Robin's Nest

Breakfast for hungry babies, June 19th.

We've had a special treat watching this family of robins right outside our apartment building.  The nest is just above my eye level, which means I can lift Kate up so she can have a good view.  Kate had been pretty sick and we missed the day the eggs hatched, but when I noticed the babies I gave her a piggy-back ride outside to see them.  We waited very quietly and after a while Mama Robin came to feed them (after chirping at us angrily from the sidelines for a few minutes).  Kate was entranced. She said, "That's a miracle!"



June 23rd.  The babies are getting bigger!



Mama is still suspicious.  I had to wait her out for about twenty minutes.





June 25th.  I never did get any more feeding pictures.  I hung out for an entire hour, but Mama just wasn't going for it. 



June 26th.  Something must have happened to one of the babies--there are only three now. 



Watchful parent.




The babies fledged on June 27th (the kids' half birthday!)  I was heading out to run some errands and stopped to check the nest first, and just happened to catch the last baby standing on the edge of the nest, looking uncertain.  I grabbed the camera and got a few shots before he fluttered out. 





We didn't really see the babies after this. Their parents continue to feed them on the ground for a couple of days, but apparently they decided that right outside an apartment building was not the best place to do it. Kate asked me what will happen to the nest now. I told her they might use it again, or they might decide there are too many people around. Enough with the paparazzi!

Andy's Preschool Non-Graduation

It's the end of Andy's first year of preschool! We think it's been a good experience for him--he doesn't really come home and tell us about his day, but he seems to enjoy it (he gets excited about riding the bus and jumps up and down when he sees it coming). He's been sick and missed a few days, but he got to go for the last day.



The kids had a couple of songs prepared, which they performed in the lunch room for assembled parents. Andy didn't enjoy this part. His teachers told me that he knows the songs and often sings them to himself when he's playing in the classroom, but never sings with the group.They are a bit cacophonous.  (My sister Betsey, as a child, dropped out of preschool because she couldn't stand the singing.  Andy seems to have a similar auditory sensitivity.)



After the two songs we went out on the playground and let the kids run around a while, then went into the classroom.  Reading is Andy's favorite thing to do during free time.



He likes to look at the braille books for the two vision-impaired students.



Andy gets his certificate.  All the students had hats, whether they were graduating or not.  (Andy still has one more year to go.)  The matching shirt was completely unintentional. 



Andy already knows a lot of things (he's great at reading and counting), but he's working on things like communicating, interacting with other kids, and following directions in the classroom. Andy has some great teachers!  We appreciate their efforts with our unique little boy.