My little teacher

Eric's buddy Kaden stayed with us for 3 fulls days this past weekend. They are even closer buddies now. I will post some pictures from the weekend, but I wanted to quickly put up this video. Both nights Eric would read books to Kaden. It was so cute, and he sounded just like me when he was doing it. I am posting a video I took of him "reading" a few pages of a Dora book. Later in the book (but not on this video), he would ask Kaden questions, and if Kaden got the wrong answer, he would explain why it was wrong. It was hilarious.

Baby birds

Yes, I am shamefully behind on my blogging. I will have a lot of catching up to do, so look for several posts from me over the next few days. Let me start by telling you about our bird nest. I noticed a bird was building a nest in our backyard. Over the next week, Robert and I debated whether to move it or leave it. The nest was on Eric's swingset, and we didn't want it to be in his way. Well, suddenly the nest had 4 beautiful blue eggs inside, and we decided to leave it. It has been a fascinating lesson for Eric (and for me too. I had no idea how fast baby birds grew!).

Here is a picture of our beautiful little eggs.

Eric thought it was so neat to look in the nest and see them.


Here is Mama (or maybe Papa, I have seen 2 birds tending the nest, so I really don't know who this is. Either way, this is the genetic pool from whence the birdies came)


Last Sunday night, Robert went out to check on the eggs, and the Mama was letting him get really close. She flew away right when he got there, and he realized it was because the eggs were actively hatching. He backed off and let Mama get back to her babies. It was cold out, and he knew she needed to keep them warm.


The next morning, we saw the 4 itty bitty birdies. Eric was completely fascinated by this. While I was typing this, I just wondered where the eggshells went. I guess maybe Mama carried them away.

By Wednesday, they looked like this. I couldn't believe how much bigger they had already gotten! They had no eyes, so everytime you or the camera would come over the nest, their little heads would pop up, and their mouths would open wide.

Eric thought it was so funny that the birds thought we were their Mommy and Daddy. He talked about that all day. He said they thought he was the Papa Bird, and I was the Mama bird.

I couldn't resist throwing in this one with its mouth open wide.

Now look at them! I cannot believe how much they have changed. These pictures were taken Saturday, and they are already huge! In 5 days look how much they have grown since the pictures from Monday. It is crazy! They now have slits for eyes (they were all sleeping at the time, so I don't know if those slits open yet or not). And they are getting their feathers.

This has been so fun for us to watch. The nest could not be in a better location for Eric to be able to enjoy it. I am so glad we decided not to move it.

More birthday

On Eric's actual birthday, we went to McDonald's and The Wonder Place with Tammy, Nate, and Hannah. Here he is standing in front of a tube of wind.


He discovered this xylophone and loved it. He carried it around everywhere. As you can see, he and the xylophone are going down the slide together.

Last time we went he showed no interest in the vet clinic, but this time, he and Nate played in there.

Eric's birthday

Eric had a fabulous birthday! I just cannot believe that he is 4! He could not be a better kid, and I just love him so much! He got a bicycle and all the gear for his birthday. He was so excited when he opened the helmet and pads that he couldn't wait to put it on. He put the helmet on before it was even taken out of the package. This first picture is of him flexing his muscles as "biker man".


His party was at Gymboree, and he had the best time. All of his little friends were there, and he was in his element. It was a great party.



Here he is with some of his buddies. These are all from exercise.

Sidewalk Chalk

We played a lot with our neighbor Kylie last week since she was on Spring Break. Last Thursday Eric and Kylie played with some chalk. They had a blast and loved tracing each other (although if I did not help, the person looked very distorted).