The journey of the hatchlings

You never really know what toy will grab and hold your child's attention. For example, I bought this fabulously fun item called a Bilibo for Noah's 2nd birthday. Take a quick look, doesn't it look GREAT?! So full of possibility and fun new ways to play. That toy sat unused for over a year before either boy took an interest. Now, Noah's favorite thing to do is stand in it. Yes, stand. On the tile in the kitchen...that child is just asking for another knot on his head.

For Easter, the boys received these ceramic-like eggs from the Flynn family.



The instructions required that they be placed in water for 12-24 hours so that the babies in the eggs would start to hatch. The boys were enthralled by this gift from the start. On Monday morning at 10am, we placed the eggs in clear plastic cups and sat down to wait. Literally. The boys sat down on the bar stools to watch their babies hatch. I reminded them that we wouldn't likely see much action until the next morning, but they were insistent. In fact, the same boys who typically fight over who gets to help mommy measure ingredients while baking just sat on their stools watching those eggs as I made muffins all by myself.



Finally, after about 45 minutes, I convinced them to get themselves ready for the day. After all, I don't think watching a pretend egg hatch would be a good enough reason to skip preschool. Brandon did make me promise to take a picture if anything happened while he was gone.

Finally, two days later, we decided the babies were not going to make it all the way out of the eggs themselves and therefore needed a little assistance. The shell came off, and the babies were set out on a paper towel to dry.



Then, the real fun began. Cheepy Chick and Swimming Turtle have not left the boys' side since hatching. First, the boys brought them presents...for their birthday, I suppose.

Then, Cheepy Chick became a pilot and went for an airplane ride.



Today, they even joined us at the park for a little outdoor fun.

I imagine they'll come with us this afternoon when we take Amanda out for yogurt.

As I said, you never really know which toys will become favorites. Who would have guessed a little rubbery animal could bring so much joy?