New Faces, Flamingo and Penguin

We are pleased to introduce Flamingo and Penguin as the newest members of Lion's Pride Den.  I wanted to introduce them sooner, but things have been very busy with the holidays. We were also in full swing last month picking up Puppy from school while her dad was away. He has since returned, Puppy is back in school, and we still have occasional visits with her. We started care for our new cubs on November 26, 2012. They have a rotating schedule and come 31 hours one week and 11 hours the following week.  We seem to be normalizing now that Christmas is over, and we've gotten adjusted to the new changes in our schedule. 

We are very thrilled to have the girls join our crew of boys and balance things out a bit. Flamingo is a very big helper with the little ones and has a cheerful disposition. Penguin has a contagious laugh and can be very vocal at times trying to communicate her excitement over our puppy, Ace, or immediate need for a snack.

It took some time to find just the right names for Flamingo and Penguin. Because Flamingo is older, she had some say in the matter and took some time to decide which name she wanted out of the several that we had picked out for her. One of the main reasons we chose Flamingo is because of the way she walks around the house on her tippy-toes and performs many ballet steps and jumps. Other names in the running were, Panda and Giraffe because of her long curly brown hair, and for some reason Platypus was on her mind as well. I think it came from her love of Phineas and Ferb. However, Flamingo seems to fit best because of her graceful and delicate way she walks around.

Penguin received her name because she is a little toddler that waddles around just like a penguin does. She also makes the cutest raspberry expression (as if she is cold) with her mouth when she wants a bottle, so we decided it would be a good fit for her as well. We also considered Panda for her because of the desire pick her up and cuddle her cuteness. Sometimes naming cubs is a bit tough, but I am very happy with our final decision. 

Here's a bit of joy that we've experienced with all our cubs since the changes happened. We hope you enjoy all the fun expressions as much as we do!

The Boys Rule

Here is a glimpse of what we experience everyday in taking care of three boys. Lion is pretty popular, especially when it comes to watching diesels or Thomas the Tank Engine. Meerkat is insistent each day to spend time with him watching trains. He even asks for his toast at the same time that Lion has toast. Now Otter is expressing an interest in choo-choos. I am pretty sure Wallaby will join in the fun a little further down the track.

Just before Christmas, we added a new addition to our family and his name is Ace. Meerkat's mom and dad have two dogs, a Lab and a Great Dane. They gave birth to puppies within a few weeks of each other, so they were taking care of 23 puppies all at once. They kept encouraging Rabbit to come see them all before they were adopted out. We weren't able to come to their house for a visit, so one day she brought two puppies to our house so we would have a chance to see them before they were all gone. Well, let's just say that one still did not have a home. He was the smallest of the litter, and he captured our hearts. We never thought we'd be dog owners, but he has now become one of the family. It's also very special that Meerkat and his mom still get to see him on a daily basis. Meerkat and Otter are both very expressive in their commentaries about Ace and Otter's demonstration of him drinking water is especially funny to watch. We have so much adventure around the den!

Thanksgiving Hats

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)