Bird eggs and toddler beds

I know you wanted those two subjects to be somehow linked together...sorry, they're not. Just two different things I happen to be sharing in the same post.

First, the bird eggs. I've posted before about how martin birds have been laying their eggs in the eaves of our porch since...well, since we moved in, but most likely before then. At first, Casey had wanted to knock the nest down before they could lay the eggs, but he was too late. Baby birds do tend to make a mess on the porch...I don't think I need to say more than that. Even with the messiness, I still love the whole process we get to see them go through. We watch as they build the nest, we peek in at the eggs (sometimes three, sometimes up to five!), then we begin to hear the tiny sounds of newborn baby birds. Pretty soon, we watch them as they make their way onto the eaves and learn to fly away. This will be our third year to witness this little miracle of life, and it hasn't even begun to get old. The difference this time is that our climbing roses, which rest right by the porch, have become the martin birds' new home. Casey discovered the nest one day, and I was a little worried that it wouldn't hold up in there, but it looks pretty sturdy. We took our usual peek into the nest (had to use the stepladder) and I took a photo of three tiny blue speckled eggs. There may be more at this point, we just haven't looked in a week or so. Aren't they just beautiful?

And in other news, last night was Miles' first night in his 'toddler bed'! I put that in quotes because it is basically still his crib, only converted into a toddler bed by taking the front side off. I don't think anybody can know for absolute certain if their child is ready for this change (although there can be some signs, but Miles hasn't shown any), but Casey and I decided that, well, he is two now...let's just see! That was our basic plan right there. And to our pleasant surprise, Miles took to the change very well. I guess we shouldn't be surprised, because he has always seemed to adjust to new transitions without even blinking. Skip a feeding and sleep through the night? Sure! Take the bottle away? What bottle? That kind of thing. We were still a little cautious, and left some quilts and blankets on the floor in case he rolled off in the night, but so far so good. Naptime today went well also. I thought I'd include a photo of Miles trying out the 'big bed' (as we call it -- yes, even though it's the same size) for the first time. All smiles!