Wow! It's hard to believe another year has come and gone!
Time for a little update to wrap up 2023:
Every season brings about change. As usual, we had some changes during our fall season. We said goodbye to our friend Snow Leopard as her family moved to Texas in July to begin a new journey. It's amazing how some relationships with your clients can grow into a friendship over the years, and this family definitely fits into that category. We watched little Snow Leopard grow from age 2 to a blossoming 5 years old and also beginning Kindergarten this year! We had a recent visit with them as they were in town visiting family for Christmas. It was a special time to give hugs to Snow Leopard and her baby sister.
Speaking of 5 year-olds, we also finished up care with Kinkajou as she headed off to school in August. Both Snow Leopard and Kinkajou were my "drop-in" girls, and it was a pleasure to care for them both over the years. They both were very excited to start school this year and as usual it's hard to believe how quickly they grew up! Here are some pictures we took on Kinkajou's last day with us:
One of our grown up cubs, Piglet, came for drop-in care at the end of July and has also come a few extra days since then when she didn't have school. It's been crazy to see how much she has learned and grown over the years as well. She recently turned 7, which really blows my mind! She has a very nurturing spirit and has been super helpful when she visits, especially with the little ones. She had a special walk with us and Sea Horse one fall day that she came. It was a great memory we shared with the girls.
Our last update is about about 3 year old Platypus. She was on a wait list for preschool at Pikes Peak Christian School for the 2023 school year and a spot opened up for her near the end of September. She leaves her brother Moose behind at daycare, but is blossoming and growing in her new atmosphere. We are super happy for her! We've missed having her here, but have had some visits at pickup time and drop-in days when she doesn't have school. We get great big hugs when we see her and earfuls of information during our visits. One of those visits was around Halloween when she was dressed up as a mouse from the book, If You Give a Mouse a Cookie. She turned 4 in December which is so hard to believe since we've had her here since birth.
Now for an update on our cubs who are still with us! We are currently in the walking, talking, sharing, learning, and growing stage of toddlerhood. Seahorse is now the oldest one at 4.5 years and does great helping us out with the younger ones. Her imagination is soaring right now, and we cherish the time we have with her until she heads off to school next August. We also have the 3 year-olds Hippo and Hummingbird, 2 year-olds Moose and Monarch, and 18 month old Polar Bear.
Our newest little friend, Mouse, recently joined our den a few weeks before Christmas and she is an adorable 15 month old. Her mamma sent me a picture of her on Christmas day, so I thought I'd share it here to capture her personality. She is a very sweet and easy going toddler and comes one day a week. We picked her name because of how quiet, cute, and chill she is! It just seemed to fit her well.
We had a fun time right before Christmas as Sea Horse declared the day before break as a Christmas Jammie Party, so I will also include some pictures of that day as well. It was a super festive time and great way to get us into the holiday spirit!
We are excited for next year as we continue to care for our little friends, get to know Mouse more, and have some new cubs growing in their mammas tummies! We will have new little ones join our crew in May and July for a new season of having babies around. More to come later, but until then, we keep plenty busy with our current troop and are thankful for each day that our adventure brings.
