Back then, Naomi was the one nurturing and releasing the butterflies into 100 degree heat. This now feels like a metaphor for Naomi transforming from a sweet little girl into an amazing young adult, and her being released into further independence at A&M in 'feels like' 100 degree weather!
(Too deep?)
For her birthday, we got Naomi the As Seen On TV Live Butterfly Garden. The kit we purchased actually just came with the net holder thingy (and a special code) -- we still had to order the caterpillars once we were ready to commit to caring for them for 3+ weeks. The next day we were ready, so we went online and ordered the caterpillars. A small box screaming "OPEN IMMEDIATELY" was dropped on our 110 degree porch a few days later.
Those little critters are tough! All 5 caterpillars survived the delivery and got to work doing what caterpillars do. They ate the goo that was in the bottom of the plastic cup and started getting fatter and fatter (just like in the Very Hungry Caterpillar). Within 10 days, all 5 caterpillars had climbed to the top of the cup, hung upside down and mysteriously transformed into chrysalises. Fascinating. We transferred them from the cup into the nifty 'butterfly garden' and waited.
Just as promised, a week later, Naomi woke up one morning and she had 5 butterflies in her room! She named all of them (a new name each day) and we fed them oranges and sugar water . It was very cool to see them "drinking" (notice the 2 antennas and the 3rd thing going from mouth to orange -- that's the proboscis).
After a few days, it was time to release the butterflies. The instructions mentioned that it needed to be over 55 degrees -- it did not mention anything about an upper limit!
As Naomi unzipped the top, one flew out immediately and disappeared into our trees. Naomi helped the other 4 go free, as she gave them each a personalized farewell.
Rainbow, Flutter, Dots and the others are hopefully still out there doing whatever it is that butterflies do!
Those little critters are tough! All 5 caterpillars survived the delivery and got to work doing what caterpillars do. They ate the goo that was in the bottom of the plastic cup and started getting fatter and fatter (just like in the Very Hungry Caterpillar). Within 10 days, all 5 caterpillars had climbed to the top of the cup, hung upside down and mysteriously transformed into chrysalises. Fascinating. We transferred them from the cup into the nifty 'butterfly garden' and waited.
Just as promised, a week later, Naomi woke up one morning and she had 5 butterflies in her room! She named all of them (a new name each day) and we fed them oranges and sugar water . It was very cool to see them "drinking" (notice the 2 antennas and the 3rd thing going from mouth to orange -- that's the proboscis).
After a few days, it was time to release the butterflies. The instructions mentioned that it needed to be over 55 degrees -- it did not mention anything about an upper limit!
As Naomi unzipped the top, one flew out immediately and disappeared into our trees. Naomi helped the other 4 go free, as she gave them each a personalized farewell.
Rainbow, Flutter, Dots and the others are hopefully still out there doing whatever it is that butterflies do!
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