Pumpkin Patch Continued (the final products)

Oh the glow

The previous pumpkin patch post wouldn't be complete without showing the final products right?   As a goodbye to Boston we hosted a carving party at our house.   

It was pretty bitter sweet. I hate goodbyes.  I've really gotten to love Boston and New England and it was really hard to say goodbye to the things that matter the most - all of our dear friends out here. 

Iylah had the chance to hang out with many of our good Boston (and NH) friends:

Soakin' up the Natalie love. 

Chillin' with baby buddy Benjamin 

Ed, are you really feeding her beer?  

Carving was a success.  The final products were top notch. 

Check out the pumpkin below that our dear friend Natalie carved of the headless horseman FREE STYLE by using just the ShipYard beer label as a guide.  Pretty talented eh? 

Ed and Shelly carved us a dear little "SF" pumpkin as a tribute to our departure for the West coast. Here's Iylah admiring their work.. 

Happy Halloween 

And Iylah didn't end up drinking ALL the pumpkin beer.... 

 

Just a lot of milk instead....  (much better than pumpkin beer, at least for now).  

Pumpkin Patch

Shopping for Pumpkins

I've been excited about celebrating Iylah's first Halloween, and what Halloween would be complete without a visit to the pumpkin patch?   

We didn't exactly have a pumpkin patch nearby... and Iylah isn't exactly old enough to actually pick out a pumpkin herself, so we did the next best thing and headed to Russo's in Watertown, a local supermarket that is pretty famous for their produce selection.    

Check it out, what do you think of all these pumpkins?  

Oh yeah, chillin' in the pumpkin patch...

Boo!!!

Warmin' up my toes... it's chilly out here!!

This one.  I want this pumpkin.  Do you think I can carry it home? 

Happy Halloween everyone!!  

Tummy Time Tricks

Back to Sleep 

One of the things that we've learned as a new parents is the importance of giving Iylah  "Tummy Time"(we like to refer to this as TT).  Tummy time builds neck control and upper body strength that is needed for eventual sitting and crawling. 

In 1992, in an effort to reduce SIDS cases (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome), the  American Academy of Pediatrics started a Back to Sleep campaign recommending that all infants be placed on their backs to sleep.   The resulting decrease in the rate of SIDS was pretty remarkable: 

Source: CDC's National Center for Health Statistics; National Infant Sleep Position Study (funded by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development)

Although SIDS rates have decreased, back sleeping has resulted in developmental delays in when babies now start to roll-over and crawl.  They simply don't have a chance to build upper body strength as frequently as when they were placed on their stomachs to sleep.   Hence, the recommendation now for daily "tummy time" to ensure babies have a chance to develop upper body strength.

Iylah doesn't really like doing tummy time.  Initially she would cry and cry when placed on her stomach so admittedly Brede and I were TT slackers early on.  Now that she's a bit older, I've started to kick tummy time into high gear and try to give Iylah her TT at least 3x a day.    

Iylah will now tolerate tummy time although it's still not her favorite.  Two things have recently helped:

1.)  Buying a stand-up crib mirror 

2.)  Playing a game of "roll-over"

The mirror is particularly helpful for entertaining Iylah while she's on her tummy.  Babies are fascinated by mirrors!  Distraction = more tummy time.  I think of this as almost analogous to my habit of watching reality TV while putting in time on the treadmill.  Distraction can be a good thing at any age... 

 

Here is Iylah staring at her reflection in her little mirror:

Who's that? This strange baby keeps looking at me!!

Side note - Check out the bald spot on the back of Iylah's head from sleeping on her back and rubbing her head back and forth during the night.  

This bald spot makes me feel HORRIBLE but it doesn't seem to bother Iylah at all.  Her Pediatrician has assured me this is quite normal and happens to a lot of babies as a result of back sleeping.  Hopefully all the hair will eventually grow back.... 

Our second trick for tummy time is the "roll-over" game we play.  Some babies start to roll over on their own starting around 3-4 months.  Iylah hasn't mastered this skill yet so I help her out.  I'll basically say - "Iylah, it's time to roll-over,  do you want to roll-over?"  Then I'll subsequently gently roll her over from her back to her stomach.

Are you ready?  Ready to roll-over? 

Here we go....

Almost there...  Iylah usually grunts at this point - "unh, unh, unh".... 

Ta, dah!!! I made it!! 

Wow, check it out, a whole new perspective!  

Oh yeah.... I'm goin' places.  Now if I could only figure out how to crawl!! 

Happy Tummy Time!! 

PS - Both Iylah and I love the Sassy Baby Crib and floor mirror.  It stands up easily on it's own and Iylah is highly entertained by the bee and lady bug because they make noise (yes that decoration in the lower left corner is supposedly a lady bug). 

Leaf Peeping (Part II)

Lake Willoughby

Vermont how I love thee... let me count the ways.    On day 2 of our 1st weekend in Vermont we attended the fall foliage festival at the Bread and Puppet Theater in Glover, VT (granola political leaf peeping at its best) followed by a trip out to Lake Willoughby, a stop that had been recommended by our waitress at the Wildflower Inn. 

The lake was incredibly gorgeous and rivaled some of my favorite lakes in Colorado.  Check out these lake shore views bursting with Vermont fall foliage:  

I love the blazing red reflected in the water. 

Another view of the lake

All this beauty calls for a little romance... 

We also had a lot of fun shooting some portraits as the evening presented the PERFECT light for photos.  In between shots we munched on a picnic of bread and Cabot cheese sandwiches, pasta salad, apples and cashews and played with Iylah.  Here are few of my favorite shots: 

Lakeside family portrait

Wide awake - playing with her Dad... 

Very happy grandparents 

I also LOVE this next series of Iylah with Nana Terri.  Iylah's feet were getting a bit chilly so Nana tried to bundle her all up!!  There was a lot of squirming involved: 

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You may wonder how we got Iylah to smile so happily in many of these photos.  There was a lot of behind the camera make the baby smile magic going on.  I tried my best to capture some of these candid "entertain the baby" antics:

These next three photos are of Grandpa Bob performing his now famous finger buzzing, bop, gonna get you motion... it was AWESOME!  Even I was entertained.  We'll have to ask him for an encore at family Christmas.  

Ready? Iylah are you Ready?  Look over here... 

Bzzzz.... bzzzz...

Bop, gottcha!! 

I also love this next photo, it such a very candid portrayal of super proud grandparents.  Hold still for the camera Iylah! 

As we left the lake it was pretty much dark but I was able to capture one last glorious sunset on the water of the far lake shore.  I love how this photo pretty much summed up this lake..... magical.   Lake Willoughby, I will be back someday. 

Leaf Peeping (Part I)

Chasing the Elusive Peak - Northern Kingdom 

For the last several years Brede and I have attempted to catch the gorgeous New England fall foliage up in New Hampshire and Vermont (otherwise know as "leaf peeping" in New England vernacular).   We've always timed our trips a bit too late missing the elusive "peak" color burst.  Don't get me wrong, the tail end of color has still been absolutely beautiful but staring at mostly bare trees and gorgeous leaves on the ground we've always wondered what would it be like to catch everything turning at once?  

This year we had two sets of grandparents visiting us in early October. Grandpa Bob and Nana Terri one weekend and Grandpa Mark the next weekend.  It was the perfect excuse to set out once again on a "leaf peeping" adventure. 

We bought this pin in a gift store in VT.  It's a "leaf peeper" get it - ha, ha.  It was just so stupid I couldn't resist

We realized at our little Mazda 3 wasn't going to cut it with three adults and all the baby gear so we rented a Subaru Forester and packed it to the brim with luggage.   Side note - one of the biggest surprises of parenthood is just how much "stuff" is required for baby.  Iylah is 13lbs but her "stuff" probably weighs at least 50lbs and I'm not even kidding...   The days of quick and easy packing are over (sigh)

The rental Subaru packed to the brim 

After a few hours of driving the countryside began to get pretty gorgeous.  We passed through Franconia Notch  in NH just as the sun was starting to set. 

Shortly after Franconia  notch we rounded the corner and came upon a hillside exploding with fall color. The hill was literally bright red from all of the turning Maple trees.  At that moment I knew we'd finally found it - we had hit the peak! I was so excited that my exclamations of "wow - check out that hill side... ohhh...look over there...etc."  actually woke Iylah up from her nap! 

Yes, these hills are really that red (not just a camera setting) - check out the white 55mph sign against the hillside

The hills ablaze -  fall foliage against the setting sun 

We arrived at our final destination the Wildflower Inn in Lyndonville, VT in the dark.  It was so fun to wake up the next morning to such a beautiful new landscape.  We'd hit a goldmine - it was classic Vermont: farm animals, a barn with grain silo, mooing cows and lush fields overlooking the fall foliage.   We couldn't have asked for a prettier setting to spend the fall weekend. 

Iylah and I out and about exploring

Posing by the barn with Nana Terri and Grandpa Bob

I was particularly excited to show Iylah all the farm animals on the Inn's property. We've been singing "Old MacDonald" song and I kind of feel like a fool when I make all the animal noises and Iylah has absolutely no idea what I'm talking about because she's never actually seen a horse, donkey, goat, pig, etc.   These things exist... I swear!! 

The barn had the cutest little donkey.   Unfortunately, Iylah was not interested in the donkey or really any of the animals but Grandpa Bob had some fun giving the little donkey some lovin'  pets 

Scratch your little ears

We spent the entire morning outside just exploring the Inn's spectacular grounds. Yes these photos are real.  Vermont really does look like a Cabot cheese or Ben and Jerry's commercial. 

Lush green pastures with cows.  The cows were really loud and mooed all morning! 

Nana Terri & Grandpa Bob - walking the grounds and soaking up the fall...

The hill across the road - part of the network of Northern Kingdom trails

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Self portrait of Brede and I on the star gazing hill 

Building where we stayed  - isn't this cute?

Not only were the pasture lands lush and green but the Vermont farm was brimming with flowers. Brede loves to take photographs of flowers so I'll leave you with a few pictures that he snapped on the Inn's grounds.   Don't you think these almost look fake??? 

Happy fall foliage!!!  

P.S. - Stay tuned.  More spectacular fall photos of Vermont to come...