Hold The Mayo

Dear Oma and Tante,

Today we learned about babies!

First, at quiet time, Sabrina was looking at Mama’s Smithsonian magazine. There was a famous picture of a baby just coming out of his Mama. You couldn’t see the Mama, just the doctor and the baby.

That baby had an UM-BLIL-CAL cord attached. Mama says that Mama’s give their babies all the things they need through that cord because you can’t very well order up a sandwich and a glass of milk when you’re in your Mama’s tummy can you? Sabrina asked why not?

That little baby in the picture had his eyes skwinched closed and the doctor was holding him upside down by the leg and his little red private parts were hanging out for the whole world to see and he was kind of wet. He looked like he needed a blankie and a cuddle. Sabrina asked lots of questions. Finally Mama closed the magazine and her eyes.

Then after dinner we went on our walk. We saw one mama duck! She had THREE babies. Her babies were swimming around and then they would hop up on a log and shake shake shake their little bottoms! Then Mama would sing the “Shake Your Tail Feather” song. It was funny. Then we saw a mama goose! She had about a DOZEN little babies all following her around in the water. Mama says that must be a Mormon goose. I think that makes the mama duck an Episcopalian!

Then we saw Sabrina’s favorite chick-chick-CHICKENS! Sabrina asked why can’t chickens fly and Mama said because their bodies are too heavy for their wings. Sabrina asked why and Mama said that’s just the way God made them. Sabrina said maybe God would make some more and give them bigger wings but Mama said God made them a long time ago and was unlikely to remake them now.

Then we saw some horses in a pasture. There was a little horse. Mama said it wasn’t a baby but wasn’t a grown up. Sabrina said it was kind of like a big kid horse. Mama said yes except a kid is a baby goat. Sabrina asked if the HORSE was in the PASTOR and Mama laughed and said she hoped not. Sabrina said Mama what’s a PASTOR and Mama said a reverend like Reverend Daniel. She said a PASTURE is where the horses graze. There sure is a lot to learn.

Then we saw a snail trying to cross the river path. Mama stopped the stroller so we could see the little snail with his house on his back g-o— v-e-r-y—s-l-o-w-l-y where he was going. Sabrina asked where his babies were and Mama said she didn’t know. Sabrina said maybe home in bed. Mama said good point; it is getting late.

Then we left the snail with his house on his back but on the way back that little snail was where we left him but he was in a pile and his house on his back was cracked up into pieces. Mama didn’t show Sabrina but I could tell it made Mama sad.

Sabrina wanted to walk home through the neighborhood and we talked about flowers and trees. Mama said Sabrina, those trees are aspens. They grow fast but they don’t live long. That made Sabrina ask about all the other trees but Mama didn’t know all their names. She said Oma and Grammy were better at knowing the names of trees.

Sabrina asked do Oma and Grammy know everything? Mama said maybe not everything, but don’t tell Oma that. But Mama says Oma’s been alive a LOT longer so that’s why she knows more about some things.

Love,
Little Linnie Lou-Hoo