Sleepover

The Boy Wonder has gone with his Daddy to Cadbury World today, and they'll be staying the night in a local hotel, so L has brought the Baby Brother to stay with us, and the Leeds crew has driven down to spend the day here too. 

B minor is up on his legs now, more or less reliably, though he tends to walk with his arms upraised for balance, and still plumps down on his bottom every now and then. He's a practical little chap, showing good skills with stacking and building toys, and he's pretty sunny as long as he's fed and napped to a schedule he approves, and isn't interfered with too often by the Nappy Fairy. But the most charming thing about him at the moment is that every few minutes he pauses in whatever he's doing, looks around with a beaming smile, and gives himself a little round of applause. As the day progressed I found myself thinking in growing amusement of how much I'd like to do this myself - when I've just finished cooking a meal, say, or at the moment I know I've nailed an owl fly-past. Sadly though, I'm not sure I could rely on the people around me to join in, as the Baby Brother is able to do right now. Self-validation though... it has to be a good thing. I must see if I can come up with some less overtly performative ways of celebrating my own achievements!

Before all the visitors arrived I took a walk around the garden in search of that elusive first solitary bee of the season, but was disappointed once again. One day soon I know I'll hear the slightly frantic buzzing of a patrolling male Hairy-footed Flower Bee, but for now the wait goes on. Last year the first one appeared on 24th February, which makes this feel late, but looking back through my records the first week in March is actually more usual than the last week in February, and in 2023 they didn't begin emerging until 14th March, so there's no cause for concern just yet. In better news, both the 7-spot Ladybirds that have overwintered in my euphorbia are now moving around, and though the Flower Spider I posted with them a couple of days ago is still hanging around, today it was on the outside of the shoot, lying in wait for other prey. I was flipping over shoots of the Lawson cypress in search of lurking leafhoppers when I came across this pair of Oxystoma pomonae seed weevils, still in their overwintering huddle. One day soon they'll be out and about too, looking to breed and complete their life cycle.