The Three Amigos and Adios

Since the arrival of Baby Wallaby, we have been falling into a daily routine. It's been a lot of fun playing and interacting with the three boys currently in our care. Meerkat and Otter play really well together and love to play outside. It will be a bummer when the weather gets too cold to go outside!

Meerkat is very big on choo-choo trains these days and Otter loves to play peek-a-boo. Wallaby is smiling now and getting busy moving his arms and legs quite a bit. It's a lot of fun to see each of them grow and change each day.

In other news, we said our goodbyes to Kitten last month as her short six-week stay with us came quickly to an end. It was a lot of fun to have her here for that time frame. She gave us lots of laughs and smiles while she was here. We are thankful that we will be keeping in touch with her family and possibly have opportunities down the road to see her again. Here is a sample and tribute to her playfulness while she was with us. She loved to just sit on the stairs and just hang out. Thanks for a great time Kitten! We love ya!

Our final news is that we got Puppy back for after-school care on a temporary basis. Puppy has been with us for a long time, and we have missed having her since she started Kindergarten. We are so glad to get some more time with her, and it's been so fun having her here.

Stay tuned for more news from the Den.

Welcome, Baby Wallaby!

After 6 weeks of waiting, October 4th was a very special day. We had the privilege of welcoming Baby Wallaby into our care. He was born in August, and we were chosen to be his caretaker. We are very blessed to have him and his family join our daily life in the den.

One of the things we enjoyed the most was being involved in Wallaby's life even before he was born. We counted down the days excitedly until his arrival, and we were thrilled to get a picture of newborn Wallaby the day he was born. We also met him in person a week before he started care and bonded with him right away.

Wallaby is very little, has big expressive eyes, adorable dimples, and loves to be in a front pack. Thus, we felt it very fitting that we chose an animal name with a pouch! The name Wallaby seems to fit him just right in my honest opinion. He is a very good baby, and we are enjoying his cuddles and sweet baby smell.

Otter's impression of the baby has been to continually point at him and say "baby" and then nod his head up and down knowing that he's communicating at deep levels with us. Kitten has noticed the baby, but is too preoccupied with other things to pay attention.  Meerkat, on the other hand, has had a bit of a different reaction. Let's just say he's a bit jealous, and we've had to give him lots of extra TLC.

The first day we cared for Wallaby, I was holding both Meerkat and the baby in the rocking chair. Out of the blue, Meerkat placed his hand on the baby and said "shoo, baby". He tends to need "Miss Kanna" a bit more these days, and I often end up with Meerkat and Wallaby in my arms at the same time. Recently Meerkat has warmed up to Wallaby and now insists that he "hold, baby! hold, baby!" with my help.

Rabbit has been wonderful in helping me care for Baby Wallaby. She insisted on doing most of the bottle feedings the first few days and also gave K-Bird a time limit when she asked to hold him. Her excitement has calmed down a bit since then and now K-Bird, Rabbit, and Kangaroo are each enjoying their special moments of holding Baby Wallaby. He's definitely a keeper in our home, and we are very thankful for the opportunity to care for this new little blessing.

Majestic Mondays

On Monday of this week, I was driving K-bird home from the chiropractor. It was a beautiful fall evening, and we decided to take a more scenic route home. We were on the west side of town, where the houses are in a more wooded surrounding and deer are easily spotted. I was hopeful we would come across a deer or two to brighten our day. Sure enough, K-bird spotted three deer as we took our detour. As we sat and watched them eat berries in front of a home, I thought to myself, "Wouldn't it be cool if we found as many deer as we've had cubs in our care?"

As we started up the road, we found six more. We came to the top of the hill where we saw the Waldo Canyon burn scar. We got out of the car to reflect on the impact that fire had on our community. Coincidentally, we just started temporary care on Mondays for a little girl whose family lost their home on Majestic Drive.

As we got in the car to head back down the hill, we spotted a herd of six more deer. This time, several bucks with huge antlers were sitting and standing on someone's lawn. We commented on how majestic they appeared. I then realized our count of deer had reached eighteen, which was the exact number that we had calculated a month ago as the total number of cubs we had cared for to date. It was very symbolic to me that God knows our numbers, and each one has been significant in our eyes. They each have their own majestic beauty.

Kitten, Karebear, and Meerkat on a majestic Monday

We've added a few more cubs since then, and our legacy is growing. I think the name Kitten fits our Monday addition well with her fluffy, wild hair, the way she is amazingly content at playing on the floor, and her friendly interaction with others. However, someday down the road we'll definitely need to consider having a cub named Deer.

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, what do you see?

I see Kare-Bear giving hugs to me.

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, what do you see?

I see KBird smiling down on me.

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, what do you see?

I see Kangaroo giving high-fives to me.

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, what do you see?

I see Rabbit playing peek-a-boo with me.

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, what do you see?

I see Otter blowing lots of kisses to me.

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, what do you see?

I see Canary skyping online with me.

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, what do you see?

I see Lion singing over me.

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, what do you see?

I see Meerkat asking where I could be.

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, what do you see?

I see all the cubs saying goodbye to me.

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, what do you finally see?

I see Mommy taking care of me.

We'll miss seeing you, Brown Bear!

(Adapted from the book by Bill Martin, Jr./Eric Carle)

Introducing Otter

On August 21st we had the privilege of welcoming Otter into our home. He is our newest toddler, and fits right in with Brown Bear and Meerkat. He tends to go with the flow of things around here. When we first met him, we hit it off really well, and he especially grew attached to Rabbit. He likes to get lots of cuddles from her and will often cry if she sets him down.

One of things that charmed us about him is the way he sticks two fingers in his mouth, and holds them in place with his other arm. This lets us know that he's getting tired and needs a good cuddle. He also loves to wrap his arms around Rabbit's neck for long hugs and gives adorable, slobbery kisses.

Most of all, we have learned that he loves snacks and makes cute little approving humming sounds when he eats his lunch.

Simply put... he's a keeper.

Brown Bear’s First Steps

Canary’s Last Song

In June, Canary and her mom moved out-of-state to their new home and new adventures. We had the privilege of spending extra time with her on her final day, through the evening hours, while her mom spent time packing. It was so great to have some quality time with her and she knew she was the center of attention. We giggled, danced to music, and gave lots of hugs. We will miss her so much – thank God for Skype.

Below are a few snapshots of our beautiful day.