01.02.08
Sretna Nova Godina! (Happy New Year!)
As I reflect back on all that has happened during the past year, I feel immensely blessed. I had a number of friends this year refer to the labor and delivery of an infant as passing through the valley of the shadow of death. Eight months later I can barely remember the physical pain. It has been swallowed by the joy of motherhood. The growth of my immediate family has been supported by extended family. What I still see as the miracle of flight has allowed my in-laws to visit from Croatia and my son and I to visit my family in Idaho. Even in his infancy, my son knows he has a large, multicultural, cross-continental family who love him.
In addition to having a wonderful family, I have the good fortune of working with a group of people who are supportive and understanding of my new family and keep me smiling through the work day. They are people I am happy to claim as friends, and I value the diversity they bring to my life. This may not seem like much, but it is the first work environment in which I have not been plagued by workplace politics and continual jostling of my career ladder. I feel at peace in the agency setting, but by no means complacent. I look forward to the work year ahead and the changes and growth it promises.
I celebrate my birthday, my wedding anniversary, the birth of Jesus Christ, and the start of a new year all within a two week period. The amount of joy that gets packed into these 15 days is a little overwhelming sometimes. I have been blessed with family, friends, the necessities of life, and a few extra comforts. I have been blessed each day by the love my Heavenly Father pours upon me. I have a husband and a son who help me better understand God’s love for me because of the love I feel from them and for them.
And so I dedicate this post to all those who are still searching for love. I have been there; I have felt the pain of loneliness; and I have despaired in fear of always being unloved and alone. But depth of my sorrow hollowed me into a vessel large enough to hold the joy and love I feel now. I have learned through experience that there is opposition in all things, and I have learned how to nourish a faltering flame so that it warms my soul against the pounding nor’easters. May you be able find and hold onto the joy that passes your way in the year to come.
08.07.07
More Relatives
So far, Che had meet two aunts, and uncle, and two cousins. On Sunday he meet another aunt, uncle, and four cousins. Here’s a picture of all of us.
As a side note, my husband decided to replace my fried computer with a Mac. It took me two days to get this picture up because I had to learn how to resize photos using Mac software. Rather annoying, but it keeps me Mac-literate, which I guess is a good thing.
07.15.07
No Excuses
I have no excuses for not writing. I’ve been on maternity leave, and thus not distracted by work. I have had a bout of carpel tunnel syndrome, but even with that I’ve been able to type. (My hands have also gotten much better in the past few days.) This week Che started sleeping through the night (8-10 hours), so I can’t even blame a lack of sleep.
No, there are no excuses, so I will once again start writing regularly for this blog, and all you Che aficionados out there can get your fill.
On to the real content…photos of Che. I’ve included two.
Dad decided to plant a tree for Che, and this photo shows Che and I admiring Dad’s work before we head off to church.
This is a photo of Che and me on the 4th of July. No, that’s not a double chin on me. You’re supposed to be looking at the baby. Che’s onesie is not a political statement. It was a baby shower gift. Thank you Judy!
05.04.07
Che
We came home from the hospital today after an arduous week. We had some scary moments, like the one when doctors were calling for back up and 12 doctors and nurses (according to my husband) descended upon the delivery room. My husband was a bit worried at that point, but all is well. I’ll spare you the gory details.
As promised, I’m posting some photos below of the latest paparazzi victim…blog-named Che to protect his future identity and ability to work for the CIA (should he so choose).
Introducing…our little Che.
The first family photo. Che is a little grey, but he’s got better color now.
The nurse who got us both through.
Father and son
The car ride home
Arriving home
11.12.06
Separation and Reunion
The baby birds are still growing and doing fine (pictures below). The parents, on the other hand, are having issues.
The bigger chick is 1 week old in this picture and has a full crop. As usual, it is covering the head of the 3-day-old chick to help keep it warm.
Here the chicks are 2-1/2 weeks and 2 weeks old. They look like turkies, but I think it’s just a phase.
We had separated the two adult male parakeets from the mom, Condor, and her babies because she was preventing the males from consuming any food. She was so distracted by protecting the food source that she would forget which little chick she had feed and would go back to feeding the larger one. The smaller, younger baby was being somewhat neglected, and my husband and I were worried, so we separated the adults.
Now the older bird is at the point that it needs to be feed by the father rather than the mother. Amazingly, in parakeets, the mother feeds the young for the first couple of weeks, then the father feeds them for the following two weeks until they can eat on their own. This is because the mother feeds the young a substance called “crop milk.” The father then feeds the young a less digested form of regurgitated food that he also feeds the mother while she is nesting.
So, today we moved Condor and the babies into the larger cage with the other males. We hoped that by moving her into their space, she would be less protective of the food and they would all be able support the young. All seemed fine at first. The adults all hung out at the top of the cage, and the babies, now large enough to keep themselves warm during the day, were in the nesting box at the bottom. About 10 minutes in, the father, R2-D2, started doing his duty and feed the larger, older baby. All fine right? Wrong.
Condor and R2-D2 started fighting over the rights to feed and protect the babies. Flapping wings, chasing each other around the cage, and pecking at each other. No one was hurt, but the fighting was intense. They have settled down now. Condor is nesting with the babies at night, but I’m sure there will continue to be incidents. We may have to separate them again, but for now, we will leave them reunited as a family. Perhaps this is just a typical internal family squabble like those that happen in any typical human family. I’ve always said that my immediate family (parents and siblings) is proportionately dysfunctional to any typical family, based on the number of family members. If this dysfunction carries over to bird flocks, then I’m sure the babies will be just fine.
