Another Chicken Update

The summer has flown by and fall is nearly here.  Our feathered companions have been great company and have provided a constant stream of learning opportunities as we've watched them continue to grow and develop.  Here are a couple pics of the flock which were taken about a month ago.

Monkey thinks the chickens are kinda cool, but Bug is a bit obsessed with them.  We often refer to him as the chicken whisperer.  He loves to hang out with them and cuddle them and giggle at their antics and give them treats.  He is completely comfortable around them and utterly fearless.

Oh, and he wants to BE one for halloween.  The first element of his costume arrived the other day.  (Thank you, Amazon!)

In the past week, we have experienced two big firsts.  I had been eagerly awaiting the arrival of the first egg and had been searching the internet for information about how you could tell when your chickens were about to start laying.  Most sites said around 4 to 6 months, and a couple places said the average age was 20 weeks.  So I counted off 20 weeks from the day we picked up our newly-hatched chicks (Wednesday, April 23rd) and I wrote on the calendar on Wednesday, September 10th "Chickens are 20 weeks" and watched the date get closer and began checking the nest boxes each day.  Low and behold, right on September 10th - the first egg appeared!  And it was a Big Event for our household.  Both kids had to pose for pictures with the egg.

I'll never forget when Bug exclaimed, "I'm so proud of you, chickens!  Great job!"  I was just as excited as a little kid too.  I did refrain from taking an egg selfie though.  That same day we had taken one of the hens to our homeschool co-op with us for Bug's Preschool/Kindergarten Animal Study class.  He was so excited to share his chicken with everyone and she was a big hit.  Everyone was amazed at how relaxed and friendly she was, and I gave Bug all the credit for socializing our birds so well.  I was a little bummed that we didn't end up taking the hen who laid the egg though, because she would have ended up laying it while we were there!

Even more exciting, this morning, Shane ate that first egg for breakfast and texted me this pic:

Egg number one was a double-yolker!!

Today we received egg #2 and I could tell its arrival was imminent because the hen was definitely singing the "egg-laying song" which is something else I came across in my internet research.  (There are plenty of YouTube videos of it if you're curious.)  It's basically just some very loud clucking: bawk bawk bawk bawk BA-GAWK! with the pattern repeated over and over.  If the song had lyrics I am pretty sure they would be "What's coming out of my BUTT?!  What's coming out of my BUTT?!"  It's rather comical.

Anyway, I mentioned above that we had two firsts this week.  The other first involves an intentional decrease in our rooster population.  Shane converted two of them to food.

This majestic creature is now in my freezer.  Weird, I know.

 
The kids and I went elsewhere and he and a friend took care of business.  I have not gotten a lot of details from him on the process (and that's ok!), but he was committed to learning how to do it, from a self-sufficiency standpoint, although I gather that he definitely did not enjoy it.  We still have four more roosters to eliminate and I know he is not looking forward to it.  My parents offered to take them to a livestock auction instead and we may take them up on their offer.  Not sure yet.  We haven't eaten the two he killed yet and while it seems very strange to have two creatures who were recently walking around my backyard, now inside my freezer, I am curious to see if I can taste a difference in fresh, organic-fed, cage-free chicken that we raised ourselves, compared to what comes from the grocery store.  Will let you know...

Your Daily Moment of Zen

Bug was watching a Minecraft video and was moved to get up and dance to the music. It kind of looks like he is imitating dance moves, but he is not - those moves are 100% his.  Just thought I'd share because it makes me smile every time I watch it.

Einstein, Newton, Darwin, Curie, and Tesla

I have so much stuff I want to write about, and just haven't been able to line up the time/energy to do it.  Will catch up soon, I promise!  Until then, here's a quickie for ya.

Ok, so I finally broke down and bought these awesome scientist action figures (from the Little Giants series by Jailbreak Collective Toys).  Little Bug has not only memorized their names, but also loves messing with me when I ask him who's who...

Oh Yeah, My Second Kid! An Update.

"I fast!"

I know I don't write about him as much, so I thought I'd do an update on Kid #2 aka The Bug, who is indeed still growing and thriving!  His vocabulary has exploded and he learns more every day.  If he doesn't know the word for something he points at it until I tell him the word; he then repeats it once and remembers it forever.  I keep catching him singing snippets of the alphabet song, usually beginning with Q, accompanied by a dramatic head bob with each letter:  "Kyew, Arr, Ess... Tee, Yew, Vee... Dubbow-Yew, Eks.. Wye and Zeee!" Occasionally he starts at H instead:  "H I J K, La-La-La-La, Pee!".  He has also surprised me by counting to 6 - I did not know he could do that.  He still loves singing and dancing, and has the heartiest evil laugh you have ever heard.  He is super ornery too, and still loves to take everything out of everything, which can be quite maddening at times.  Until recently he has always been a good sleeper, but that seems to have gone out the window in the past few weeks - not sure if it's a growth spurt or what.  He has started resisting going to sleep, has been waking at odd hours, and two nights ago I believe he had a night terror, which I had never experienced before with either kid and it scared me quite a bit.  It was like he was having the worst tantrum ever, but in his sleep, and it lasted about 20 minutes.  Here's hoping it was just a one time thing.  *crosses fingers*.

"Driving" Daddy's tractor (only pretending!)

He and Monkeyman are best buddies and they get along quite well for the most part and seem to really enjoy each other's company, although Monkeyman does occasionally like pushing Bug's buttons and making him mad.  If Bug's been out of the room for a few minutes, when he comes back in and sees Monkeyman he says "Hi Monkeyman!" and beams as if he hasn't seen his brother for days and really missed him.  He does the same to me, with a huge grin, "Hi Mama!"  Also, whenever I do the simplest thing for him, like give him a snack or change his diaper, he says "Thank you, Mama." Both phrases make my heart melt.

Even though the homeschooling focus is not really on him yet since he's only 2, I see him learning and soaking things up like a sponge, just like his older brother did, and again I feel so lucky to be able to stay home with them and not miss a minute of it. 

He has recently switched from demolition to construction when playing with blocks.

Like his Mama, he likes curling up on the couch with a good book on a cold winter day.

Snugglin' and readin' with Daddy

I know the video quality is terrible, but give it a listen.  My little parrot will say just about anything you tell him to.  LOL

Happy Birthday to Little Bug!

We celebrated my baby's second birthday over the weekend, so today's post is in honor of him, and all the happy he brings us...


Here you can see him partying hard:

He's TWOOOOOOO!

Here's a quick sample his adorable ornery-ness:

Please excuse my previous post

Sorry to unload on you, blog people. I normally write more postive things here, I just needed to blow off some steam and vent. I know that most, if not all, moms have days like this, and the good days far outnumber the bad ones. I find that when I'm reading other blogs, the most compelling stuff is when people are honest and real, so that was me being real and showing you what my bad day looked like. I know there are many other people in this world who have waaaaaaaaay worse bad days than my bad days, and I'm grateful that my complaints really are quite minor. But most homeschooling blogs I've read paint a fairly sunshine-and-rainbows picture, but it's not always that rosy, every single day! Sometimes it can be pretty hard work too.

PS. Yesterday Emmett jammed a game into the Wii when there was already a game in there and ruined one of the games and broke the Wii. Today he immersed Max's brand new shoes in the dog's water dish. He is an adorable, moody, whirling tornado of destruction, alternating screaming tantrums with doing the most hilariously cute and funny things like dancing, saying new words, making funny faces, etc. When I was changing his diaper this morning, he cheerfully exclaimed "Bye Poopie!" which he's never said before, which made me laugh so hard. So, even on a bad day there are good moments too. And now I'm done venting, I swear!

*Insert primal scream here*

Today I am having a pull-my-hair-out, bang-my-head-against-the-wall, frustrating day. Emmett seems to be at the peak of the "terrible twos" even though he hasn't even turned two yet. He has perfected his crib exiting skills, and has therefore been refusing to sleep. Last night it took almost an hour to get the boy, who normally falls asleep in 3 minutes, to bed. And today I am sleep deprived because every time he stirred last night, I laid awake listening for him to climb out. He woke up and climbed out at 6am (he normally sleeps until 9-ish) and when he saw my haggard face, I swear he did a little victory dance. At naptime today, I could tell he was exhausted - he could barely keep his eyes open and he was literally staggering around. But every time I put him in his crib, nearly asleep, he would instantly pop up to his feet and climb out, giggling and squealing. I spent a solid hour waiting in the hallway and then repeatedly, calmly, putting him back in the crib every time he climbed out, over and over and over. I tried rubbing his back. I tried laying on the floor beside the crib. Nothing worked. Finally I reached the end of my patience and gave up. Which of course just teaches him that if he's persistent, he will win. Great job, me. I've decided I MUST go get a baby gate for his doorway, so that he will at least be confined to his room and not be able to fall down the stairs and/or wander the house getting into mischief in the middle of the night. I won't be able to sleep until I can secure him. (Unfortunately there is no door on the bedroom, so I can't just shut him in.) I got the kids ready and we headed out... and he fell asleep partway to the store. I turned around and came home, and left him out there in the van (parked in the shade with all windows down of course), and he took about a 30 minute nap strapped in his seat. Whatever works, right? I keep reminding myself of the parenting mantra - This Too Shall Pass - but today feels like it's been about a month long already. Looking forward to this phase being done.

Edit: I forgot to mention that, on top of all that, my 5 year old is in this wonderful defiant/argumentative/mouthy phase and he's been in rare form today too. So I'm experiencing synchronized parental-limit-testing. Seriously, how on Earth do people have "quiverfuls" of kids? Cuz today I can barely handle 2!

Second Child Syndrome

Ok, I have been thinking I need to devote a post to my poor, neglected Emmett. To be fair, this is a homeschooling blog and I'm documenting the beginning of actively homeschooling Max... but my other kid is pretty neat too. Today is Emmett's half birthday - he's 18 months old! In some ways it feels like he just got here a few days ago, and in some ways it seems like he's been a part of our family forever. He is a sweet little thing... as a baby he was much more laid back than Max was, but he is now entering that phase of frequent tantrums, due to his intense desire to communicate, but limited ability to do so. I remember reading or being told somewhere that the "terrible twos" are really more like between 1 1/2 and 2 1/2, and it sure feels like we are there. He climbs EVERYTHING. Turn your back for a second and he is standing on the dining room table giving you an impish grin and making a guttural "HAAAA HAAAA HAAAAAAAA!". He can run unbelievably fast on those little legs now. And why is it that small children have a need to take everything out of everything? The contents of every cupboard, every drawer, every toy container must be emptied out and dispersed around the house. I have pretty much given up on cleaning up behind him - it's an exercise in futility. I basically let him trash the house and tidy it back up when he's sleeping. It's much better for my mental health that way. He's beginning to enter what I thought of with Max as a "learning explosion." He learns new words and skills every day. He stubbornly insists on feeding himself now and wants no part of being spoon fed anymore. It's messy, but he's getting better at it. Also, he's saying quite a few words now:

Ma-Ma
Dah-DEEEEE!
Dog-dog = Dog
Ba-Ba = Bottle
Teeez = Cheese! He says this both in response to having a camera pointed at him, or the food being offered to him.
Tookie = Cookie
Bubba = Brother
OP! = Stop! He says this whenever I'm doing something he doesn't want me to do - namely changing his diaper.
Ow! He learned this during his hospital stay.
Hello! He says this whenever he picks up a phone and pretends to talk on it.
Bye! He has said this just a few times, and refuses to say it when prompted.
Cah = Car. He has also said this just 2 or 3 times and refuses to say it if prompted.
He also meows at the cats and barks at the dog. Actually if meowing counts, that would be his first word.

He is developing quite the temper when he doesn't get his way - he had a complete meltdown the other day because he couldn't fit his sippy cup through the door of his toy school bus. Usually I take these tantrums as a sign that he's tired and ready for a nap. He is still napping twice a day, mostly, but the times vary depending on how early or late he wakes up in the morning. Basically after 3 hours or so he is hitting the wall. It makes it difficult to make plans because I'm never sure when he'll be sleeping, but it has always made more sense to me to let the kid's natural schedule dictate things than try to impose an artificial one based on convenience to me. When he gets down to one nap consistently, it will make my days more predictable, but I will only get one break instead of two - so there's always a trade-off.

My favorite thing about Emmett is watching him with his brother. They are so amazing together, so connected, and they genuinely enjoy each other's company. They cuddle and hug and give each other kisses. Em is finally old enough to really be a playmate to Max and they do play together quite well for the most part. The train table is hands-down the best toy in the house, for all ages - they spend lots of time playing trains together now.



That being said, I wish Em would slow down with all this growing up already! I love those pudgy baby cheeks, and hobbit-like feet, and chubby legs. I love the baby giggles and grins and squeals. I love holding him close and smelling his hair and putting my cheek against his... but he rarely wants to cuddle with me anymore, always squirming to get off my lap and go play (although he never wants to be very far away from me). Slow down little man!