Hello Charlie, Goodbye Charlie

And so, the saga of Charlie the squirrel continues; and ends. I fed and watered him and come the next morning, he was still sitting on my back porch waiting for me to come out to feed him. Anytime the dog and I would walk outside, there he was running up to greet us. After people had read about the squirrel, they started to drop by to see him. Especially concerned about him was my nephew, Logan. He came over as soon as he found out and wanted to see him.. I took them out back and Logan was, at first timid around around the squirrel. I told him he didn't need to be as I stepped down the steps right next to him and knelt down to rub his head and back. The squirrel was just sitting there letting me rub him. As soon as Logan saw that, he knelt right down and scooped up the squirrel in his hand. Even after two days with it, I still didn't feel comfortable enough to pick him up, but when Logan did, he just sat right there in his hand. All the pictures tonight are Logan with "Charlie." I was originally going to name him "Earl the Squirrel" but, as always, everyone hated my idea and Logan said he was going to be called Charlie. So, Charlie, it is. Logan really bonded with Charlie. They played for close to an hour.

They had to leave for a previous engagement, but I figured I'd see them later. And, after they were done, Logan and Brother-in-Law, Dale, (yes, my sister's husband's name is Dale) came over to check out Charlie. We all watched Logan with Charlie and started to wonder about Charlie. As I mentioned before, he has a bum foot. It was working much better on this day than it did the day before, but the two things got us wondering. Because he really trusted people and had a bad foot, was he being raised in some rehab place and was around humans already? Or, was he just a retarded squirrel that didn't have motor skills and didn't know better? No idea. But, watching Logan play him, it didn't matter. After they were done playing, the sun had gone down and it was getting chilly out. Logan had taken Charlie in his hand and started to rub an area of his back. Charlie curled up into a ball and had fallen asleep!! No kidding, he had a sleeping squirrel in his hand. Since it was getting cold, Logan couldn't stand the thought of just putting him on the cool ground, so we went in, got a box, cut a hole out for him to get in and out, Logan loaded it with grass and put him in there for the night, right by the bottom step where I had his food and a water bowl set out. We all went in for the night.


The next day, today, I stayed home with a sick baby. So, when I got time, we went outside to check on Charlie. He was no where to be found. We looked all over the yard, in the box, under the porch and he wasn't anywhere. Even the dog couldn't sniff him out. All throughout the day, each time I let the dog out, we went out looking for him to no avail. Logan even came by after school to check on him and I had to tell him he had bugged out. Of course, he had to check for himself, so he searched everywhere and Charlie wasn't around. Logan and his Dad had decided that if Charlie was still here, they were going to keep him and take him up to the Animal Rehab place in Atlanta. Very nice thought, but there was no need. I guess we gave Charlie enough food, water and attention to where he felt better and decided to go off and be a squirrel. Maybe we did some good. I just hope he doesn't come back to chew on my water pipes like his elders have done in the past.

Tiny Baby is doing better. We found out why she was running a fever. We have a tooth!! We just noticed it yesterday. This whole time, we thought she was teething, but never felt anything. Some babies will run a fever when they are teething. Then, while my sister was over here, she was playing with her and as she put her head down, Ansley opened her mouth and we saw her first tooth is on the top and not the bottom like most babies have. That's why we never felt it. So, we have our first tooth.

We also want to wish my Sister good luck this week. She has her first, of two, major surgeries this week. Wednesday to be exact. So, good luck and we'll be around if y'all need anything.