Help Mommy cow find her baby calf

Our local library is a great resource to get new books every week but it also offers access to the digital world. Adults can browse the internet on a number of assigned computers, while little ones can play educational games on a couple of them in the children’s book section.

My five-year old has a good grasp, literally, of the mouse and he can read everything on the screen, so it makes his experience very enjoyable. My four-year old is still having a hard time maneuvering the cursor so he often asks for my help, depending on the game.

The Reader Rabbit preschool software offers easier exercises for him, so he can usually navigate it on his own. In one of the games, he’s supposed to help moms reunite with their babies, which are hiding inside a basket. Here are some of the animal moms you get to meet. I’ll let you spot the cow. And if you look carefully, you’ll notice it doesn’t have udders. Disturbing. As if kids were perverts…

Reader Rabbit preschool computer game with animals

Are you ready to see Mommy cow be reunited with her baby? Wait, everyone has been reunited. Good job, my boy! Look at them, they look so happy.

By the way, pigs and cows, friends forever, as usual.

My daily cow is in a book about pigs

Today’s post is going to be really short. Why, do you ask? Because it’s 11:15pm as I’m writing this and I still have to prepare my son’s lunch for tomorrow, load up the dishwasher and get myself ready for bed, at some point.

So here we go without fanfare… Today’s cow (actually, cows) appears in a book about pigs called Oops by Arthur Geisert:

Oops by Arthur Geisert

This is a wordless book depicting how a little spill of milk can cause a chain reaction leading to catastrophic results. Don’t worry, no pigs or cows die in this story, but things get quite messy.

Now, the cows appear just a few pages into the story, below the pig house, grazing on some luscious green fields.

Arthur Geisert's Oops book

Of course, no cow field would be complete without a train passing by. Check out the gray cow on the left, hardly able to contain itself with excitement at the sight of the upcoming train…

Cows and train in Geisert's Oops book

Well, I’ve seen cows today and now you have too. It’s time for me to close shop and go count sheep. Eventually.

Cows can be puzzling

Cows can be puzzling. Or puzzled. As in a puzzle. Yes, I believe today’s cow is the first of its kind for the year and it comes from a puzzle we have in our house. My three-year-old son likes to do this puzzle over and over, put it away for a few weeks, then go back to it. It’s got only 24 pieces and I swear he could do it with his eyes closed. He’s a little puzzle wiz and makes me so proud…

Here’s the puzzle he decided to do this afternoon right after lunch, a couple of times in a row:

Farm animal puzzle with cow

Isn’t itthe cutest puzzle you’ve ever seen? Thanks, Target for the $1 item! And you’ve got to give it to the puzzle makers for placing the baby pig right next to the baby cow. By the way, doesn’t this pig look like Babe? Aw…

Need some storage for your computer files? How about using a cow?

We went to Office Depot this morning to purchase a desk pad for the brand new office desk my husband just put together for me. I’m actually sitting at this desk right now, in front of a window with a beautiful view of green leafy trees and the San Diego river. My home office has been missing a real desk since we moved into our house almost two years ago, so I now feel the room is finally complete, conducing to work, inspiration and creativity.

While waiting in line for an open register, we scanned through the many bins of “stuff” Office Depot wants you to buy as a last-minute impulse. One of the bins contained this very fancy USB drive. I know you want to see a picture of this, because if I just told you about it, you probably wouldn’t believe me.

Cow USB drive at Office Depot

How cute is this cow? I love the daisy in the mouth as the perfect finishing touch. Now, do you remember who are cows’ best friends? Pigs, of course! So no USB drive collection would be complete without a pig to go with this cow:

Pig USB drive at Office Depot

Now you’d better hurry up now. Office Depot closes early on Sundays!

The soothing effect of cows at the dentist’s

Almost every time I visit my local library, I walk by a dentist’s office and can’t help but stare at what I see on the inside wall, right by the door. I find it a little awkward to go inside and ask the receptionist if I can take a picture of the pictures frames for my daily blog. Would you look at me funny if I made this request? I also tried to take pictures through the office’s glass door but the glare always delivered poor quality photos.

But today I saw my window of opportunity and I seized the moment. It was a very hot day in San Diego, and very humid as we rarely see it here, and the dentist’s office door was… open! I stopped the kids in their tracks – something hard to do where they’re trekking to reach the library’s front door in search of new books – and explained I had to make a permanent record of this cow and its friends. I present you with a whole barnyard of round-bodied animals on skinny legs:

Cows, pigs, sheep and rabbits at the dentist's office

Notice how the pig and the cow are at hanging out next to each other. I love the pig pattern, by the way, very panda like. Now I have absolutely no idea where these frames come from but I noticed the cow looks  familiar to the cow I saw on stove burners recently, yet not quite the same. I also have no idea why this dentist would have pictures of farm animals on his (her?) office wall. If you have a theory, I’d love to hear it. Are they supposed to have a soothing effect on dental patients?

Overall I feel it’s my lucky day since I’ve been trying to capture this cow sighting for months. If I had enough motivation in me, I’d go buy a lottery ticket to seal the deal but it’s still too damn hot and sticky to enjoy an evening stroll.