Baby cows!

James' dad has been talking about getting some cows for a while now. Something about how he has a lot of hay and couldn't sell it so he may as well just feed it to cows and resell them when they are big and fat. When James got off of the phone with him this past Saturday he told me, "There's cows now," and that's all I needed to hear.

Callie, our supervisor.

The next day we woke up early and headed out to the farm. His parents weren't there but we let ourselves into the barn and heard it... little baby "moo"s! I ran up to the stables and peeked over the door, there were two of them, their big dark eyes just stared back at me.

#32 and Midgie. Check out those stems.

There are four total. All black and white splotchy. They all have the most precious little ears and the biggest eyes and longest eyelashes. They are too cute for words. They are only about 2 1/2 feet tall, but weigh about 250 pounds each. I don't know how their tiny little spindly legs with knobby little knees hold up their big bellies. I just love them to pieces already.

My little Rico.

There's something about baby animals that turns me to straight goo. I just melt into a puddle and want to hold them and love them. The younger and tinier they are the more high pitched my voice gets when I talk to them, too. Even with the baby cows who weigh twice as much as I do.

Rico, looking for some grub.

James and I stood there, in the stables with them, for about an hour. They watched us for a while, then went about their cow-thing, mostly eating, chewing, and eating. But one....

My little Rico. He is named Rico because his fur is more smooth than the other's. He looks a little bit more sleek and he is a lot friendlier. Rico, Rico Suave. He eventually let me get near him and rub on his little nubs where his horns will grow in. He started licking my fingers and chewing my sleeves. He was looking for a bottle, and let's face it... look at your hands... see that? Five little cow nipples hanging off of them. You're welcome. He let me pet his little head and rub his ears. He was definitely earning his number 1 spot in my heart.

Rico and I, sharing a moment.

Then there is Manti. James named him. He's a mess. A very skeptical cow. He would try to eat his hay without letting his eyes off of us, resulting in piles and piles of it escaping his mouth and falling onto the ground, and he was not about to reach down and grab it back up... oh no... how would he watch us?

In the other stall is #32, or Baskin Robbins. So named for his ear tag. I am not sure why he was the only one with a tag. His cell-mate is little Midgey". This cow is precious. He has a normal sized baby cow body, but the tiniest, stubbiest little legs. It is adorable. He lays down a lot and I am sure it is because his little legs are tired of holding his normal sized body up.

So there I stood, surrounded by little baby cows, it was a dream. I just can't get enough of them. Just looking at them and watching them. Remember, where I am from this was something we did on school field trips. James, on the other hand, just stood and shook his head, "They're cows, babe..."

I don't think either party was impressed.

After a long while, bonding with the babies, James' parents pulled up to the barn. "Good! You're here! We've got some work to do. Do you have on your cow-wranglin' clothes?"

I did not. But that didn't matter...