Junior

Our sweet friend and neighbor Mrs. Debbie, knocked on our door yesterday. She had come to share her new friend with us -- a woolly bear caterpillar. Now, I had never heard of a woolly bear caterpillar before. I was taught not to ever touch furry caterpillars because some of them will sting you. But apparently woolly bears are nice. Mrs. Debbie told us about how her daughter would catch them and play with them all the time. We took her word for it, and spent some time checking this little guy out.
Eventually we got a little braver and touched him a few times. And then we held him to take a closer look at his hidden stripes, his legs and his head. But mostly, we just watched him crawl around on a plate.

And then a little while later, it was time for us to go. We had planned to eat lunch with Conner at school. So Junior, which is what Micah had named our little woolly bear, got to accompany us to the bathroom to go potty and as we got dressed.

We had to put him in a more secure container while we were gone, so we took a few minutes to go outside and pick out some sticks and leaves for him. Micah was so sweet, he made sure to add a little dandelion - "Here's a pretty flower, just in case Junior is a girl." And then Joey wouldn't put the container down. He didn't want to leave Junior behind. Or, as he as calling him, "Not ca-piwah, it bear!"

So Junior went to lunch with us. In the car, I could hear Micah talking to him. I wasn't really listening, until I overheard, "...and well...I hope it's okay if I call you Junior, 'cause I don't know your name 'cause I don't really know ya." Too funny!

Everyone at Conner's school thought Junior was really cool. But I think the teachers thought I was a little strange for bringing a huge fuzzy caterpillar to lunch with us! Conner couldn't wait to get home later in the afternoon so that he could hold Junior, too. And then, you'll be happy to know - we let Junior go before we went to bed. We certainly didn't want a repeat of the tadee-poe experience! :)