A Spring Walk

Some firsts of spring

Today is the first day of September, the first month of spring! We have been waiting and waiting for its arrival. We welcome the warm rays of the sun kissing our face. When I stepped out the door this morning, I told Lach I was going to check the weather to see if it was going to rain. He followed behind me in his pajamas and said, "Nope! A sunny day!" and it has been so far.

It is also Thursday which means it is they day that Lachlan and I have our weekly special morning tea. We walked down to our local cafe for some tasty treats. He had his usual chocolate muffin and I indulged in a vanilla slice. Noelle sat in the pram wondering when she'd have teeth so she could join us.

When we finished we walked across the street to the park we and played on the equipment. Lachlan opened a fruit shop and I bought things for a fruit salad. Lachlan also suggested I buy some rice to but in it too...interesting! We finished our fun by going down the slide, well I WENT down the slide. Lachlan decided it would be fun to catch me. I worked very hard not to plough him over when I got to the bottom. He successfully caught with outstretched arms and we exchanged a nice cuddle. A lady went by with her grandson and asked who was having more fun, him or me? I think we shared in the fun equally.

A closer look

Afterwards we took a stroll around the park and Lachlan began to ask his usual questions. He wanted to know the names of every flower and say them back to me. We saw ferns and star jasmine growing up rocks. We spotted what would be the last winter wattle in bloom of the winter season. I love wattle. It has become one of my favourite blooming trees in Australia. It is just gorgeous. I picked a sprig of wattle from the tree and shared its vibrant yellow colour with Lachlan. We decided to take little cuttings of our favourite plants so we could look at them more closely at home.

Fern and Wattle Rubbings

We examined them with a magnified glass and noted the similarites and differences. We smelled each flower and realised some were very pleasant and others not so much! My main objective was to make a sun catcher out of the samples but I realised that the only baking paper I had was not wax so I'll have to leave that one for another day. Instead, I showed Lachlan how to do a classic paper rubbing with the leaves. Something so simple that probably every one of us has done, but is magical to a child. That is why I like this activity, it reminds us that magic and joy can be found in the most simple things.  He loved how he could make the leaf appear just by using a crayon. Here is his result. He was very pleased. Tonight I think I'll go get some wax paper so we can make that suncatcher tomorrow; just in time to hang beautifully on our kitchen window to catch some spring sun.

A Visit from a Very Hungry Caterpillar

As you might have guessed from previous blogs, we are keen gardeners. Since we like to eat organic, we choose to grow a lot of our own produce. Like all organic gardeners we find it challenging and often frustrating trying to keep pests out of our veggie patch and fruit trees. Generally the culprits are fruit flies but this year we have had some new visitors- caterpillars.

Inspecting our hungry caterpillar

I was making my routine morning check of the patch and while inspecting the tomatoes I found an unwanted guest who had invited himself for breakfast- a green, plump caterpillar. At first I was annoyed--he'd eaten through many of the tomatoes and I could see damage on most of the leaves. However, I knew that Lachlan would be very excited to see a caterpillar, as Eric Carle's, The Very Hungry Caterpillar is one of his favourite books and also where I observed his first experience of representational play when he was reading the book to himself one day and pretending to make a caterpillar eat through the fruits on the pages. It was from this experience that his reading journey really blossomed and he began to explore and act out more and more images from books.

I gathered our little caterpillar friend and placed him in a clear jar and poked holes through the top for ventilation. I called Lachlan over to show him what was inside and he was so excited! He began giggling and pointing at the caterpillar and watched in fascination as it slinked its way around the jar. "He's just like The Very Hungry Caterpillar," I said. "Look at this tomato he ate through!" I showed Lachlan the tomato and he smiled with amazement. "Should we give him something more to eat?" Lachlan shook his head yes and his daddy suggested we put a large tomato leaf in the jar so the caterpillar could finish his breakfast. The caterpillar didn't waste anytime. Right away we crawled on the leaf and began nibbling away. Before we knew it he was eating so much that the bottom of the jar was filled with little caterpillar poos. I never knew a caterpillar could poo so much! This of course was of great fascination to Lachlan as well.

Lachlan took a nap and after he woke up he was surprised to see that the caterpillar had already finished half of the huge tomato leaf and was still eating. Lachlan sat and ate his lunch and insisted that the caterpillar sit at the table with him. He ate and watched the caterpillar eat. He also have the jar a little shake to see what would happen. The caterpillar clung to the leaf for dear life, survived the mighty toddler earthquake and resumed back to his eating rituals. I took out Lachlan's The Very Hungry Caterpillar book so he could look at it. He took the book over the the jar and began smiling and pointing at the caterpillar in the book and pointing to the one in the jar. I reminded him that the caterpillar is eating a lot so it can make a cocoon and turn into butterfly; this made him very happy and excited as he understood the possibility.

Each day we monitored our caterpillar and feed him well. On Tuesday we tried to switch up his food to add some variety and I put a lettuce and mint leaf in the jar. The caterpillar refused to eat all morning and searched the bottom of the jar. That evening we put another tomato leaf in the jar and he was happy again- eating and pooping as usual. Wednesday morning Lachlan insisted that we take the caterpillar with us where ever we went. He had gotten very attached. I told him that I'm sure his friends at our play sessions would love to see it so we'll bring it along. I also took The Very Hungry Caterpillar book to share with the class. Lachlan was very proud. Anytime someone walked over to the table to look at the jar he ran over and pointed inside to show them the caterpillar. All the toddlers were fascinated and enjoyed it when I shared the book with them. Lachlan helped in the reading by making smacking noises with his lips and wiggling his toy caterpillar along the pages and into the holes of the fruit. We talked about the caterpillar and how we hoped that it would also make a cocoon just like the one in the story.

Finding the same cocoon in The Very Hungry Caterpillar

The following week came and we continued to monitor our little hungry friend. Monday of that week he began to look very unwell' just like Eric Carle's caterpillar in the story. For two days he ate nothing, not even a fresh tomato leaf. He laid on the bottom of the jar and we had to wonder if he was going to make it or not. I thought we might be dead. Wednesday morning however we woke up to a lovely surprise. On the bottom of our jar was a cocoon! Over night the caterpillar had begun making his little house and by morning he was completely wrapped up. I couldn't wait for Lachlan to see. I only hoped he would understand what has happened and not be sad to see the caterpillar gone. When Lachlan looked in the jar he was astonished. "Look! Our caterpillar made a house around him. A cocoon!" I exclaimed. Right away Lachlan understood. He clapped and laughed. He trotted his little feet over to get his caterpillar book and turned it to the page with the cocoon and began pointing to both of them. Again he sat and ate his breakfast with his little cocoon next to him.

Pupa, Day 1

That morning we went to our play session again and shared our cocoon with our friends. The children were delighted to see the cocoon and the parents enjoyed the opportunity to talk to their children about what had happened to the caterpillar. When we got home set up Lachlan's table with a magnified glass and some books with butterflies, caterpillars and cocoons in them. I told him that the caterpillar inside the cocoon is now called a pupa; over his head I'm sure but we should never underestimate a children's ability to take in information. Lachlan was free to go to the table and explore the items. He enjoyed looking through the books and at all the different types of cocoons. I talked to him about how I was imagining what our caterpillar might look like once he emerges from the cocoon and becomes a butterfly.

A week went by and we patiently watched the cocoon. If Lachlan gave the jar a little shape, the tail end of the cocoon would react and wriggle. Two weeks approached and it was time for us to prepare for Christmas. We always go out of town and we intended to bring the jar with us so we couldn't miss the butterfly make its grand entrance into the world. Among all the hustle and bustle, we forgot. When we got to the beach house we wondered what would happen to our little friend- would we arrive home with a beautiful butterfly sitting on the twig or would it be dead or would we get lucky and it still be in a pupa state?

Well, I wish I had a beautiful happy ending for the story but I don't. We arrived home and I went to the kitchen to look in the jar. I was very happy to see that the cocoon had busted open; but where was the butterfly? I looked all around the jar and saw nothing. I inspected the cocoon again and it looked like possible there might have been a little bit of something inside but I couldn't tell because it was all dried up. A sad ending to such a hopeful story for a toddler. I didn't bother to show Lachlan. He don't think he'd understand what happened and he'd only wonder where the butterfly was and probably get frustrated. Thankfully since we'd been gone for awhile on holiday he forgot all about his cocoon and hasn't asked for it so that is where we are leaving it. Perhaps we'll find another caterpillar this summer and try again or next year will come around and Lachlan will be a bit more mature to try the experiment on his own and contemplate the results whatever they may be. It was a fun science experience for him though and it was wonderful for him to be able to make the connection from his book to the real world of mother nature. The joys of learning! Hopefully better luck for us next time...

A Walk in the Woods

Nature is a beautiful thing. Being outdoors is a beautiful thing. Being able to walk outdoors smell, touch and hear nature is the best. My love for nature began before I can even remember. I was always a child who was outside; that being said, my mother preferred us to be outside. She worked very hard to have our home look spotless so I think she was afraid of what might happen if her darling children were inside all day. Luckily for her I didn't complain;except on those hot summer days when it was in the high 90's. I specifically remember one such day when a friend was over for a play and we knocked on the back porch door to ask my mom if we could come in as were roasting (my mom was smart, she kept the door locked!). My mother told us to hold on one second and she came back with a tray with iced lemonade and glasses, handed it to me and shut the door. I was soooo embarrassed! Now that I am a parent, I kind see where she was coming from. I usually was playing in the dirt and can understand why she might not want two grubby kids traipsing in her nicely cleaned house.

As an adult, I continue to love and respect nature. I really hope that Lachlan will feel the same way too. I remember asking my grandfather one day when I was about eight years old if a tree could be sad; especially when it was to be cut down. He told me he didn't know but that the Native Americans believe that everything has a spirit: a tree, a rock and even the creek that flowed through his backyard. With that knowledge, I began to look at things differently and began to wonder about and question the mysteries of nature more and more. These are things that I hope that Lachlan will understand and appreciate as well; whether they become his beliefs or not. I hope that he will develop a respect for nature as the Native Americans have and like so many other tribal cultures. To foster this, what could be better than a walk in nature itself? As a family, we try to take as many nature hikes as we can. Before I met my husband, I spent most of my free weekends finding a trail to run, a mountain to climb and a mud-puddle to mountain bike through in North Georgia. Fortunately my husband developed a love for most of those things too and we were both keen to buy our first baby hiking carrier after Lachlan was born. We have a shelf  full of books with hiking trails across our area and the country and we always look forward to the opportunity to try them out. With our hectic schedules, and with only one day a week to spend together as a family, we generally stick to local, short hikes which last an hour or two. If we have a bit more time we'll commit to a day hike. Our overnight hikes are on the back burner at the moment and don't look like they'll be rearing their head anytime soon with bub number two on the way; but we'll take what we can get.

A few weeks ago, Lachlan woke up from his afternoon nap to a beautiful day. Hubby and I had gotten all our housework done so we figured we'd make the most of the weather and find a short trail to      hike; this is when those hiking books come in handy because they have descriptions, distances and skill levels for the hikes so it makes planning quick and easy which is always helpful for busy parents. We decided to drive a few suburbs away to check out one of the state parks. When we arrived we loaded Lachlan into his hiking carrier and set off on the trail which was to be an easy grade, 1 hour hike. There were plenty of wild flowers in bloom and an assortment of trees to explore. We even found a few animal habitats and made up stories of what creatures dwelled inside. Lachlan was particularly fascinated with the trees. There were smooth gums, rough cedars and flaky paper barks. At one point during the hike, Lachlan found a particular variety of gum tree which was shedding its bark. He happened to pull at a piece of bark and was very surprised to find that he had removed it from the tree. His daddy continued to walk down the trail and Lachlan began pointing very determinedly for him to stop at the next tree. Lachlan held the piece of bark to the tree and tried to stick it on but it wouldn't stay. He looked bewildered with a puzzling face that said, 'how am I going to fix this?' The tree he was trying to give a makeover to was a cedar. I told him, "that bark doesn't belong to that tree." I held his bark strip next to it so he could see the difference. I spoke about the way the two looked and felt differently. "Perhaps we can find the tree that matches your bark." And with that a new game had just begun. It was as if Lachlan had put on his Sherlock Holmes detective hat; I'd never seen a kid so ready for the case. Before you could say, "thank-you my dear Watson," he was off pointing to the next tree.

As you can imagine there are A LOT of trees on a nature trail. Especially a nature trail through a forest. We stopped at a lot of trees, I wasn't sure if we would ever get back to the car before dark as our easy grade, 1 hour trail was turning into a 2 hour trail with a tough case to crack. Of course Lachlan had to pull the bark off of the one tree that was to be no where in sight again. After many trials and errors, we finally approached a large stump for a tree that looked like it had been chopped down. Luckily it had been cut quite high so Lachlan was able to see it from his daddy's back. Ky-Anh bent down a bit so Lachlan could try it for size. Right away Lachlan knew that this was the mother tree we had been searching for. He stuck the piece of bark in the little hollowed hole on the top of the tree as if that was where it was meant to be kept all along--a special little holder for a special piece of bark. He was quite pleased and without any more questioning was ready to continue on his journey. "That's that!" he seemed to say, "Case closed, so carry on, good chap!"

So as you can see the great outdoors can offer lots of excitement to a toddler and that is just one little idea that  emerged from a short hike. Think of all the possibilities; leaf matching, bird watching, identifying feathers, insects and other flora or fauna. This is when a resource book with your local flora and fauna comes in hand. You can collect leaves and feathers for example, take them home and try to match them in your books. Older children love to do this as it is exciting for them and you can encourage them to keep a journal of what they see. If they are not yet writing, they can draw pictures or symbols instead. Toddlers will love to look at the objects through a magnified glass and touch the various textures.

I'll conclude this blog with a few suggestions for planning a hike. First make sure that you have a comfy carrier for your child. If it is a short hike, say an hour or less a carrier such as an ErgoCarrier should do the trick. Anything longer than that and with more than a moderate grade you might want to consider borrowing or purchasing an appropriate hiking pack with a frame which offers more lumbar support. There is nothing worse than being uncomfortable on a hike or feeling that way they next day. It might discourage you from going again and that would be a shame. We are all different so do some research regarding the carrier that suits your needs and always try it out first with your child in it before you buy. Shops shouldn't mind this, in fact they should encourage it. A good quality pack will have instructions on how to adjust the straps to distribute the weight more comfortably for you such as when you are climbing up or descending from a hill. Always ask the sales assistant to show you how if you aren't sure. If you aren't a keen hiker, then see if you can borrow a carrier from a friend or rent one from an outdoor shop for the day or weekend. They can be quite expensive to buy and it would be a waste if you were only to use it a few times. Also don't forget to take a camera, snacks and water for you and bub and a nappy and wipes just in case. Many framed baby carriers come with a portable change mat stored in the compartment space under bub where you can keep all the munchies and H2O. I should also mention to wear hats to keep ticks at bay. Long sleeves and pants are also encouraged when walking through the woods, though on hot days isn't always the most comfy. Alternatively find a good bug repellent to keep the mosquitoes away. There are a few all natural ones that work well, if you are like me and don't like harsher chemicals on the skin.

So I'll end on that note. Hope you are having great weather in your neck of the woods so you can have some happy hiking!

Just a Little Snail Tale...

Spring is approaching over here in our neck of the woods. It is arriving with much anticipation as we are ready to enjoy a little warm sun on our faces and some trips to the beach. More importantly, spring offers a rebirth of all Mother Nature's creations; baby birds in nests, spiders webs glistening from the morning dew, baby blue tongue lizards trying to find a place to live. The is a lot of curious things going on in our backyard!

Over the last few weekends my husband and I have been making us of the good weather to prep our garden beds for their spring plantings. Since our trip to Europe, quite a few weeds decided to make an appearance so we had quite a bit of work cut out for us. Lachlan enjoyed his time running around the yard playing with our dog Max and watching me pull weeds. While pulling weeds, I discovered a gardeners night mare: snails. They are a pesk to the garden, but very interesting for a child...an even me! I was labeled a 'tomboy' as a child and still live up to the name. I brought the snail over to Lachlan. It was all curled up in the shell so I think he just thought it was a seashell and began to say, 'shell.' I told him, "That's right. It is a shell but something lives inside of it. Watch and see." Slowly the snail began to uncurl itself out of the shell. Lachlan stared with much curiosity. He looked at me with a face that said, "What in the world?"

"It is a snail." I told him. "I'm going to put it down and we can watch it crawl." Together we watched the snail slowly slug its way across the patio, shooing Maxwell away who was just as curious as Lachlan. We watched the snail retract itself when Max tried to touch it with its snout. We saw how gracefully it would uncurl and push out its little eyes. "See those little black dots? Those are his eyes! They really stick out don't they?" When Lachlan was comfortable he picked up the snail and examined it closer. It was nice to see him up and close with nature and at an age where he can explore more freely. The experience really got me excited about all the nature experiences that are in store for us this spring and summer. It also inspired me collect some nature items on our family walk that afternoon. In the evening I set up Lachlan's table with some interesting things to explore; a few seashells of various sizes and textures, a pine cone and a leaf found on our walk and also a magpie and a cockatoo feather. I provided a magnified glass for Lachlan and showed him how to use it. First we had fun looking at one another through the glass, then we began to explore the objects. He particularly like feeling the different textures. I even encouraged him to try a little experiment with me by blowing on the objects. We blew on the shells but they wouldn't move. The pine cone shook a bit when mommy blew on it. The feather flew off the table when Lachlan blew on it. What a surprise it was for him! We each grabbed a feather and practiced blowing them off the table laughing the whole time.

Hopefully our little experience has inspired you to go out into nature this week and find a few things to get curious about! Until next time...Happy Parenting!