Squirelly Gray

Yesterday we were outside enjoying the gorgeous weather. I was lounging under the shade of the tree. Wyatt was swinging on one side and Oliver was swinging on the other side. All of a sudden something caught my eye as it flew through the air. "Oliver, what was that?!" I asked, thinking he had thrown something. Wyatt replied "A RAT fell out of the tree!!!" I got up to investigate and no, it wasn't a rat. It was a baby squirrel.

 I called for Bob and he came out to check the baby to see if it was still alive. The boys ran inside to get a box and then they filled it with leaves. We put the baby in the box - it was so young it hadn't opened it's eyes yet. He cried for his mom and seemed fairly active so we left him in the box and went inside hoping the mama squirrel would come back. A few hours later he was still there so I warmed up a corn bag and put in under the leaves in his box. He was still there in the morning so I tried to feed him but he barely drank 10 drops of milk. I checked him out again afterward and his ankle seems to be broken. See in the picture above how his foot is facing the wrong way? Poor little guy! I called the wildlife rehabilitation number and they said they won't take injured animals. I called around to vets and finally found one that takes wild animals so we packed him up and took him over there. Wyatt named him Squirrelly Gray. Everyone was upset to leave him there but we talked about how the mom squirrel wouldn't take him back to the nest because he was hurt so someone had to take care of him. We imagined him getting better and being released into a big forest full of acorns and friendly squirrels for him to play with.

Robyn was very excited about the baby squirrel. She wanted to pet him and give him the milk. She was very sad when we had to leave him outside and even more sad when we left him at the vet's office. She is the queen of the squirrels so she has lots of squirrel friends. 

Back to school

Well, technically we never stop learning but the "official" school year is starting next month. I'm excited! Robyn is getting bigger so we can do more things and the boys really have their own interests. Oliver made a list of things he wants to learn this year:

Life cycle of the frog
How hot dogs are made
How motors work
How electricity is made
All about pigs
All about ducks


Wyatt hasn't made his list yet but we're going to work on that pretty soon. He's taken a break from tae kwon do but hopefully we'll be able to start that back up again soon. Oliver is showing some interest in 4H so I'm looking into that for him as well.

Robyn is all potty learned. She's starting to get colors and she's started counting, too. She can count one, two but then skips right to ten.

We're hoping to have a camping trip sometime in September but we'll see what happens!

Robyn turned two!!

I found this checklist from when Oliver was two so I thought I'd do it for Robyn.

Yes! - Walks by him/herself
Yes! - Stands up from middle of floor without help
Yes! - Turns page of a cardboard book
Yes! - Shows a toy, body part, and/or clothing item when asked
Yes! - May say two or more words meaningfully and also uses gestures to communicate
Yes! - Jabbers expressively and imitates words inexactly
Yes! - Likes an audience; imitates ball play and other social games 
Yes! - Chews most foods well; may want to feed self with spoon and drink from cup, with many spills
Yes! - Walks up stairs with one hand held, and creeps backwards downstairs (she actually goes up and down on her feet)
Yes! - Likes to climb on, push and pull large objects or toys
Yes! - Stacks three or four objects (she can stack more than that)
Yes! - May say five to ten words
Yes! - Points to one or more pictures in a book on request
Yes! - Follows a series of directions, e.g., "pick up the book and bring it to me." (when she wants to)Yes! - Points to several body parts on self or doll (ALL of them!)Yes! - Uses spoon and cup with little spilling
Yes! - Places edibles in mouth
Yes! - Able to run
No - Begin jumping during play (she doesn't get her feet off the ground but she crouches down and pops up and says "JUMP!")
Yes! - Completes simple three piece puzzle
Yes! - Sometimes uses two-word sentence, e.g., "more juice" or "bye-bye mommy." (it's rare, she mostly uses one word and gestures. she does say "I need you" and "more, please")
Yes! - Imitates simple words immediately 
Yes! - Follows directions easily (when she wants to)Yes! - Occasionally plays near but not usually with other children (she plays with her brothers and other children. She's pretty social)
Yes! - Likes to help a parent - imitates household chores (she really likes helping with the dishes!)
Yes! - Can undress completely, except for fasteners (and often does. She likes being as naked as the day she was born!)
Yes! - Temper tantrums may begin because of strong need for independence (not terribly often because we allow a lot of independence. She's pretty easy going)

She's very friendly to just about everyone. She likes babies - real ones and dolls. She's gotten quite a collection of dolls and she carries them around giving them bottles and hugs and kisses and tucking them into bed. She gets along well with Oliver and Wyatt unless she's destroying their creations. 

She's super curious and wants to explore everything. She loves being outside. Her swing is her favorite but she also likes checking out the garden and riding her trike and car. 

There are very few things she won't eat. She still can't have dairy or apples because she's allergic but everything else gets gobbled up. Her favorites are grapes and oranges. She also especially likes "num  nums" - which is any kind of candy, cake, cookie or sweet treat. 

She went in a pool for the first time since she was itty bitty and she was fearless. She walked around in the 1.5 foot section trying to keep up with Oliver and Wyatt. She fell a couple times but she started to swim underwater like a frog until I stood her back up. After a while she got in a float and it was all over after that. There was no stopping her from going all over the place, walking along the bottom or kicking her little feet to swim into the deep. I was scared but she wasn't!!

So that's Robyn, the summary anyway. She's a sweet little girl. 

Introductions

I'm thinking this blog will mostly just be for my personal records but in case anyone else reads it, here's a brief introduction.

I'm Maggie, thirty-something mom. I work part time but spend most of my time hanging out with the kids. We homeschool so they are always with me! I like to crochet but rarely have time. I'm trying to figure out homeopathy and gardening.

Bob is my husband. He spends a lot of time at work but he's so much fun when he's home. He's better at gardening than I am. He's pretty handy and can fix most anything. Being outside is one of his favorite things - camping, hiking, canoeing - he's very outdoorsy.

Oliver is our oldest child. He's going to be 8 this year! He's really into Star Wars and ninjas. One of his favorite things is Legos. He will build with Legos for hours, making scenarios and all kinds of vehicles. He likes animals and would probably have a house full of them if he could. He would like to live near a lake so he could swim anytime and see the fish (and maybe catch and eat them, too)

Wyatt is the middle child. He will be 6 this year. He is Oliver's shadow most of the time. He's really good at building with Legos, too, but he likes to make buildings and mostly plays with the people. He's a rough, tough guy who likes to play outside, ride bikes and scooters, and climb on everything! He would like to be near the beach so he could collect shells and play in the waves.

Robyn is the youngest. She is just about to turn 2! She is rough like her brothers and wants to explore everything. She is girly, too, though and likes shoes and purses. She is adventurous and wants to climb on everything and try new things. She has a sweet, gentle personality, though, and she really cares about others, especially her big brothers.

So, that's us. We live here in North Carolina where it's HOT in the summer and COLD in the winter. Hopefully we'll have a lot of adventures to share this summer.