The child has way to many animals.

LittleDude, from birth has been part of a big family. He is the youngest of 5 siblings and is loved by so many people.  He has about 70 aunts and uncles and 10 sets of grandparents (family, to us is not limited to blood relatives).

He also has several four legged guardians.

From the moment he came into the house, Aurora (White Fang) claimed him as her baby.  She would not let Charlie, the other dog near him.  She also did not like 'unapproved' people picking him up. If someone made him cry-- look out buttercup.  If he got upset- she would get someone to make him stop crying. She slept under his swing.

Even now, she is his mama dog.  She lets him climb on her, lay on her, play with her, and she is unfailingly affectionate.

Because a dog is not enough protection, there is also a horse, a 1200lb animal that adores him.  Jessie took to him right away. She is patient and kind with him she plays with, she is patient when he brushes her. When he fell in the stable she would not move on until he had come up to her and allowed her to sniff him over. Another horse accidentally scared him, and LittleDude cried. Jessie was not impressed. She promptly told the other horse to back off, he is her baby.


When I am riding her, she can be a handful.  When LittleDude is on her- she is steady as can be.


I have never seen a horse and kid bond like this.  LittleDude, being 2, has his own language- but one of his favorite words is "Yeeha" which means horse. He loves to go see them. He loves to take care of them- to feed them to help clean their stalls.  It is something we all share.


So heaven help you if you hurt Henry and his horse or dog are around-- because watch out.

Mom Superpowers

Growing a person is a miracle and superpower in an of itself.   Delivering that person (or persons) is also HUGE (I mean really- have you ever been through it? Or have you watched it? Its amazing)

Moms also make milk that is the perfect food.  It is specially formulated for the age the baby (or toddler) is.  It changes according to the time of day, what illnesses you (and child) have been exposed to, it takes on the flavors of the food mama ate so baby can be exposed to different flavors. 

The whole lactation thing is amazing. 

Moms often have a "mama gut" I can tell when my kids are sick and when it is more than just a cold.  Something just seems off.  My kids get a 'sick smell' I swear, there is a definite smell when my kids are sick.  I can also tell if my kids are really injured or if everything will be fine.

I do lack x-ray vision.  The other day, Pixie was feeding the horses apples.  One of the horses accidentally bit her. She screamed and cried so much! The poor horse felt so sorry! He was really upset. 

After cleaning out the owie out- she still wasn't calming down the way I would normally expect her too.  This is the child who didn't cry when she got stitches in her head after running into the table.  I tried to convince myself it was just the first time she had ever been hurt by an animal and she was really upset. A little voice in my head was needling me that something was just off. We went to the ER to be safe.  I called B and told him what was happening.  He asked "Is it broken?".  WHY WOULD HE ASK THAT? I mean really.  Her bone was still inside her skin... there was no obvious deformity--- it just was not quite right.

I took 5 kids to the ER alone and after an incredibly brief visit-  we were on the way home.  Pixie had a small chip in her bone. 

Another super power I have is knowing the location of almost everything.  No one looks for things- they just ask me... "Mama have you seen xyz?" most of the time I can give a very detailed description of its location.  Sometimes I can't there are 5 kids and one of me.  The odds are never in my favor.


What super powers does the mama have in your house?