baby birds and sexist remarks

baby birds

Some finches built a nest in one of our hanging baskets on the front porch. Last week, the eggs hatched two bald and blind baby birds. They are now furry and seem to be thriving even though the few times I've peeked at them they've been sleeping. Tim had his first look at them yesterday. His reaction was rather bland, but he's been talking about it ever since. He asks to look at them constantly, and I finally told him that they were sleeping and needed to be left alone. Showing them to him involves getting up on a chair and lifting him up, not something I can do very many times without distressing the mother bird.



sexist remarks
Timothy has developed some interesting ideas about the roles that Paul and I play. Last Friday, I backed our car into my mother's car, which was parked in the driveway behind me (silly mistake). I wanted Tim to understand why I was sad, so I showed him the scratches on the bumper. I explained what I'd done and that the car had an owie now. His immediate response was: 'Daddy fix it.'

Then, when we were camping over the weekend, he pulled out another sexist comment. We were packing up camp and loading it into the car. Tim wanted Paul to play with him. Paul explained that he was busy packing up and Tim replied: 'Momma pack up.'

BIRD UPDATE: 1 AUGUST 2010
There is only one bird in the nest. I think now that the second egg never hatched. It was hard to tell because the birds and the nest are the same color and baby birds tend to sleep on top of each other. Now that it's grown into something that actually looks like a bird, it's clear that there is only one. Tim hasn't seen the parents feeding the bird yet. He doesn't know what to look for and he doesn't have the patience to sit on the couch and watch. I think it will be ready to fly by the end of the week based on its growth so far.

wan and wanda

Timothy struggles with making the soft 'g' sound like in Gran and Grand-da, so he calls Jenny and Neville Wan and Wanda. He loves having them here and is basking in all the love and attention.

world cup fever

While everyone else is complaining about the noise, we're celebrating the arrival of our very own vuvuzela. Paul's parents are here from Cape Town for a month and brought this for Timothy. It's difficult to make a noise with it. Paul's managed to master it, something the whole neighborhood must know by now. Jenny, my mother-in-law, told us that the tourists were boarding airplanes with five or six of these to give as gifts back home, all over the world. And remember, after South Africans, Americans have purchased the most World Cup tickets. Methinks the vuvuzela is here to stay.

marshmellows

At the cabin, we roast marshmallows when we have a fire. When Timothy watched Paul build the fire for the braai, he asked if he could have some marshmallows, so we roasted a few. I like the light in these pictures.

jedi

Mom bought Timothy a set of light sabers last week. He loves them, especially the blue one. They are simple to use but have some advanced options such as turning off when they get set aside, making turn on and turn off noises, and making different noises for running and for fighting. Luke and Paul like them too. They are impressive in the dark.