Less than Twelve Parsecs

It's a feeling shared by many: quite glad 2021 is over and behind us. This post will rehash some marking events during this long year, both ones we loved and ones we never want to go through ever again, if we could have a say. For those latter ones, we are deeply grateful for the friends and family who were by our side, offering kind words and support when it was needed most, whether from close or far. We started the year with Grandma Tammy still staying with us for several months, during our COVID-19 self-imposed isolation. She brought our family twice as much joy and peace, as conversations exploded in many more combinations than when Greg and I are the only adults around. Fae gained a whole extra year of learnings, just by being around all that, and is now speaking like a four year old at the age of two. For the first part of the year, our friend Chandni taught Mara and Gaius througho

When we got the Silkies we had some adventures with a visiting hawk. I bet he still stops by, landing on a tall lamp post every now and then, to check if he can swoop into our yard again. He can't. We installed a Hawk Stopper net overhanging on our Silkie yard, just to see if it would deter the hawks as advertised. It turned out to be quite a pretty latticed-ceiling landscape. It reminds me of those tall circus tents, back when traveling circuses were a thing. And of the wire mesh shapes when you're designing virtual worlds in a computer. I love resting my eyes on the perspective-shifting squares. The mesh itself is flimsy, but the theory is that hawks will have a natural fear of them, because of their keen eye sight. Little song birds have no problem coming through to the feeders. Hummingbirds zoom past it with a royal indifference. Pigeons come under the net from one open side to grab any seeds off the ground (yes, Fae still feeds the birds and the chickens, and though she&#

Shortly after Fae started to walk we gave her shoes. She has been a very enthusiastic shoe wearer since. Here is Fae's first experience wearing shoes. Elephant shoes. Matching pair. Correct feet. And here is a collection of her her subsequent work. Tie dye shoes. Matching pair. Correct feet Tie dye shoes. Matching pair. Opposite feet. Getting ready to sweep. Sparkly rainbow shoes. Matched pair. Opposite feet. It's never too late in the day to wear shoes. Fae walks in tie dye shoes. Opposite feet. Giant crocs. Matching pair. Correct feet. Elephant shoes on the inside. Sparkly rainbow shoe and yellowish-green shoe. Not matching pair. Somehow correct feet. Examining a squash. Yellowish-green shoes. Matching pair. Correct feet. Probably wearing other shoes underneath. Ready to go for a walk and wearing Mara's old "I eat glitter for breakfast" shirt. Close-up of inset shoe in yellowish-green shoes. Matching pair. Correct feet.

Fae's name is Fae.  Yes she goes by many endearment names, depending how awfully cute she is in each occasion.  I'll list the ones most commonly heard, for future amusement: Fae-Fae Foof Foofy Fooferz FoofyPants and PoofyPants  Bebelutz Except when you ask her "Who did this?" while pointing at some recent happening in our house. Then, she will boldly claim any other identity: Who spilled this water?   [Fae]  Daddy! Who scattered all the Cheerios?  [Fae]  Grandma! Wow, this is a huge diaper, Fae! Who peed in this diaper?   [Fae]  Mommy!  [me] Really? Noo, Mommy didn't do that. Who peed in your diaper Fae? [Fae does some more pondering, seeing the questioning look on my face] ...  Mara!  [me] Oh,   I'm not sure about that, Fae... Who did it? [Fae, but this time clearly tentative] Ga-guy?? Surprisingly, there is no confusion at all when it comes to:   Who needs some chocolate?  [Fae]  Fae-Fae!   Who's ready to go outside? [Fae]  Fae-Fae! Go oat-side!

How many syllables in the word "Star" ⭐?  Two! Yes, you read that right, two - at least according to Fae.  Here's how you say it:  🌟: Taah-Taah ! ✨ She does the same thing for Cat, which is also a two-syllable word: 🐈 mah-mao You might say it's just baby babbling, but I'm pretty convinced it's a conscious, stylistic choice she makes. Fae does her fair share of random babbling too, and says many clearly one-syllable words properly, like ear and moon. But some words simply deserve more than one syllable. Here's a tentative list of her vocabulary nowadays, at around 15mo: - hah : hat. She absolutely loves hats! See the photo. We should probably make a "Fae with hats" post sometime... - raccoon: Fae said this before saying Mommy . Five years before, Mara had declared baby Gaius was a little raccoon  so there's something going in the family... - dye-oo : dino / dinosaur  - ap-ple:  a very, very clearly enunciated apple; apple was Mara's f