An update on Sherman, introducing Crema

So it turns out Paul and I are not very good baby chicken parents. As you know, we lost one of our baby chicks, Shadow, early on to an unknown illness. We then acquired a sister chick, Nutella, not long thereafter, and we were feeling pretty good about her transition into the family. Unfortunately, a couple of weeks ago, Nutella disappeared mysteriously from outside our casita. We searched everywhere for her. We don't know if little Nutella was taken off by an animal (a dog? a bird of prey?) or perhaps stolen by a human. . .which is kind of what we hope because we like the idea of her still wandering around eating worms and getting fat. And so, Sherman is our only remaining chick. She/he (who knows?) is getting bigger and stronger, growing lots of black and white feathers, but definitely still a bit of a . . . well, a chicken. Sherman brings us much daily joy, perching on our shoulders, almost snuggling, and following us around like we are all mama ducks.

However, it seems we'll get another crack at chicks, with up to 50 chicks(!!) eventually living in the backyard chicken coop that was quickly constructed today. There's an old cement pig sty 50 ft out our backdoor. Washo and his son-in-law Luis took Paul off this morning to harvest bamboo logs to use for roof trusses and corner posts. Add plastic sheeting for a roof, and mesh sides to deter predators, and it now lacks only a door and rain diversion trenches. This is actually to be Lucia's coop. We hope.

Then, on Friday, my friend Lucia announced she was bringing home a baby bunny from a work colleague. Perhaps not surprising for rabbits, the number quickly multiplied to three conejitos: one for her grand-daughter (Sandi); one for her grand-son (Arial); and one for Jonah, who has been coveting a pet rabbit ever since he met his cousin Ava's rabbits in Arizona. And so, we introduce yet another member of our growing menagerie, our little white rabbit, Crema. She is a little skittish but definitely very cute. And, unlike Sherman, she is already very good at pooping in her designated pooping spot. For Paul, this immediately elevated her to Most Favored Pet status. Hopefully we will be better rabbit parents than we are baby chick parents.

I do want to say that in the human parenting category, I think we are doing quite well. All three kids seem to have transitioned relatively smoothly; they are enjoying rural life, doing fine with home school, integrating socially, and, other than occasionally pining for mac 'n cheese, fresh peaches, and the like, they seem well-adjusted and happy. Brynna misses the ability to play imaginary games with other little girls (it's hard to do when you don't know the language), but her Spanish is coming along. Jonah wishes the local kids would play something other than indoor in the afternoons, but he is getting lots of time to draw and read graphic novels on the Kindle Fire (thanks Cherie!). And Dillon is particularly enjoying all kinds of physical adventures-- with playing indoor most days, learning how to use a machete, doing lots of fruit picking, tree climbing, and more. Paul wants to highlight that my cooking efforts are a key part of their happiness, especially the near-daily baking of various muffins and even pretty decent pizza.

P.S. I don't have any current photos of Dillon with Sherman, but to be honest, Dillon is Sherman's biggest fan. He is constantly cheering him on as he eats up the spiders around our house, defends his "pooping in the house" problem and constantly remarks on his obvious intelligence.