Whistle while you... feed the chipmunks
Today we met up with our usual gang at Lynde Shores for a hike and Hadley happily handed out the little bags of bird seed that we prepared for each of her friends.
They were all SO happy to have their own little bags of food to feed the birds with but they LOVED that the chipmunks would eat right out of their hands.
It was clear that these animals have been fed a million times before and they were not at all afraid of the kids.
So we walked along the cleared pathway and saw blue jays, squirrels, chipmunks a few birds I didn't know the name of and two raccoons. The kids put birdseed everywhere. On the ground, on tree trunks, in bird feeders. They loved it.
The raccoons presented a real learning opportunity as I tried to explain that we shouldn't feed them as they are nocturnal and we shouldn't encourage them to be awake during the day. She seemed to understand and moved on to the other animals.
I got a great picture of Hadley feeding the chipmunk literally right out of her hand. :)
Later Hadley randomly came up to me and said: "Mommy, watch". So, I did and she started to blow out. At first I wasn't sure what she was doing until there was a slight whistle sound.
A few times today, including while in bed tonight we heard her practice her whistling. We didn't start this but we will continue to practice with her until she gets it.
It is so exciting when she actually makes a sound. :)
Later we were visited by her Grandpa Verkley. She loved sharing her photos of the day, her toys and her whistling attempts.
What a nice day.