You're 6 months old (!!!!) and you find a way to amaze me every single day. In just the last week you started sitting up and experimenting with crawling. I'm quite happy with you staying immobile for the time being, just so you know. I'll be chasing after you so very soon!
You helped your daddy and I process our first batch of chickens of the season this week. This was a first for you and I was a little nervous about how that was going to work. It's a long, long day of hard work and though we had some help, I knew your dad really needed me there. I thought I would have to stop working and make several trips back to the house with you. You surprised us both by hanging in there and being such a good boy the entire day. You hung out in your stroller and played with toys or you napped while I wore you in the ergo. The day started at 7am and ended when we had cleaned up and loaded the birds into the freezer at 10:30pm. You were so tired but you kept it together and didn't cry.
I just want to thank you for that. I think that somehow you understood how important that day was for us and that we really needed to work.
Though your life is pretty interesting for a baby, it's not always easy. You come to work with us every day. We often work long hours and you're forced to occupy yourself a lot of the time. You don't get to go to bed when most babies do. Your mama and daddy work late because a lot of our work with the animals starts at dusk which just gets later and later throughout the season. It's a hard life sometimes and we don't get to spend as much time doing fun stuff with you as we would like.
Zander, thank you for being such an easygoing baby. I hope that someday you'll understand and appreciate this life we have built for you, even if it's not always fun.
I've dreamed about you for so long and you are the reason for all of this. We love you in ways we never knew existed and you are the happiness that we need right now.
 |
Taking a nap while mama teaches the interns how to process chickens.
|
 |
Two of our fantastic interns, Nate (yes, another Nate!) and Sam.
|
 |
How Zander occupied himself.
|
 |
Helping mama make pizzas to feed the workers last week.
|
 |
6 months old and already driving the golf cart!
|
 | |
| Watching daddy mix and grind feed for the chickens.Watch and learn, little one. |
Wonderful post! Zander is getting all the benefits of parents who work at what they love and by-the-by get to bring their youngn' to every day. What a fantastic upbringing and I'm sure his contentedness -- in addition to his genetic propensity -- is due to the environ you two have created.
ReplyDeleteLucky Zander. Instead of daycare he gets chicken care, instead of strangers he gets a famr family, instead of antibacterial nonsense he gets expsoed to all the things that will give him a STRONG immune system. Lucky Zander
ReplyDeleteThanks for showing how you incorporate your baby into your farm work. I own a Salatin-inspired farm and it is growing rapidly. I don't have kids yet, but I often wonder (and sometimes worry) about how I will get my chores and chicken processing done when I have a baby someday. It is really encouraging to see how others have done it and that it can be done! I like your idea of taking a stroller out to the field and it's nice to see that baby wearing works for most farm tasks. Thanks again and best of luck in your future endeavors.
ReplyDelete-Rachel
www.provenancefarm.com