Birds of a Feather

Last Sunday, Kate and I went to the Arboretum to ride her tricycle and feed the ducks. When I told Kate that she was feeding female ducks, she said, "Hi, Momma ducks!" and then held out a piece of bread for me --"Here you go, Momma. I'm feeding Mommies."

Then a goose barreled towards us, eating up all the bread. "Whoa. That's big!"

He was a little aggressive, so we backed up.

He followed us.

Then Kate got on her tricycle and fed him and the others from there. We then explored an art installation made up of saplings ("Catawampus" by Patrick Dougherty). Kate thought it looked like a giant bird's nest.

After playing hide and seek in the different "rooms," it was time to go home and take a nap.

That afternoon, Kate's friend, Isabella ("Isa"), her parents, and baby sister came over to play and have dinner.

Kate and Isa started preschool at the same time, in January. As the two new kids, they both clung to their teacher for the first few weeks, and ended up spending a lot of time together. They developed a fast, "foxhole" friendship.

Although Isa's first language is Spanish, they have little trouble communicating. While Kate was in NY and NJ, Isa spent a few weeks in her mother's home country of Venezuela. Isa's mother told me that Isa watched the camping video of Kate dancing over and over. Kate asked me everyday, "When's Isa coming back?" and asked her Appa to show her where Venezuela was on the map. When Kate and Isa were finally reunited at school, they ran across the yard screaming each other's name and hugged, toppling each other over. Both Kate and Isa will be moving on to new preschools in two weeks, and they're very sad to be leaving each other. Luckily, Isa and her family live close by.