Molar!

Logan's growing new teeth! She's got her lower left molar half through, which she was not happy about. We gave her ibuprofen. An application of chlorespectic on a qtip, and a qtip to bite, which she promptly chewed up. I think she may have become a puppy!

No loose teeth yet, but as I understand it those aren't far in the future! The stuff I can find on the molars say this one is often the first adult tooth to arrive, at six to seven years! She's evidently an overachiever!

Catching Up & Sheep Thrills

Well, at least hitting highlights of the past month or so. John is recovered/continuing to recover. I remain exhausted and stressed, but that's gotten to be so close to normal that I may not know the difference any more. Logan is still showing some signs of stress leftover from the major changes in her routine during illness.

Logan now wears a medic alert bracelet listing that she has asthma as well as allergic reactions to cow's milk and peanuts. We can test the latter two with a blood test, but Logan is not interested in contributing the blood at the moment. She did like having a bracelet that matched mine (asthma, hypertension, allergic to bees plus a couple other things). The main benefit I see in both of them is that medic alert will track someone down if necessary, so if Logan goes off on her own, there is a way of getting her returned to us.

For valentines day children in Logan's class were requested to bring 21 home made valentines, not to anyone, but marked with the name of the child giving them. Logan chose to put a small felt heart on top of a larger one. Joana and I (Joana wearing her fun auntie style hat) cut out hearts in town one day, with Logan supervising, and directing. Then John and Logan glued and stamped her name on the back of each one. They came out quite pretty overall. Only two other children had made felt valentines, one felted wool, and one a single layer of bought felt (as ours was -- fortunately Jo Ann Fabric carries wool felt!) with a ribbon on it.

The next day we got up to a bummer lamb, born the night before and rejected by his mother. Since we were leaving from 7:30 that morning until 11 or later at night, we fed it, packed up goat colostrum, syringe and lamb and headed out. The lamb opted to move from his box to Logan's lap for the drive to school. Then as John and Logan went to her class (John was off for the day to go work in kindergarten, attend a parent teacher conference, and go to a Dougie McLean concert), I walked the lamb in the parking lot, and talked with the half a dozen folks who stopped to fuss over him. The midwife mother of one of Logan's classmates and I discussed lamb-in-sling (I'm not so stupid about how to carry something all day!) and needing to feed it on demand -- the same things that apply to a human baby!

The lamb and I visited all three EugeneWaldorf School kindergartens -- Rose, Starflower and Sunflower, the Rosebud preschool class, and then took a break for another walk in the grass. We collected John, and checked in with the office (complete with students milling around) and made appointments to visit 7th grade, and 2nd grade, and then got caught by the first grade teacher, who I hadn't planned on interrupting quite yet, and went to introduce the lamb to her class. Her class suggested naming him Valentine, or Henry. We passed that one to the person actually raising him (Peggy at While Away Books), and I think she's going with Valentine.

Then we tried to go down to meet second grade on the play ground, except the lamb concluded he was still/again hungry, and so we fed him, with help from an unknown number of EugeneWaldorf School students, a few teachers, and maybe some teacher training students too, in the hallway. By the time we made our way outside, with stops every few feet for someone to see Lamb, we were late for meeting Second grade, but they waited for us (Thank you Mr. Sterns, and Second Grade!), and the lamb was again met, and petted and examined as it walked a bit on the playground. We ran too late for our appointment with Third Grade, and rescheduled for an hour or so later (Thank you also for your patience Mr. Popov and Third Grade.)

Over the course of the school day we visited every class room, and, as far as I know, every person at school who wanted to got a chance to pet or see the lamb, and some got to hold him as well. My friend Alice from second grade carried him to the parking lot for us, and kept him warm while her mom Fran and John played a bit more with the Drum Carder. I met parents of children I know, and teachers who I've seen around school but never connected with any particular classroom. John was able to see the way the teachers interacted with their students, and was quite favorably impressed. We're at the time of reenrollment, and I believe we'll plan for Logan to continue with kindergarten next year. Two or even three years in kindergarten is not uncommon at Waldorf school because children are permitted to join a kindergarten at age 4 or so, but are generally not moved on to first grade until they are six years old. Logan was four for a couple of weeks at the beginning of school year, and will turn six a couple weeks in to the next, but is not yet showing the emotional or social maturity to sit in a desk for a larger portion of the day. Her primary focus is playing. Although she also currently delights in finding and identifying in the correct order the letters for her name. (just her first name.)

The lamb went to lunch, in the sling, with me and John. Then back to school briefly. Then to the Down To Earth store, where we exchanged phone numbers with two people interested in sheep and rural living. (I need to make up farm cards again!) And on out to dinner with Joana, Steve and Andrea at a Thai restaurant. The lamb slept in the sling, was walked after dinner, and again on the walk from parking to the Dougie McLean performance. Then slept through part of the performance and popped his head out and paid attention to the music for the other part. We sat next to a woman who immediately identified him as a Jacob Sheep, and compared notes on her past sheep.

It was pretty well midnight by the time we got home, and everyone was exhausted. The lamb ate well again in the morning, and then once Logan and I were up and moving, we took him in to While Away to be raised by Peggy, who is already raising Bummer #1 of the year (hell, of our sheep career!) who is now three weeks old and named Isabelle. And we have a very hopeful take if there's another bummer this season, who wants to raise and return a lamb, or kid. I wouldn't have expected we'd have any, since we haven't before, but with two so far, I'm not making any bets against another.

For today, it was 15 degrees F by the time I'd been up for an hour and thought to look at the thermometer. It is quickly rising toward the 30's or low 40's for the day. Another good day for gathering kindling, quick while it's dry. I got three feed sacks full yesterday while John and Logan were at a birthday party.


ps - yes we took pictures of the lamb. No they aren't on the computer yet, much less ready to be posted. I'd prefer not to hear any complaints, unless they come from someone offering to come and pick up some of the slack that we are currently drowning in. Posting is a luxury. Washing the dishes and the clothes are *still* exhausting and not happing nearly often enough.