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.