A Day on the Farm

Dear Conor,

On September 13, 2012 we went to the farm in New Gloucester; Pineland Farms.  There we visited with the cows, calves, pigs, chickens, and enjoyed the company of some of your friends.  This was the first time I had ever taken you to a farm and you weren't quite sure what to think when it came to all the animals (especially the cows who were much bigger than you). 


We decided to bring your wagon instead of your stroller as I wasn't sure what the grounds were like and knew that we could rinse off the wagon much easier than your stroller in the event that it got animal poo on it.  But, everything was very clean so there was really nothing to worry about!

Baby S checking out your wagon......

Entering the cow barn with Baby A in your wagon......neither of you were too excited about the cows

Visiting the cows with Mommy.....and Mommy kept you safe!

After visiting the big cows we walked over the the nursery where they keep the baby cows.  You and I had a hard time visiting these baby cows because it upset Mommy to see that they were not able to be with their Mommy's but the farm had its reasons - we just didn't like it so we didn't spend a lot of time with the babies.

Baby A peering at a baby cow

shhhh......this baby was sleeping!

There were some yearlings in the nursery and Babies M and S enjoyed giving them some hay.  You tried to help Mommy give them some hay but you were very nervous so you just watched me do it.  One little yearling was very curious and licked Mommy's hand!

M & S feeding the yearlings

 After visiting the cows we climbed the big hill to the other barns to see the pigs and chickens and relax in the shade of the big Willow tree.  There was a slide and a playhouse for some of the older kids to enjoy.

Piggies

Baby S with her Grandma Linda who was our Tuesday Group Leader

Conor & Joyce with Baby Q and her Mom Dakotah relaxing in the sun

 After enjoying the outdoors we all headed into the beautiful marketplace to look at all the fresh and organic foods that were available for purchase and to also get lunch.  We shared a fruit salad and Mommy also got a small sandwich.  It was a lovely lunch and you even ate a little bit of a strawberry!

After lunch playtime!

Beautiful Baby Q

After you played in the market place for a little bit and then you and Baby Q played outside while the Mommies talked it was time to go home.

We had a lovely day on the farm and I am certain that we will go back again in the spring unless we decide to check out their snowshoeing trails!

xoxo
Mommy

Nine Months

Dear Conor,

Mommy is having a hard time with your monthly post this month as you are 9 months old.  You have now been a little part of this giant world for as long as you were a tiny person-to-be inside Mommy's tummy.  I have done my best to protect you, shelter you, and gain your trust in these last 9 months so that you know now and will know forever how much you are loved.  I have worked hard to comfort you and anticipate your every need so that you never felt abandoned or neglected. I've tried to introduce you to the world in ways that encourage you to participate in it and not just observe; to be cautious but not afraid of all it has to offer.  I have made you my focus in order to show you that I would always give you all of me whenever you required it and at those times that you don't.  I promise you that no matter what else Mommy has on her plate YOU are the most important and will always come FIRST.

Nine months little man - you are wearing 9 and 12 month clothing.  You are growing leaner and therefore clothes are fitting you for longer periods of time (our wallets appreciate this!).  The pants are always still too long on you but since you are not walking yet that is ok as it helps keep your legs covered when you are in the backpack.

You have started to accept food a tad bit more regularly though not each day.  I have stared only offering it to you every few days in order to not pressure you.  Since you are so inconsistent with eating I have stopped making your food by hand as I don't feel it stays fresh long enough so you are eating "Happy Baby" brand as well a few other all organic pouches.  You tend to like to suck the food from the pouch instead of using a spoon and that is ok by me (for now).  You also really like puffs.

 

You are now officially unstoppable!  You are crawling everywhere and over everything!  You can crawl over humps and under bridges and its been real fun to watch you go (and also trying to always keep one step ahead of you).  You also pull up on everything and you have started holding onto things with only 1 hand - you aren't supporting yourself unassisted at this time but I'm sure in one month I will be writing about you doing just that.  You have started becoming more vocal and both Daddy and I LOVE your little voice and all its octaves!

 

You have such a a great personality.  You are truly a very happy baby.  You are typically all smiles all day unless you are hungry or have an unmet need (which isn't often).  You have started getting upset when things you want are taken away from you or someone you want leaves the room (usually mommy when I am trying to get a drink before sitting down to nurse you).  You have a little bit of stranger anxiety (mostly towards men) but you easily come around when/if the man is able to spend a little time making you feel comfortable.

You are also fearful of animals.  You get very nervous when they come into the room or come near you on the street.  You want to be as far away from them as possible and you shriek very loudly and start crying if you are not picked up or the animal moved away.  Your Daddy and I want you to love animals but as your Mommy used to be fearful of them when she was a little girl she understands that we need to support your fear until you are ready to explore them further.  So for now we make sure that Grandma and Grandpa Jakan's dogs are not around and that anyone else we know who has animals is able to put them away when we visit (and for the most part they are).

 

 

You are still not a fabulous sleeper.  You tend to go to sleep between 7 and 8:15 and you will sleep until 11pm or so.  At that time you nurse for about 10 minutes until you fall back asleep.  You wake up next around 3:15am and at that point you nurse for a little bit longer.  Some nights I struggle to get you to go back to bed at this time and so you are up for a good hour - but this is not every night.  You are usually up for the day around 6:30am unless I nurse you a little bit more before I go to work -then you will sleep for Daddy until 7:30am or if I get to sleep in and pull you into bed with me you will often sleep until 7:30am.  Your Daddy and I talked about sleep training but we feel you simply aren't ready yet so we will be talking to your pediatrician about our concerns and if you need to be eating so much at night (so far what Mommy reads says that you do because you are not eating a lot during the day - mostly at night and you aren't eating much solids).

 

 

You are moving further and further away from being my baby and closer and closer to being my 'big boy' and while Mommy is sad she is loving every minute she gets to watch you grow and learn new things.  I love you so much little man and I can't WAIT to continue to watch you grow.

 

Until next month little man -

 

xoxo

Mommy

 

PS.  My how you have Grown........

 

 

Fall is in the Air

An early evening family walk required a NorthFace and blanket for Conor, a shirt for Hunter & sweatshirts for Mommy and Daddy - fall is certainly in the air . . . . . but we're still having fun!

9.10.12

Smiling at Hunter

Rosy Cheeks from the chill

Even Hunter and Daddy needed layers!

I actually love walking with my family in the early fall evenings as there are no bugs and the cool air feels good on your skin and lungs!

xoxo
Erin

Strut Your Mutt

On Sunday September 9, 2012 we participated in our 4th Strut Your Mutt to benefit the Animal Welfare Society's "Sadie Fund."  As you may recall, this is the animal shelter in Kennebunk from which we adopted Hunter and this fund is used to cover extraordinary medical expenses of animals that are brought to the shelter.

Last year I was 7 months pregnant when we participated in the walk and this year Conor was 8 months old!  What a difference one year can make :).

Hunter did really well this year walking - he walked about 1.5 of the 2 miles and he walked with a good strong stride.

 

Getting ready to start our walk!

1/2 mile marker with my boys!  I spy Grandma Janet in this picture too!

We made it 1 mile!!!

Conor was worn for the majority of the walk because it was nap time and he naps better in his Kinderpack than in the stroller.  Also, he has developed a fear of animals and since there were going to be a lot of dogs and he would be riding low to the ground I didn't want to overwhelm him.  He fell asleep shortly before the 1 mile mark and stayed asleep until we were almost at the end - so it was a good 30 minute nap!  Hunter rode in his stroller bassinet when he didn't walk to rest his legs and this was at the end of the walk and here for this picture.

We love our stroller - it has so many options for me to keep both my boys comfortable though I don't think we really needed it this year and it was a little bit more of a hindrance since I wore Conor and Hunter didn't need it.  It will depend on the boys next year but I might consider not using it since the sidewalk gets pretty congested with all the people and dogs.

Before the walk there were a few 'characters' present and one of them was Clifford the Big Red Dog.  Knowing how Conor had reacted to Curious George at Story Land I wanted to introduce him to Clifford in a way that might be less stressful.  So I wore him over to meet with Cliff and had Cliff stretch out his paw for Conor to touch.  Once Conor was ok with that Cliff patted him on the head. Conor did not have any type of adverse reaction to this exchange and so I think Josh and I will need to be prepared to keep exposing Conor to characters when we can in a non-threatening way (and we hope things go better with Santa!).

Conor meeting Clifford

I was very proud of my whole family for their commitment to the walk this year and I hope next year we are able to participate once more and raise a lot of money for the shelter!

xoxo
Erin

Camera Play

After Strut Your Mutt (another post entirely) I decided to break out the new camera (a birthday present from my awesome hubby) and play around some more with the shutter speed and the zoom (this camera is so different than my point and shoot - I am incredibly intimidated).  Who better to photograph than my adorable little boy and pupster!  They were such great sports about playing in the yard with me chasing them with a camera or running away from them so that they would run/crawl towards me.....I really do have two of the best little guys anyone could ask for (at least on this day!). 

Here are my two boys sitting next to each other - this doesn't happen often and I think out of 20 pictures we got these two usable ones.....

Conor 8 months, 3 weeks - Hunter 11.5 years

What was our secret to getting them to sit so nicely?

Nope - it wasn't super strength - but that's a good guess Conor

Nope - we didn't make a scrunch face either......

See those two fingers in the bottom left hand screen that Hunter is looking very carefully at?

They were holding a COOKIE!!!!  That's what kept Hunter still and you were so excited just to be sitting near Hunter - you kept wanting to touch him and he tolerated it because of the COOKIE!!!!  That's our secret!

I know - your parents are awesome!

Back to the camera - the shutter speed is very quick in the auto mode when the zoom is set correctly.  For example - it caught Conor scrawling arm by arm as he scurried across the grass to get to me.

Right

Left

Right

Stopping....

and what a face!

 It also was able to capture all of Hunter's individual hairs as they bounced with the wind when he ran - my old camera would catch a couple or clumps of hair but this camera caught each blade of grass and strand of hair - simply amazing!

Love this little guy!
 

So there you have it - a few pictures with my beautiful new camera (Nikon D5100) that I love.  I hope to use it exclusively from this point forward (other than my cell phone camera) unless we are going somewhere that I would want to risk damaging it or I don't have room to carry it.  Now, I just need to find some classes so that I can get more comfortable with it!

xoxo
Erin

Return to Storyland

Dear Conor,

On September 8, 2012 we returned to Storyland.  The reason we went back was that when we went with the Fillip Family back in July we were able to get tickets for another full day because we arrived within 3 hours of the park closing.  Since we were in need of some family time (Mommy and Daddy had been working too hard at their jobs and taking shifts with you and family time is very important) we decided to reconnect as a family by going to Storyland with you and leaving the working world behind.  Grandma Janet was nice enough to watch Hunter for us so that we could go because he can't go to Storyland (thank you Grandma!).

You napped on the way so Daddy and I talked and listened to the radio.  You woke up as we were putting your stroller together so I changed you, put on your sunblock and off we went!

Mommy brought her new camera to practice taking pictures with - and our first stop was your first character meeting.  Curious George was sitting down greeting visitors and we decided to give it a try.  When it was your turn to see C.G. Daddy carried you up to him.  Daddy said that you grabbed his shirt real tight and held on - he didn't think that you were going to let go.  You didn't want to really look at C.G. nor did you want to get too close to him but you did NOT cry and that was a BIG plus!

Daddy - I'm not so sure about this

Mommy!!!!

Holding CG.'s hand

I was so proud of you for not crying and so were the people standing in line behind you!  The mommy even said she was shocked that you did not cry given it was your first time!

After C.G. we went for a little walk around the areas that we had not really visited when we were there last.  We saw Heidi's Grandfather's house in the mountains, visited the village where Cinderella was having tea with some young ladies, and took a back path into the rides area.  There we slowly made our way to the tractors that you had enjoyed so much on your first visit.  I did not get any pictures but Daddy did take a video of you driving!

After the tractors we went to your first theater production called "Farm Follies" it was all about what plants need to grow (water and sun and no bugs).  You really liked the animated puppets and all the lights and colors.

The stage

Posing with some of the 2-D characters

After the Farm Follies we went over the the nursery rhyme/fairy tale section of Storyland where we rode both the Swan boat AND the Merry-go-round.  The Swan Boat ride was very relaxing and you seemed to enjoy watching the butterflies get their color back as we participated in the story about Butterfly Island.  You liked the Merry-go-Round but not as much as the first time.  Both Daddy and I felt that it went a little faster this time - almost TOO fast!

Such a good Daddy - making sure you are all buckled in and ready for the ride.

Giving you a chance to do it youself but still there for support

Daddy and Conor

After the Merry-go-Round we looked in the shops and then played in the grass a little bit before it was time to go home.

I had a wonderful time at Storyland with you and Daddy my little man - you are a joy to spend time with and you bring out the BEST qualities in your Daddy!

Just one more because I love your little face!

xoxo
Mommy