Hummingbird Spotter

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Home » Mommy Musings » Hummingbird Spotter

Hummingbird Spotter

Posted by Jennifer Milner Monday, August 25, 2008 0 comments

My grandmother was an avid bird-watcher,
with a set of binoculars and a well-thumbed bird book resting on
the kitchen windowsill out at the farm. She had several types of
feeders around the porch, including two hummingbird feeders hanging
in different spots. No matter how many times she’d seen one,
every time a hummingbird would fly up she’d inhale sharply
and say in a low voice, “Oh, look at that! Isn’t it
beautiful?” Gramma loved seeing the birds hold, motionless
except for a blur of wings, as they drank out of the feeder, their
long slender necks pulsing as they swallowed rapidly.

When we moved to Texas we set up several birdfeeders around the
house at prime watching spots, and there’s no one in the
family who enjoys them more than Cora. At first, the large feeder
hanging not far from a living room window drew the largest avian
crowd, and Cora would lean against the window, breathing foggily as
she watched the cardinals and robins hop around eating. Then the
feathered gang found the one hanging outside our breakfast room,
and every morning we had prime seats for the show; everyone would
arrive and feast, singing up a storm and throwing leftovers down on
the ground for the doves and squirrels. We’d also hung two
hummingbird feeders up in the same place, but for some reason the
word never spread and the feeders stayed unused.

Until a few weeks ago.

At first, a couple hummingbirds stopped by
for our flowers, and checked out the feeders as an afterthought.
Word seemed to spread, though, and soon we had regular visitors at
our little rest-stop. Showing the birds to Maddie and Cora was
hard; the birds are so small, and move so fast, that unless you
know what you’re looking for you miss them. But both girls
finally caught glimpses and now enjoy seeing the little birds drink
up in our side yard, Cora even more than Maddie.

Cora’s chair faces out the window, and she’s constantly
got one eye on the window searching for her feathered friends. As
soon as one shows up, mostly likely all but hidden behind the
feeder, Cora will shriek, “Huh bah! Huh bah!” and point
vigorously out the window. Sometimes no one else will see it and
we’ll say, “Oh, no, Cora, no hummingbirds!” but
she’ll insist until we notice that by gum, the baby’s
right!

A few times we’ve gotten to hear those tiny wings beating, so
fast and furious were they flapping, and Cora thought that was the
coolest. Thing. Ever. Hummingbirds are very territorial, and
we’ll often see two of them zipping amazingly fast through
the side yard, swooping up and over as they conduct their own
high-speed chase. And Cora stays riveted for every second.

I don’t know what she loves so much about the hummingbirds;
they’re certainly cool, and we’ve got a couple
different types coming through, one of which is an amazing green
color. And I know Cora’s always loved the outdoors,
preferring to dig in the dirt or stare at flowers over playing
indoors. Maybe she just sees something worth making note of,
something worth taking a second out of her day to acknowledge its
loveliness. All I know is that every time she sees a hummingbird,
the delight’s as fresh as the first time she ever spotted
one.

Just like someone else I used to know.

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About

When I was first pregnant with Madeleine, I’ll admit it: I panicked. As a self-professed organizational freak and someone who’s spent a lifetime scrupulously researching everything before buying something or making any sort of decision, I found myself at a loss as to how to proceed. Where could I go to research how to be a good parent? Where’s the Consumer Reports to fill me in on things like: When are you supposed to use diaper crème and why? What should I look for in a diaper bag? Why are babies supposed to wear hats? And living in New York City added its own problems: What kind of stroller should I get that won’t get beaten up by all the sidewalk miles I’d put on it, yet be maneuverable enough to get through those narrow grocery stores and light enough to carry up and down subway stairs? How do you take a newborn in a cab?

So I formed my own focus group; four girlfriends who had all had children in the past couple of years, who share my attitudes on breastfeeding and thoughtful, deliberate parenting. We sat down one afternoon, and for four hours they patiently answered my eight pages of questions. (I wish I was exaggerating, but I’m not. Now that I’m a mom, I know what it cost some of them to stay in one place with a squirmy six-month old for four hours. Thanks, Bev.) I walked away feeling not emotionally more prepared to be a mom, perhaps, but at least feeling more prepared to tackle a baby registry. Throughout my pregnancy I read the books they suggested and continued to tap into them with panicked, 3 a.m. emails about thermometers and swaddling blankets.

Once Madeleine came, I naively thought I’d be finished with the focus group, but within days of her birth I found myself tearfully in front of the computer, begging for advice on breastfeeding and uncontrollable crying (both mine and Maddie’s!) They became a “been-there-done-that” shoulder to cry on, a continued resource as Maddie began to need new stuff, and my cheering section as I encountered people who disagreed with my parenting choices. I don’t know what I’d do without my girlfriends; I’m sure I’d figure it out, but I’d be less confident and feel more alone. Which started me thinking about all the women who don’t have their own mommy focus group, their own community. So I thought I’d offer you one.

I'd like you to get two things out of this website: first, I'd like you to use this site as your own personal Mommy Focus Group. I've done the road-testing and researching and polling and have taken the guesswork out of shopping for yourself and your baby. I've actually used everything I recommend here unless I explicitly say otherwise. I'm a picky consumer and (I'd like to think) I've got good taste. If you don't have time to read through my weblogs, the buttons on the side will pull up entries by category or, even faster, go to my Top 5s Page where I'll link you to my favorite picks in a variety of categories.

And second, I'd like you to know that you're a little less alone than you thought.

Who We Are

My husband Brian and I are practicing Christians living in New York City, though we’re both from Texas. Brian works for a religious non-profit and I’m a pilates instructor; he does all the technical work on the website and I do the fun writing stuff. Madeleine was born June 2005, and as parents we believe in breastfeeding and attachment parenting in that we both wear her or hold her a good deal more than our parents’ generation did. We do not sleep in a family bed, but respect every family’s choice as to what works best for them. We’ve seen that it certainly does take a village to raise a child, and our “village” is my mother who lives two blocks away (thank heavens) and our church community, who encourages and supports and simply takes her from our hands when our arms get tired. My girlfriends are largely from my church community.

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Hummingbird Spotter

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