New arrival!

This week we welcomed I, our new 15-month-old. She looks like a cherub! The other children have immediately taken to her. Grandma C is delightful! She is a professional speech pathologist and I feel grateful to benefit from her wisdom about the process of language development.

It has been a hot week so far with heat indices well over a hundred degrees, so we've played outside for an hour or so right after breakfast, then moved the party indoors. Last night's thunderstorm should give us a break in the weather - we hope to have a field trip today, and will update later on that, depending on where the children decide to go. Because of the heat, we allowed the children to watch a bit of Planet Earth and a film about horses, in preparation for our planned visit next week to the Field Museum to see 'Horses' before it closes on the 13th. Horses were a primary nexus of technology and culture for at least two thousand years before the development of the motor car; I think we've forgotten our debt to these beautiful animals and I'm looking forward to seeing the children's reactions to the exhibit. Perhaps today we will go out to Danada Farm to visit their stables!