Melina's second birthday

Little Miss M turned two last week. Amazing! Amazing that two years has already passed; amazing that we all survived. To celebrate, we had a barbeque with lots of friends and neighbors. Earlier that day, workers had come to frame the garage (photos soon), so we even more reason to celebrate.

There were 23 people there - 13 adults and 10 kids ranging from 14 months to 10 years. I made three huge salads (mostly at night while Melina was sleeping), and everyone brought something to grill. (Somehow I ended up with about 30 extra hamburger buns...) We all squeezed onto our small back deck, so really, it was bedlam. The whole thing is kind of a blur. I don't remember much except trying to manage a small, impatient crowd swinging at a very stubborn pinata, trying to figure out who won the Pin the Tail on the Donkey game (note to self: *everyone* gets a prize next time), shooing little boys away from the chicken coop, and bringing out two beautiful cakes from the German Bakery.

Melina had a great time. One of the first gifts she got was a little plastic shopping cart, and she pushed it and pulled it very purposefully everywhere she went. She seemed like she was in her own little world of purposefulness. She got into the groove of opening presents ("Presents! Yay! More presents?") and eating cake ("Cake? More cake? Eat cake?") Jeff said later that he hadn't gotten to hang out with her much, and I realized that I hadn't either. I don't really know what she was up to most of the time, other than eating olives, "tomato chips," and cake. There were plenty of adults around to keep an eye on her and all of the other rambling toddlers, and I'm happy to report that there were no meltdowns, fights, or injuries sustained.

I'll post pictures when I get a moment to sort through them.

Chickens outside!

I'm happy to report that the chickens have successfully spent the last three nights out of doors, safely in their coop. I put a heat lamp outside with them for the first two nights, but last night was slightly warmer and I never got around to putting the lamp out. They were fine. They curl up together in one of the nest boxes, and in the morning they're all pecking around and doing what chickens do. It feels strange not to have to take such intensive care of them - like they've left the nest! Now all I have to do is feed them, visit them, and make sure they have clean water. And move the tractor around the yard so they have fresh greens.

So now the wait is on for our first egg. It will be a couple of months, I'm sure!

Garage update

I'm happy to report that the "garage" is no longer an ugly pit of mud in our backyard. Now it is a well-defined rectangular yard of gravel. The foundation has been poured, the gravel has been placed (mostly) and the next step is to have someone come and pour the "slab." Jeff found someone who will do it for $250. And then I expect we'll have a nice slab of cement for a while where Melina can scribble with chalk and we can play foursquare and basketball as she grows up. Actually Jeff is also planning to hire someone to do the framing of the actual building, so maybe it won't take THAT long.

Pro-vegetable

Suddenly Melina is pro-vegetables. For the first year and a half of her life she absolutely refused to eat anything green, and would usually place it disgustedly in my hand. Now she's eating vegetables like they're ice cream. Today she polished off about half a cup of broccoli and some edamame. She's also eating tomatoes, both raw and cooked! Amazing.

Recent developments

It's very cool to see how Melina's little mind is developing. She's gotten to the point where we can sort of have conversations. Like yesterday, she kept dropping her stuffed baby condor (which she calls her baby chicken) on the ground. I asked her, "Why are you dropping your baby chicken on the ground?" And she said, "bounce!" She wanted to see if it would bounce. (It wouldn't.) And now I can explain things to her, like the fact that you need to put on shoes before you go outside, and those shoes need to be tied. It's like a veil is gradually lifting as she grows more and more aware and articulate.

On the sleep front, we're in another "training" phase. Recently she's started waking up and wanting us to sing to her endlessly (her current favorite is Frere Jacques). Jeff is the one who usually get stuck with this duty, so it was his idea that we should sleep in the basement for a while so Melina gets used to us not being in what is basically the same room as her. When she wakes up, he goes up and lets her know that we're around, but doesn't stay. After a few nights of this, she didn't wake up at all last night. Let's hope it sticks. Soon we will be moving her into her own room, which should be interesting.

On the chicken front, I've been putting the girls out every day that it's not pouring rain, and bringing them in at night. They seem to enjoy it. Today they ate their first slug. Hooray! I think next week I'll put them out for good. At that point they will be five, six, and seven weeks old, and I think they can handle it. I might put a lightbulb out there to keep them warm too.

Melina had fun at the Wooden Shoe Tulip Festival last Sunday (Easter). My friend Nancy and followed her through the muddy tulip fields like papparazzi; the photo ops were fabulous. When not illegally plucking the heads off the tulips, Melina was fascinated by the old farm equipment and cars. In fact I think she was more interested in the cars than in the tulips. She loves cars! And planes. And trains. And bikes.

Chicken update

So we now have three healthy chickens - a golden-laced Wyandotte (temporarily named Martha), a silver-laced Wyandotte (Abigail) and a barred Plymouth rock (Dolley). They're named after the three First Ladies of the United States (the only problem is that I don't really like the name Martha, and the GLW is such a regal creature that her name should probably be Nefertiti). They are now 4, 5, and 6 weeks old. That means that they're getting HUGE and way too big for the box I have them in, but it's still too cold to put them outside. (In this photo they were in their chicken coop on one warm weekend day, providing entertainment for the local kitties). I could add a heat lamp, but I still think it's probably too early for the youngest, Dolley. I'm really looking forward to having them outside rather than in our laundry room. They're a lot of work at this age!