Baby Birds and Friendly Squierrels

Last week Kyle came in from the front yard and announced that a baby bird had flown out of its nest and was now stuck. I was bit confused about how a bird might be "stuck" so I asked him if he was sure. It turns out he was right.

Each year since we've lived in this house a bird family will build a next up in the porch overhang. We love when spring time comes and our living room window is open and we hear the baby birds chirping away as the mama bird returns to the nest to feed them. I ponder over how quiet they are until the mama bird flies in with food. Survival of the fittest I suppose. Baby who chirps loudest gets fed more? I don't know. Mother nature has her ways.

The nest is high up and I don't like to frighten the birds so I just zoom in as best as I can to take a photo of the nest.

Kyle explained that the baby bird had taken flight and then flew into the neighbor's giant palm bush and was stuck. When I bent down to look, indeed there was the baby bird and it seemed he didn't know how to get out. I reached in ever so gingerly to free the bird and he quickly flapped his wings and sort of jumped out of the thick palm leaves.

He then went straight into the street! I thought he was scared of us so we didn't touch him again. Instead we just waited on the sidewalk to be sure any cars coming home from work wouldn't run him over. Within just a minute the momma and daddy birds came down onto the street and seemed to be urging the baby out of danger. They recruited helpers. This was quite fascinating to watch and how I wish I had my camera to record the phenomena.

Really it didn't take too long for the baby bird to hop all the way across the street and into our neighbor's lawn. I guessed he was just tired and needed a rest before taking flight again. So, I ran into the house to grab my phone and without getting too close to startle him I took a photo. He was quite tiny and oh so cute to look at resting in the grass.

The momma and daddy birds were both on the rooftop of the house next to this one and clearly monitoring the situation. 

I told Kyle we should go inside and let the birds know we were not going to harm their baby.

The next day Kyle asked me in the car if animals have feelings. I said they do and asked what was making him think about that. He talked about the baby bird flying out of its nest and getting stuck and the other birds coming to help it. He wondered if the baby bird was afraid. Hearing your children have empathy for other living things leaves you with a sense of pride. The fact that he sought help for the bird in the first place, but that he was still thinking about it the next day and likely relating to the bird. He's so curious about how the outside world relates to him and I love being witness to that.

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Over the weekend we had a trip up the freeway to Fountain Valley where my daughter had a softball tournament. Before our first game of the day the girls had warm ups and I took the boys to the playground. Just next door was a golf course with lots of trees and we discovered several squirrels playing. One would run, almost hop over to an open space and then stand there and shimmy his tail. Another would run down the trunk of a tree and give chase to the other. We stood there on our side of the fence watching and laughing. Animals love having fun just as much as we do. As we started along the path again we saw a squirrel seemed to be following us. So of course we had to stop again and Kyle and Owen attempted to coax him over. Nope, off he ran. Then as we turned back towards the playground another squirrel was climbing down the fence onto the golf course side. The boys loved that he was so close and walked right up to the fence. The squirrel didn't seem shy. Rather he seemed to tease with his jutting about and inching in to get a closer look himself. It was remarkable how this squirrel seemed to want to make friends. The boys couldn't wait to tell their sister all about it. I'm just glad I got a decent photo of them hanging out with this friendly little dude.

Later the boys were chasing after one another on the playground just as we had seen the squirrels doing.

It's the little things, really. Happiness is all around us even when there's a moment of chaos or trauma, As in the case of the boys pictured playing above, just minutes later one hit the other and we had to leave the playground and clean up a bloody nose. Yes, while that was not fun to deal with, what I choose to file away in my memory box are the moments that made me smile.

Kid Confessions - Owen

Owen runs in from the back yard, super excited.

"Mom, I have a wiggly tooth!"

"You do? Which one?"

He shows me it is the bottom front tooth.

"I can't wait for it to fall out so I can get money from the tooth fairy!"
"If the tooth fairy gives me $4 I'm going to give Kyle 3 and keep 1."

"Oh, really? Why?"

"Because I've been stealing his money."

Well, I'm glad he's honest. And, I like that he feels he should return it. Now I'm a little tempted to give him a bonus for wanting to do the right thing.

Update: Owen lost the tooth the very next day! He was concerned about going to soccer camp because of his wiggly tooth. As it turns out that was a valid point! Someone accidentally whacked him in the mouth as they were both running for the ball and his tooth became so loose from that he just pulled it out right there! I was uber impressed that he managed to not lose the tooth and brought it home.

The tooth fairy brought $5 and just as he said he offered to give his brother $3.  His dad didn't want him giving away his first tooth fairy money so he shelled out the $3 debt. I guess it pays to confess!

#Gratitude365 Day 40

#Gratitude365 January 27 2014

It had been over a year since the kids had any kind of throwing up - thankful that I have a go-to remedy. Owen started to get sick kind of all of a sudden at 3:45pm and with my husband getting ready to leave for class within the hour I knew I needed to make a quick run to Sprouts for some Oscillio by Boiron. Sometimes when our bodies go a long time without being sick, it seems like there comes a point where our bodies just need to evacuate some toxins. While I spent the night cuddling Owen on the couch trying to keep him comfortable, the big kids were able to entertain themselves quite well and really were champions. At one point I asked Owen if he wanted to take a bath. So glad I remembered that as a good way to give him some relief. After I got dinner on the table for the other kids I went to go check on him and he had fallen asleep in the bath - completely relaxed. I had to sit and observe him sort of floating and so mellow. At first I thought he was maybe tricking me, but I had to lift him up out of the water to wake him.

Also grateful for my husband making a stop to pick up some 7-Up and Pedialyte and chicken noodle soup on his way home from class. By the time he got home I was ready for bed and Owen was too. He of course wanted to snuggle up in our bed, leaving my husband to want the couch so he wouldn't catch any "sickies."

Kyle was next. Just as I was falling asleep Kyle woke up and started vomiting. Grateful that the boys were staggered just enough so i could care for both of them and Cory could get enough sleep in order to be up for work at 4:30am. No matter how tough things seem, it is important to see what we can be grateful for that is going in our favor. There have been times in the past where we felt like all we did was run a merry-go-round of visits to the bathroom and refreshing towels and emergency pans between all 3 kids in one night.

#Gratitude365 Day 26

#Gratitude365 January 13 2014

Today I got a facial. I so love those days that I can catch up with my friend Karen, both personally and professionally. I've been on this regiment of taking better care of me and I'm continuing my twice a month facial regiment - so a little shout out to Karen at Firefly Wellness! Thank you for helping make my skin look better!

After picking up the kids from school today, everyone agreed they wanted to go to the park. I love when they all agree to go so we can have some extra outdoors time. I met the father of one of Kyle's classmates who was sharing their experience with Children's Hospital. One never know when these tidbits of information are going to be vital. And knock on wood, because I don't want to have to use this information as I rather like the fact that we don't ever see the inside of hospitals, aside from going to give birth. AND I recognize how super lucky we are to not have long hospital stay experiences or medical issues that cause for all kinds of testing that can be hard for an adult to sustain, let alone a kid. Giving gratitude for good health!

Owen is a hugger. I will be honest that sometimes I get touched out and with his 10th hug in 2 minutes I want to put up a barrier at times. Well, today he destroyed that barrier when he asked "Mama, does it make you happy when I kiss you?" and then follow up with "Mama, does it make you happy when I hug you?" Yes, my sweet Owen, it does make me happy. I will be remembering those questions with your future hugs and kisses!

#Gratitude365 Day 23

#Gratitude365 January 10 2014

Owen had his first day at a new preschool and when I picked him up he said "Mom, my day was AWESOME!" That is what we want to hear when our child goes into a new environment and doesn't know anyone. His teachers made him feel incredibly welcome and sent me pictures to show what he was involved in during the day. He went on and on about how much he liked his new preschool and made a new friend and what they're doing next week. Because he has been stuck at home the last 3 months after a reprieve from preschool, it was just nice to know he really appreciates being around his peers and learning.  He shared with me that he followed the rules so we went to Jamba Juice to celebrate his first awesome day - I just love his smile here:

And then he wanted to pretend to rock climb -- my boys are little monkeys climbing on anything and everything:

I had picked up my contacts the day before and finally got rid of contacts that were long over due to be thrown out - oh it felt good to have fresh contacts! No more irritated eye!

Watched one of my favorite Hangouts on Air to date - The Mia Connect Power Chat - and one of her guests, Leah Segedie of Mamavation got everyone laughing with her KloutKlaps.... it was legendary! Thank you all for the laughs!

Are you on this #Gratitude365 journey yet? Share with me below because the more gratitude we put out in the universe - the more we end up being thankful for!

#Gratitude365 Day 14

#Gratitude365 January 1 2014

Whoa. You blink and it's a new year. A high school teacher of mine once explained why it seems that time passes more quickly for us as we get older. When you are 4 years old and you're waiting an entire year for your birthday to circle around again, that is 20 percent of your life, a huge chunk of time to wait. When you're 40, waiting for your birthday to circle around again, a year is just 2.5 percent of your life. It's all relative. Makes sense to me.

I tend to wait until after my birthday (coming up this Saturday) to start to adhere to healthy/exercise new years resolutions - so I'm grateful that I know myself well enough to not put that kind of pressure to skip yummy treats, desserts, drinks or otherwise when celebrating my one special day a year. Even though I have that policy, I did jump in with a renewed commitment to drinking 8 glasses of water a day and starting the day off with hot lemon water before eating/drinking anything else. I got that tip from La Jolla Mom a few weeks ago and have been sticking to it almost every day (one reason I like to start new things a little before the new year is to give me some time to get used to a new habit!) I'm grateful for having found that tip when I did because I've been battling two colds back to back these last two weeks and feel like I haven't been "as sick" as I would have been if I hadn't had all that extra vitamin C. Really, I haven't been congested with either of these two colds so that was a total win.

Scrolling through the photos on my phone I saw Owen, my 4 year old, had taken a selfie, as is totally the norm with kids and iPhones, and it made me smile. There are days where I'm having constant struggles with him about personal space and respecting boundaries, but then I see one of his #lovenotes like this and my heart feels full. He gives hugs out like they are in high demand, he hugs like you're the love of his life, and he kisses me good morning, good night and just because. His middle name should be Joy because he clearly wants to pass joy to everyone around him. Today as I start the new year and still try to figure out "exactly" what my new years resolutions are, I am grateful to be the mom who gets to kiss this face every day.

What little surprises make you smile?