Oh Conor

Dear Conor,

You have spent the last few months growing both psychologically and physically.  You have 5 new teeth (3 of which have come through in just the last 2 weeks) and you are almost out of the last of your 12 months clothes.  You have begun sleeping through the night more often than not and you are slowly weening from nursing as you build up your appetite for solid foods (though you are still picky).

While you aren't growing inches you are learning so many new skills.  You can almost run and your vocabulary is amazing.  You are able to climb almost anything (much to my dismay) and you have gotten very strong and can hold onto something with a death grip at times!

The other night we played in the yard and took some pictures.....you are growing too fast little boy!

Looking like a teenager

and complaining like one too

But never too old to snuggle with Mommy - my favorite thing to do with you!

Smiles for Daddy!!!  We love you!

You have become such your own little person and you seem to understand concepts far beyond your years.  When you wanted to sit on my stomach I said that you had to be careful of the baby.  Since that day you love to hug my belly and kiss the baby and blow raspberries on my stomach.  You talk about babies all the time and you love being able to hug our friends' new babies.  You are such a special little boy and you are going to make an amazing big brother!  But just remember - you will ALWAYS be my baby boy!

xoxo
Mommy

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

My Boys 7.6.12

Trying to get a picture of these two is almost impossible.  Conor always wants to touch Hunter and Hunter is always trying to balance between letting Conor touch him but avoiding the hair pull.  Here is my best effort on July 6, 2012 after Hunter's haircut.

Family Fun Time

Saturday May 12, 2012 - A little bit of Family Fun in the yard!

Where's Waldo - uuhhh...I mean Conor?

There he is!

First time with barefeet & fingers in the grass!

We tried so hard to get a nice picture of me and my two little men but it is very difficult to get Hunter and Conor to both look at the camera at the same time.  These were the best two that we got.  Thanks Daddy for trying so hard!

While Conor and I played hung out in the grass Daddy and Hunter played chase in the yard.

Fun time with my family are what weekends are all about!

xoxo
Erin

Summer in March

Dear Conor,

This week the State of Maine (and most of New England) has been setting records for highest recorded temperatures.  Yesterday (3/22/12) Portland Maine was around 80 degrees for most of the day - the previous highest recorded temperature was 60 degrees!

Because of this beautiful weather we have been doing a lot of outside activities. On Tuesday we went to playgroup at Mercy in the morning where you and your friends played inside while the sun was at its peak.

Lots of Mommies and Babies at Mercy

Your friend C trying to teach you to roll over

You are never without your favorite accessory lately - drool soaked shirts!

Your girlfriend A....she's an older woman :)

After playing inside we went down to the East End Playground and had a picnic lunch and for a nice long walk along the trail.  One of the reasons I love our Mommy Group is because I am learning all the nice places to take you and Hunter for a walk!  This walk was very much like the Cape Cod Rail Trail that your Dad and I took our bikes on a few years ago.

Picnic Lunch

Some of your older friends swinging -you were too little still

When we got home we played in the yard with Daddy and Hunter until the sun made all of us too hot!  Being too hot and having the sun in your eyes made you cry so it was clearly the right time to pack it all up and call it a day!

Me and my boys

Take me inside Mom!

While I console you - Hunter poses for one more picture

On Thursday (which was yesterday) your Daddy and I decided that we couldn't spend these beautiful days working (because who knows how nice the summer will be) so we headed to the beach.  We were not the only ones that had this idea as Pine Point was very crowded.

But, we enjoyed your first true beach day anyways.  We set up the tent that your Aunt Lindsay and Uncle Sean got you for Christmas to keep you out of the intense sun and applied the sunblock to all your exposed parts (thank you to your aunt and uncle for the summer survival Christmas gift!).  After a little rest in your tent we took you down to the water to put your toes in the sand for the FIRST TIME!

Safe from harmful sun's rays inside the tent!  Mom hoping you'll take a little nap.

Family Beach photo 3.22.12

Sandy Toes for the first time

With Mom by the water

And with Dad!

Silly Daddy!  Pretending he was going to drop you in the water!

 When we got home from the beach you were very cranky and did not want to take a nap.  So, we decided that if you weren't going to nap at home we would go to another beach (this time Mother's Beach) to take Hunter for a walk and you would maybe nap in the car.

You didn't nap on the way to the beach nor while we were at the beach.  We didn't use your stroller but your new carrier that came in this week.  It's called the Beco Gemini and while you currently face in - when you have more neck control you will be able to face out and then when your even older you can ride backpack style or on my hip.  This carrier was well worth the wait and the cost!  Daddy thought we looked cute walking so he snapped this picture.

When our walk was over it was time to head home and get ready for bed.  I gave you a bath (which you loved) and then it was time for bed.  You were so tired that it didn't take too long to get you to sleep - about 35 minutes (it usually takes about an hour with two feedings to knock you out!).

You looked so relaxed in your sleep that I had to snap a picture and send it to your Aunties and grandparents.  You can thank Great Nannie and Dar for the adorable Chip n' Dale onesie!

I hope you enjoyed your first beach day as much as we enjoyed spending it with you. 

xoxo
Mom