Mamas & Babies

This morning George called to me from the other room:

Come here, Mom, come see.
What do you want me to see, George?
Come see this! (pointing out the window)
What is it, George?
(Shakes his head, as he does when he's thinking hard, trying to find the right word) Come see! Baby chickies, Mama chickie, driveway!

And I look, and I see:

Every year, at about this time, a family of turkeys brings the latest batch of babies through our driveway and field. We will watch them all summer, comment on how they're growing, make lots of jokes about learning to run as Thanksgiving nears, and then they'll move on to wherever they spend the winter. Every year, the number of family members is different, sometimes just a few, sometimes as many as thirty. They keep their babies close and move them along when we appear. As the babies grow, they are allowed more independence and we can get closer and interact with them more. Later in the summer, I'll be complaining about how noisy they are.

Last week, I set a goal for George to initiate and participate in reciprocal communication. Something more than just a question and yes/no answer. Guess we just met that goal! This summer my babies are growing, our family is a bit smaller, and I'm sure I'll complain about the noise from time to time. But not that noise, that noise is music to my heart.