On Tuesday after Killian got home from school, we held a funeral for our baby bunny that didn't make it. Killian had helped me that morning to get the baby out of the nest, and into a little box for burial:
We dug a hole, placed the box inside and I suggested we say a prayer for the baby. Killian immediately got down on one knee, and said to Rowan "You have to hold your hands like this":
Rowans prayer was:
"I hope this baby bunny bumps his head up to heaven, and when he gets there he bounces on his bed and feels all better"
She also said something about him running around with his friends, and being healthy again. So sweet! After we filled in the dirt, we went around the yard searching for pretty leaves and flowers to put on grave. The kids were anxious to get just the right ones:
It was a somber event, but the kids seem to feel better having done it. And honestly I did too, I couldn't picture just throwing that little body away.
While the kids were sad about the passing of the little black baby, they have mostly been deliriously excited about the babies that did make it. And maybe that's how it should be - feeling sadness and grief for the loss of something you loved, but staying in the moment and celebrating what you have left. They are certainly wise children!
Our other three babies are doing wonderfully! They are squirmy and pink, and ridiculously cute. We took them out of the nest yesterday for their first adventure, but since it was cold and they have no fur it lasted about a minute. Still, it was long enough for all our hearts to melt! This baby was happy to snuggle up in Matthews hands and was very still and content:
Originally Rowan and Killian had each gotten a baby, but Rowan had a hard time understanding she couldn't pick it up and manhandle it. The day before when we went to pick up eggs, Linda had a bunch of turkey poults in a brooder that her turkey hen had hatched out. Rowan had been thrilled to pick each of them up several times and turn them this way and that admiring their cuteness. So I think she expected to do the same with the rabbits, but they are just too tiny for that. So Rowans bunny went back in the nest, and she petted Matthews instead.
Killian was super gentle with his baby, he has been looking forward to this since the babies were born. We hadn't wanted to take them far from Lulu, so we laid a towel on the ground and sat on that. Killian's baby was content to snuggle in his hands:
But when I asked Killian to open his hands so I could see the baby better, the little guy was off and moving! I love those teeny ears, and look at that itty bitty tail!
The babies are so much fun, I am so thrilled that Lulu did turn out to be pregnant! It seems like it was just meant to be this way, and I think this is such an incredible experience for the kids. Its so much fun for Matthew and I too, its going to be fun watching them grow up!
We dug a hole, placed the box inside and I suggested we say a prayer for the baby. Killian immediately got down on one knee, and said to Rowan "You have to hold your hands like this":
Rowans prayer was:
"I hope this baby bunny bumps his head up to heaven, and when he gets there he bounces on his bed and feels all better"
She also said something about him running around with his friends, and being healthy again. So sweet! After we filled in the dirt, we went around the yard searching for pretty leaves and flowers to put on grave. The kids were anxious to get just the right ones:
It was a somber event, but the kids seem to feel better having done it. And honestly I did too, I couldn't picture just throwing that little body away.
While the kids were sad about the passing of the little black baby, they have mostly been deliriously excited about the babies that did make it. And maybe that's how it should be - feeling sadness and grief for the loss of something you loved, but staying in the moment and celebrating what you have left. They are certainly wise children!
Our other three babies are doing wonderfully! They are squirmy and pink, and ridiculously cute. We took them out of the nest yesterday for their first adventure, but since it was cold and they have no fur it lasted about a minute. Still, it was long enough for all our hearts to melt! This baby was happy to snuggle up in Matthews hands and was very still and content:
Originally Rowan and Killian had each gotten a baby, but Rowan had a hard time understanding she couldn't pick it up and manhandle it. The day before when we went to pick up eggs, Linda had a bunch of turkey poults in a brooder that her turkey hen had hatched out. Rowan had been thrilled to pick each of them up several times and turn them this way and that admiring their cuteness. So I think she expected to do the same with the rabbits, but they are just too tiny for that. So Rowans bunny went back in the nest, and she petted Matthews instead.
Killian was super gentle with his baby, he has been looking forward to this since the babies were born. We hadn't wanted to take them far from Lulu, so we laid a towel on the ground and sat on that. Killian's baby was content to snuggle in his hands:
But when I asked Killian to open his hands so I could see the baby better, the little guy was off and moving! I love those teeny ears, and look at that itty bitty tail!
The babies are so much fun, I am so thrilled that Lulu did turn out to be pregnant! It seems like it was just meant to be this way, and I think this is such an incredible experience for the kids. Its so much fun for Matthew and I too, its going to be fun watching them grow up!