Friendly fowl

We met this fine feathered friend while snowshoeing at Beaver Lake:

We had been told in the nature center that the resident grouse had been spotted quite frequently; he/she is definitely easy to spot in the snow. While stopped for Aidan to adjust his snowshoe, halfway around the Southern Exposure trail, we saw the bird approaching, and soon heard its quiet chirruping.

Such a handsome bird, who was happy to pose for photos:

He/she is not at all shy - that is the tip of my snowshoe:

Shortly after I snapped that photo, I managed to get my snowshoes entangled with one another and fell backwards onto my tookus. The bird took the opportunity to jump onto my leg and start pecking at my jeans, which led to me shrieking "Get it off me!" It's not that I don't like birds...well, actually, I'm not fond of birds at all, especially ones that peck at me (there was an incident with an angry robin in an apple tree at my grandmother's house that scarred me for life). Apparently this grouse has been fed by humans enough times that it now it actively seeks food from humans.

Once James and Aidan stopped laughing at me, they were able to shoo the bird away and help me stand upright. As we continued down the trail, the bird followed us for a time, even pecking at the back of James' snowshoe, until it finally lost interest. Whew.

Treasured moments

Aidan did my hair a week or so ago. It was one of those days before a scheduled hair appointment when I could not make my hair look anything  but a mess. I was on my way to pull it back into a ponytail when I asked Aidan if he wanted to do my hair. "Yes!" was his eager answer and he scampered into the bathroom to collect his tools. He spent about half an hour brushing and "styling" my hair, using every brush, comb and hair ornament I own. My 'do sported elaborate puffs and swoops that fell apart the moment I moved my head, but we giggled together and in the end, he helped me put my hair into the ponytail.

Ten is a great age. Aidan is old enough to be more self sufficient, help around the house and hold his own in a conversation, but still young enough to want to play hair salon, snuggle on the sofa, hold hands, and read together.

Reading together is one of our favorite activities and one that we have practiced since he was an infant. Before Aidan knew what we were saying to him, we held him on our laps every evening before bedtime and read him a book. It is part of our bedtime ritual - brush teeth, bathe, read - that we try to follow every night possible. As Aidan has gotten older, the bedtime ritual has expanded to include him reading to us, telling stories to each other, and playing word games or naming state capitals. But no matter what we do, these quiet moments together help him to unwind from the day and prepare to sleep, and provides a way for us to connect at the end of the day.

I know that the bedtime ritual will not last for much longer, and that he will spend less and less time snuggling with us or holding our hands. But for now he still does all those things and likes doing them, and I treasure every moment.