A Sudden Shift

Wow! March has certainly brought many changes our way. On March 16th, we started care for our long awaited second infant (3 months old), whom we've named Platypus. She is a doll baby with bright, alert, and beautiful eyes! She has darker skin and wears a sleep sack for nap time which makes her look like she has little flippers on her arms. My 16 year old daughter, Rabbit, has always wanted to name one of the cubs Platypus, so this name seems to fit her well. She's done really well with us so far, has a manageable schedule, and only gets fussy if she's tired or has gas bubbles.

We anticipated having seven full-timers when Platypus started, but we have yet to have them all here at once. Some of our cubs haven't even had the chance to met the new baby. Spring break and the COVID19 situation has really affected our schedule and what we deem as "normal".

Iguana is going to stay with us long term, but he and Triceratops are currently home with their older siblings while they are out of school. Piglet is also currently at home while her mamma works, after returning from Florida visiting her dad.

Our babies have been out as well with the new Stay-at-home order that went into affect March 26th. Owlette is so far our little trooper and hang-out buddy every day since her mom works in the medical field. She was thrilled when Tortoise came a few days ago, and she had a playmate. Piglet also got to come see us a few days this week.

We are getting the yard cleaned up for spring while we play outside, but are definitely missing all of our buddies. Even little Ladybug was only able to come once before all of this escalated. We were supposed to have her over spring break, but circumstances changed significantly. Here are some pictures of our sweet cubs, some taken from their own homes and shared via text with each other. Although things are slow and it's a bit of a break in our busy schedule, we definitely look forward to the day when we can resume normal activities and childcare again. We miss our little friends!

Tortoise                                                  Triceratops

Iguana                                                 Owlette

Sea Horse                                                  Swan

Piglet                                                        Ladybug

Randomly took this picture at the beginning of the month.

Kinda ironic and symbolic of the current stay at home order.

SENDING OUR LOVE TO OUR CUBS AT HOME!!!

A Reindeer After Christmas

Beginning the end of January, in the midst of all the snowfalls this year, we welcomed a very special helper into our home. We are going to call her Reindeer because of her helpful, positive attitude and the fact that she loves Christmas time! Reindeer is my daughter, K-Bird's best friend and is studying to be an elementary teacher. She needed to find a place to do her preschool internship for her college classes, and was approved to do it within our childcare. Meet our Snow Angel!

Our cubs love Reindeer! Her cheerful attitude shined through our home for several weeks as she planned and brought fun activities for the cubs to do. We made butterflies out of hand prints, Valentines cards for the mom's, and played some fun games. She even brought and prepared a special pasta lunch for the kids and made a Valentine's Day jello treat with strawberries.

 BUTTERFLIES

VALENTINE'S DAY

 

 

SNOWBALL TOSS GAME 

Our most favorite day was when she brought her pet tortoise, Otis, to visit. The kids loved watching him walk and eat lettuce. We talked about the differences between turtles and tortoises and colored our own tortoise made out of paper plates.We also listened to a Franklin story on YouTube.

TORTOISE DAY FUN!!!

 

Thank you, Miss Reindeer for being our very special friend. 

We love you so much!!! Can't wait to hang out with you again soon! 

New Little Friends

It's been a few years since we've had an infant to care for due to state licensing rules and regulations on how many infants you can care for at one time. Since our last toddler turned two in August and some of our older kids headed off to kindergarten we had the privilege of starting care for a new little one. She was three months old when she began care several months ago and is now approaching eight months old this month!

It took us some time to give her an animal name, but we finally decided on Sea Horse since her mom loves dressing her in outfits consisting of unicorns, cute animals, and sea life. She is a very good baby and fairly easy going. Her colorful personality and smiles brighten our days and the other kiddos have adjusted well to having her here. We thought we'd only have her on a temporary basis due to other families holding spots for their infants, but one family had a change in their circumstances that allowed us to take her long term. We are so grateful to have her here and that things worked out the way they did so we can cuddle her for a longer time.

In October we welcomed an 18 month old who needed temporary care while his caretaker was out of town for several months. This situation worked out perfectly for us considering we are holding a spot for a baby beginning in March. His parents suggested Iguana as his animal name in the interview, so it seemed like a good candidate!  It took him several days to adjust to being here because he's such a Mamma's boy, but now he loves coming and hanging out with his friends. He is truly a sweetheart and a very mellow, fellow. He loves listening to songs from Queen according to his mom, so we sometimes play "We Will Rock You" to brighten his day. Now all the other cubs join in the sing along. In fact, music and freeze dance are often a daily occurrence. There is a slight chance that he will become a permanent cub once he turns two due to some unexpected circumstances, and we are somewhat hopeful it works out considering he is so loved around here.

As we start a new year, we look forward to the adventures and changes ahead. New faces will arrive and some will head off to school in the fall. In the meantime, we learn to take each day as it comes and thank God for all the little blessings who are in our home each day. Hopefully, I can post an update more often since they grow up so quickly. I can't believe it will be ten years in May that Lion's Pride has been licensed. We are truly amazed at how far we've come and how much we've learned and grown ourselves.

Summertime Again

Another holiday has come and gone, which means a little time off for me and the opportunity to make another update.  Recently I took updated individual pictures of our cubs before Piglet headed off to Florida for seven weeks to be with her dad. We are missing her quite a bit, but we are grateful we were able to also capture a few group shots of her and her friends before leaving town. Ladybug has joined us for the summer months while she's been gone, so it has been fun to have an old friend back with us.

 (Top: Swan, Tortoise, Owlette; Middle: Piglet, Triceratops, Ladybug; Bottom: Caterpillar, Unicorn, Spider)

There are a few new faces here for the summer. Swan is the little sister of Chick and Goose. She has been coming once a week since the beginning of June (instead of Chick, since she is now going to preschool with Goose). We thought her name was fitting since she is an easy going baby and it fits in well with her sisters' names. She is a lot of fun to watch and gives the best cheesy grins each time we look her direction. We are not sure how long we will watch her but hope to continue having her one day a week while her sisters take on a new adventure homeschooling with their mamma.

Another new face is Cat. She is here with us short-term during the summer months since her other daycare situation fell through. She is 5 years old and has beautiful curls. She is getting to know Caterpillar, Spider, and the rest of the gang pretty well despite feeling uneasy her first day here. We decided to name her Cat because she enjoys interacting with others, takes long naps, but also likes her space once in awhile.

Our previous daycare client Rabbit has been hanging out with us as well this summer. She's 12 now and her dad has been making some needed improvements to our backyard. We had an extreme make over with new railroad ties around the pea gravel area, fence repairs, trees trims, and fresh paint on our deck, ladder and porch swing. It's a huge weight off my shoulders and makes the yard much more enjoyable.

In the fall, Caterpillar and Spider will be heading off to kindergarten! It's hard to believe, but they seem ready for some new adventures in learning. I will miss their mischievous giggles while playing together and helping hands with the little ones. We will have 9 month old joining us in August and a newborn early next year. New seasons bring new adventures! In the meantime, we are enjoying our summer fun and helping Caterpillar adapt to having a cast on his leg after having surgery mid-July. He's been a trooper for sure!