just give it to him" so that he can fall asleep just as easily as his son used to.
My patience draws thin as my nerves get jostled and the pre-vacation anxiety hits. It culminates into the perfect storm when the pain of engorgement, coupled by my PMS hits and creates a hormone frenzy inside my body and temperament. It hurts when somebody even looks that them, much less brushes up against them. The skin becomes so tight they itch and I feel like I'm wearing Madonna's famous bustier - the one with the hard pointy cones. I laugh as I envision myself in it, singing "Express Yourself."
A double-dose of Advil helps and, about the time we make the 3-day trip to Idaho, I'm completely comfortable again. Not only that, but Little Man is starting to become OK with just going to sleep with nothing but a couple sips of juice off his sippy cup. All's more-or-less done and converted in enough time to enjoy vacation. Yay!
Now all I need to do is figure out how to get him to drink milk! I wonder if I somehow sweeten his milk? Will he just get used to it and eventually drink it? I've decided I'll continue trying for at least a week before whining to the pediatrician, just in case he does resolve it soon. Until then, he'll be eating yogert for breakfast, cheese sandwiches for lunch and cottage cheese for dinner!