Springtime babies

There are babies everywhere! Baby animals, that is. :o) I love springtime for that reason. We went out to my mom's yesterday and there was a little 2-day old baby Buckskin horse on the way. He was gorgeous - if I ever own a horse, I want a buckskin. It was fun watching him walk around on wobbly legs.

Out at my mom's, she's got a litter of baby rabbits that are old enough now we can play with them a bit. Even Cora got in on that, with one little finger extended to quickly and gently touch the bunnies and say "ooooh". The barn cat is pregnant with her first litter and is looking might chunky... we're not sure how long it'll be before she has hers, and we're hoping they are nearby enough that we can play with them and tame them.

And of course there is Mary. Mary is the reason we went out to my mom's yesterday afternoon in the first place. Mary is a sparrow hatchling. Chloe named her. She's so tiny... her little body is still naked in places, and she just sits there and opens her mouth up and chirps, waiting for her food. Mom found her on the ground in the back yard. If she'd have left her there either her dogs would've eaten her or she'd have accidentally mowed over her. So she's in a box in the garage with a heating lamp, being fed a mix of soft cat food and hard boiled egg yoke with tweezers every 30 minutes. I doubt she'll survive, which is very sad, but at least my mom is making an effort, right? Chloe had a very, very hard time leaving her at my mom's when we left. We're going back to visit this morning. I hope she's still alive. It sounds like it's very difficult to raise a baby bird. Great educational experience for Chloe though!

Speaking of Chloe... We took down the co-sleeper that we've had up against our bed since Cora was born. Actually, we just put the bed part down, so that it's now a baby jail (aka playpen) since Little Miss Mobile is into everything now. Chloe came in last night in the middle of the night because she "had a bad dream". (All that really means is she woke up, realized she was alone, and didn't want to be.) She came in and asked where she was supposed to sleep. She had that pathetic tone to her voice, the one where she's almost ready to cry but is trying not to. I felt so bad. Usually I snap at her to go back to bed, but I just couldn't. She obviously needed some cuddles. So I moved Cora over between Andrew and I, moved the dog to the other end of the bed, kicked the cat off, and Chloe climbed in next to me. It was crowded, but somehow, it was sweet too. I love when Chloe is cuddly - she doesn't do it very often. She grabbed my arm and tucked it around her and was snoring again in less than 3 minutes. Sweet little girl. So grown up, but at least sometimes she still needs me. :-)