Winter the Dolphin

One of Moo's passions right now is helping animals who are hurt.  She recently watched the new movie Winter's Tail at Grandma's and loved it.  She decided to research it for her next school report, and I thought we'd record it here.

      In this paper, I am going to tell you about an amazing dolphin named Winter. I saw a movie about this dolphin and wanted to learn more about it. This topic is based on a true story. I will be telling you the most amazing story I have ever heard.

         It all started on a summer day in Florida on December 10, 2005 when a young female dolphin got tangled in a crab net and was washed to the shore. At that same moment, a fisherman was fishing on the beach. He saw the dolphin washed onto the sand.   But then a boy named Sawyer Nelson came riding by on his bicycle.  The man called to the boy, “Hey you! Do you have a phone?”
     “Yes, said Sawyer. “I do have a phone.” While the fisherman was calling the Clearwater Marine Aquarium, Sawyer managed to get the dolphin free from the net, but the dolphin was still hurt badly especially on the mouth and tail. Just then, the people from Clearwater Marine Aquarium came and knelt down by the dolphin and looked at her. She was shivering so much that they decided to name her Winter.   

         They put Winter in a stretcher and took her to the Aquarium. The next day Sawyer wanted to see Winter so badly that he ended up getting a job at the Aquarium. Eventually they had to cut off Winter’s tail! This was a problem because soon she learned to swim by moving her tail bud back and forth.  This was bad because it was affecting her spinal cord.   

         The people at the Aquarium soon found out that Winter would need a new tail, so they asked an expert if he could make a tail for Winter. So the expert made a tail and put it on her. When it was time for her to go, Winter went crazy! Then he made a second tail and the same thing happened. Finally, on the third try, Winter slowly learned to move her new tail in the proper way. And so now Winter can swim like any other dolphin once again! It was the love of many different people that made her better again.

There is a live webcam on Winter at http://seewinter.com/winter/media/webcam.

Also, there are more resources here: http://www.scholastic.com/winterstail/ 

Goofy guitar

This is what happens, when, after saying repeatedly, "Head up, please!  Foot down, please!" G-bear's Mama accidentally says, "Head down!  Foot up!"

Testosterone

I'm in the middle of learning about the 3-4 year old testosterone surge.  Parents who have been here give me a knowing nod, which is actually quite reassuring.  Sometimes Bug will insist upon playing with weapons, even though he doesn't even know what they are called.  He calls them "fighty things."  Sometimes his physical power is more than he thought, and he surprises himself (as well as his sisters or parents) by being too rough when he didn't mean to.  Sometimes he has a tantrum (though there's mostly another reason for that).  Sometimes, he has a high need for wrestle-time.

While all these things pose parenting challenges that I am not used to, knowing that there is a reason for this, I can take it as it comes.  I can create boundaries and rules that still allow him to get what he needs.  I can see it as a part of who he is becoming.  Just knowing is a powerful thing.  Thank goodness for the wisdom of parents who have been there.

3-year-old on a 2-wheeler