Tracking

Animal tracking is something I'd never really heard of before Daniel and his family introduced me to it. The Gray boys can get lost for hours staring at a small patch of dirt, deducing what animals came through, where they were going, and where they were coming from.  Sometimes I really enjoy tagging along, sometimes it's boring for me.  It all depends on the day I guess.  
Juniper hadn't logged too much outdoor ground time until recently.  This summer we were so worried about bugs and sun that we generally kept her in her peapod when we were all outside together.  Last weekend we had somewhat of an impromptu picnic in a grassy park.  It was only then that we realized Juniper had never really been able to explore grass before; our yard isn't grassy and really grass does not abound anywhere we usually spend time.  She thought it was pretty cool and made for a not-so-tasty snack.  Juniper has been really using her pincer grasp lately, so tiny blades of grass and pine needles are excellent toys.  

Yesterday afternoon, we loaded up to go tracking with Cobo (grandpa for the uninitiated).  I erroneously forgot the baby carrier at home so we just carried Juniper in our arms to the tracking destination just a few hundred yards off the road, and set her on a blanket.  She didn't stay put for too long because not only did the pine needles beckon to her, so did the dirt.  

Mmmmmmm, tasty, tasty dirt.  She basically dove face-first into the sandy dirt surrounding her and got a huge mouthful.  I wouldn't say that she liked it (she did let me wipe her mouth out with a damp bandana), but she didn't really complain, and seemed rather pleased with herself.  

okay, mama, I guess you can take these hunks of gravel out of my mouth

After some dirt sampling, she moved onto pine needle sampling.  I think she is maybe, sort of, starting to move out of the everything-goes-in-the-mouth phase (I realize that seems ridiculous to say given this post is about her dining on dirt, but there you go).  She did try out the pine needles, but she was definitely more interested in moving each one with her fingers, breaking them in half, and grabbing for new ones.  

So far, she doesn't seem worse for the wear.  There has been, um, evidence that she did in fact eat and swallow some dirt, but otherwise all is well. I guess she just needed some more minerals in her diet?

Photos by G Gray, 2013

Festival

We went to the jazz festival up here over the weekend.  I was kind of nervous about how it would go with such long days all weekend, but Juniper was such a champ.  We went right after her morning nap, she hung out for about an hour and a half and then took a good nap in her peapod, hung out some more, took another good nap, hung out some more, and passed out in the car on the way home.  All was well until we tried to put her to bed and she had a minor meltdown which was stopped, oddly, by my wrapping her leg.  I thought, well she's freaking out anyway, might as well wrap her.  As soon as I got the first layer of cotton on, she totally calmed down and I was able to lay her down and finish wrapping, and she pretty much slept through for a solid five- ish hours.  Maybe the wrapping is actually becoming a sleepy cue for her? That would sure be nice. This scenario was not quite repeated on Sunday evening, but close. 

 Juniper wore her jazz festival outfit (dubbed that by Daniel when we got it in the mail back in June), which I neglected to get many pictures of.

The icing on the cake was coming home to (my first ever) pot roast made with the last bit of our grass fed cow, and late dinner on the deck. See? The cooking thing is happening for me again.  I think I missed it, but I'll let you know in a few months.

 Also, the mornings are cool here again and the light is changing into that early fall sort of light.  I love it, but I am a little sad that my happy summer nest is about to get shaken up in a few short days.  Sniffle.