Sleepy Rugrat

It's amazing the difference an hour and a slight change in routine makes.

Lily went to bed late last night, a little after 9pm. This morning she was up at 6, versus her customary-of-late 7. Couple that reduction in sleep with our decision to go swimming before lunch today and what you get is one sleepy rugrat.



See, what had happened was, we came home from the pool and had lunch, and then Lily spied a Blow Pop in Mandi's work bag and begged us for it. We relented, mostly because she's been such a good girl lately, and she quietly went in to the playroom to watch Franklin before her nap. 20 or so minutes later, as she heard the closing credits roll on the show, Mandi called from the living room and said "Lily, Franklin's over, it's nap time!"

No response.

As Mandi started to call out again I shushed her and suggested that Lily might just have fallen asleep on the couch. I snuck in to assess the situation and found her sound asleep, sitting upright on the couch, with a firm grip on the lollipop (which was stuck to the fine hairs on her leg). As I tried to gently remove the stick from her hand she woke up, eyes wide open, and pulled it back away from me. I grabbed it again and took it, telling her it was time for her nap. She immediately started bawling, and it was all I could do to calm her down before I put her to bed. Kiddo loves her some junk food!

Thankfully that brief nap on the couch did not ruin our chances at a full nap in the bed. One quick bedtime story and she was out like a light.

A Brief Return

Yesterday I saw a juvenile bluebird in a very intriguing spot. He was on my tray-feeder. There must be a shortage of bugs on the ground nearby, because these guys aren't supposed to be seed eaters. Somebody must have forgotten to tell him that.



He paused on the fence briefly, then piddled around on the ground looking for ants and spiders. I tried to get a little bit closer, but I spooked him before I could focus the camera. As what I can only assume was his way of helping me confirm his suspected odd behavior, he returned to the same location this afternoon. I can't say for sure if this is one of the four that just fledged my nestbox this weekend, but I'd like to think it is.

9034 Words

They say a picture is worth 1000 words. Each one. I would argue that's a low-ball estimate in this particular case. I hope these particular pictures provide a good start to your week!