Again, it comes down names.

I realize that it has been many many months since I last wrote anything.  That has a bit to do with the early arrival of a new human baby, some time in the NICU, a surprise surgery at 7 weeks, a continuing diagnosis of severe GERD/Acid Reflux and Colic, minimal sleep and lots of crying.  The poor guy finds movement excruciating due to the reflux, so all of the standard soothing things such as baby swings, riding in the car and bouncy seats reduce him to painful screams.  Luckily each day he gets a bit older and, as anyone who has had a baby with Acid Reflux can tell you, they outgrow it.  So, 2 months down and about 10 to go...  Luckily he's really cute.

We've also had a few other new animals arrive on the farm in recent months.  A few weeks before the baby was born our barn cat Harvey had a litter of kittens.  As there were 3 kittens, and at that point we had 3 children outside of my uterus, we let each kid pick a kitten for their own.  It is amusing to see their attachment to "their" kitten, especially since they are all semi-wild barn cats who refuse to be touched.  The other amusing aspect of the situation was the naming.

The 5 year old named her kitten:  Lily Cosmic Reel
Lily C. turned out to be male.

The 3 year old named his kitten: Richard
Richard turned out to be female.

The (then) 18 month old named her kitten: Shoes

(The picture at the top of this post shows, L to R: Lily C., Richard, Cicero and Harvey...Shoes was MIA.)

Last week we got a new Barred Rock rooster and 3 hens.  The rooster was named "Ironman" and since we still only have 3 children capable of speech they each got a chicken to name.  This round of naming progressed as so:

5 year old named her hen: Madeline

3 year old named his hen: Bleujon
Yes, he made this name up.

(Now) 22 month old named her hen: Shoes