Which is which? Who is this 2-month-old?
(Answer at end of post)
All my kids have been dressing themselves for a long time, unless there’s a special reason I need to pick out particular clothes. Sometimes Caroline likes some help, but not usually. We’re usually in a hurry when we need to be somewhere (no, really, in a HURRY), so sometimes I don’t get a good look at all of them before it’s too late to make changes. I’m always the last one ready, and just before I’m done I start yelling out orders, “Daniel, lock the doors! Katherine, turn out lights! Did someone fill the water bottle? Does everyone have on shoes?” Usually, by the time I run out the door grabbing my cell and purse, the kids are in the car and strapped in. So it was a neat surprise to see Elizabeth at the park the other day when she asked me 
sincerely, “Mommy, do I look like a princess?” My answer, “You sure do!” (NOT a lie if you consider Princess Beatrice!) But I’ll let you decide for yourself… And can Princess Bea do the monkey bars in high heels while keeping her glittery stole on? (or in the infamous toilet bowl hat from the royal wedding, for that matter?)
Caroline is very proud that she can climb on top of the monkey bars without any help. She’s well on her way to following Katherine up trees.
Last Friday (the 20th), my mom drove to us and took back Rachel and Elizabeth to her house because she had some more chicken eggs about to hatch. We hadn’t planned to let them go because of the danger of flooding from the swollen Mississippi River, but since the flood risk had lessened, and if the levees did break they’d still have time to get out safely, we decided to try it. This is the first time those two have ever stayed at my parents’ without their older siblings. It about killed Rachel and Elizabeth to stay home last month when Daniel and Katherine got to go take care of the first batch of chicks, so I’m really glad they got their chance.
Meanwhile, Katherine rescued a fledgling blue jay from the middle of the street last weekend, and couldn’t find its parents, so could we please keep it? For once, I said yes. It wasn’t quite ready to be on its own, but I could tell it wouldn’t be too long. And blue jays are pretty omnivorous, so I thought it should be pretty easy to feed. Katherine ran right outside and came back in with an earthworm and a just-slapped mosquito. Perfect. There was just one problem – the 
little guy wouldn’t open up his mouth. I mean, not at all. Not even to cheep. I cooked a dab of oatmeal, since people online recommended it, but nope. Wouldn’t open. I tried sporadically all evening, but didn’t succeed in getting any food in at all. The next morning we started again with fresh worm (cut into smaller pieces, in case that made it easier – and may I say, UGH!) and random bugs. No change, except he started a plaintive, drawn-out cheep once every few minutes. It sounded like crying. By that afternoon, I was seriously stressing. This beautiful creature was crying as he starved to death in my kitchen. I couldn’t handle it any more. I asked for help on facebook, and a friend (thanks Elizabeth!) gave me the name of a wild bird specialist who might be able to help. Before I took him miles away from his home and nest, I felt like I should make an attempt to find his parents, so we went for a neighborhood walk. When we got to the area where Katherine found him, Buddy (of course we named him!) let out a soft cheep. It was miraculous. The trees over us seemed to go nuts with a cacophony of squawking as 2 adult blue jays started swooping around us. We had found his parents! We put him in a tree and backed off, and they swooped right in to see him, all of them “talking” at once. It was one of the happiest things I’ve ever seen, considering they have no facial expressions! :-) I practically skipped the entire walk back and kept babbling, “I’m so happy! He’s not going to die in my kitchen!” (Yeah, I’m really all about guilt avoidance.) The next day, Katherine found them nearby, but of course stayed back and left them alone. That was the beautiful ending to my sweet story until yesterday morning, when a friend who lives a few houses away from where we released him showed me the dead fledgling blue jay her cat had presented them with that morning… Ah well, there are a lot of blue jays around. Maybe that wasn’t Buddy… sigh.
Answer: Elizabeth
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