Look who's walking now (sort of . . .)

Say "Hi" to Davy!

Davy wants to say hello to you all and show you his latest trick. His "mama" (he's almost saying it) has been teaching him well. Take a look!

Davy has been a very happy boy lately. Every now and then we're reminded that that is his usual self. He may have just gone through some teething recently that made him a little more of a "grumpy pants" for awhile, but he's been all smiles the past few days. I present to you Exhibits A, B, and C as evidence:





He's also enjoyed his new-found movement abilities. Though he's not crawling yet, he's picked up a few moves to get to what he wants. He especially loves to stand up and move along the length of the couch or anything else his height. He's even starting to climb up from a sitting position to a standing position almost by his own strength. Watch out if he gets around your ankles cause he'll be pulling on your pants (or leg hair, in Collin's case) just to stand up next to you!

Here's one of Davy discovering the bottom of the toy bin.

Charles Regatta and Around the House

A few weeks ago we went with our friend Lindsay and her boys Spencer and Austin to Middlesex Fells (a big nature reserve about half an hour northeast of Belmont) to do some hiking with a guided tour from a program called Babes in the Woods. Lindsay is taking a Environmental Management class at Harvard Extension and had to do some research for her paper. Davy, Tara, and I had fun hiking (I hiked, Tara rode in the stroller, and Davy rode in the baby sling carrier) through the beautiful fall leaves. We went to the top of a hill to a tower overlook that had a great view of Boston. Davy got to stretch on the grass and have a break from being carried. Then we found some great caves that the older kids could climb in. It was a great way to get out of the house and into nature. I'm especially glad we've taken the opportunity to get outdoors, as today it started snowing. Ugh, winter again so soon!



Yesterday we took the bus down to Harvard Square to watch some of the Head of the Charles Regatta boat races on the river. And we stocked up on some cool free samples of things (mostly organic or super natural and all "Green").



Don't get too grossed out by this picture. I've been cleaning the bathroom a lot more frequently now than I used to! Davy loves standing up on the toilet while I'm getting ready in the morning. It's the perfect height and everything.

Bog Blog

Today we drove down the cape to Wareham to the cranberry "hahvest" festival. It was totally cool! Davy slept on the way down and the way back (how did he know we were going to be in the car the perfect amount of time for a nap? He never sleeps in the car!)



Davy enjoyed his first ride on a school bus (the transport from the parking lot to the festival location and cranberry bogs). He often caught the attention of the people around us by banging on the seats and just being all out cute.



Behind Collin and Davy is what an ordinary flooded bog can look like -- almost like a pond, but with a few clumps of red here and there.



But when they get the workers out there and hook up the pump, it looks more like this, where all the berries are rounded up (Rachel compared it to a corral), sucked up by a pump, and carried to the truck on a conveyor belt. There were SO many berries! And SO many different shades of red with bits of yellow and white! Davy was fascinated by the whole thing. He did not want to be turned toward the camera, but wanted to watch what was going on. We got to sneak into a children's activity, where we made our own cranberry bogs in a cup with all the layers of clay, rocks, peat, and sand. Apparently, if we don't forget to water our mini-bog and kill all the baby vines, next spring we'll get little white flowers. Cranberry plants are perrenials and can live for hundreds of years. There are over 100 different varieties of cranberries. Good cranberries bounce. Okay, enough trivia. Suffice it to say, we learned a lot, saw new things, and had a blast.



Oh, and we also splurged (money-wise and calorie-wise) on a deep fat fried Milky Way candy bar. We'd seen this special on Food Network about 'em, and when we saw a vendor making them we decided we had to try it. It was pretty sinful.

Tidy Eater

This video post is for Collin, who captured Davy's new habit this morning during breakfast. Davy's been following up every bite with a (not-so) surreptitious hand wipe across his mouth, to make sure his face is all clean (or maybe just so he gets every morsel).

Davy's getting so big!

Our friends, the Bullocks, have a great tradition--on Conference Sunday they invite some friends over for breakfast. We were invited this morning!!! We had a great time eating yummy breakfast food and spending time with good friends, and Davy loved playing with his friend, Austin. They're both just starting to stand, and are here leaning against a soft ottoman, both still in their pjs. In the picture below it looks like they are conspiring together for some mischief.



Last week we took Davy to a nine month check-up. He weighs in at 20 lbs 8 oz and measures 28 1/2 inches long. He has a nice round tummy and chunky thighs and fat knees and we love every inch of him! Davy's getting so big!



Yesterday afternoon we visited the National Heritage Museum in Lexington for one of my class assignments. It is a museum that was founded by the Masons and has some very interesting exhibitions. It's free, too, so that's a definite plus! Davy was truly a good sport in the museum. Luckily Collin was there to entertain him! On the way home we just happened to be driving by Wilson Farms and so just had to stop for some fresh apple cider donuts and a caramel apple. They had so many varieties of pumpkins--there were ugly warty "peanut" pumpkins, white ghost pumpkins, huge pumpkins and tiny ones. Finally we found some regular ones to show Davy and take a quick harvest picture.

Fall has Arrived

It's time to bring out the sweaters and blankets. We were determined to make it to October before turning on our dollar-guzzling heater. And we did . . . just barely. We've had the space heater in Davy's room the past few nights, and this morning it was very difficult to get out of our nice cozy covers and start the day. But the leaves are just beginning to change and are beautiful. And the crisp scent of autumn is in the air and the leaves on the ground are already nice and crunchy. We went on a walk this afternoon to the library, because our little friend Tara (I am baby-sitting part time) requested it. We bundled up and started off. About five minutes into our walk, Tara fell fast asleep. She was so sad to find when we got home and she woke up that she missed the library. We'll go again next week, I'm sure. Davy was wide awake the whole time, trying to take off his shoe and pulling at Tara's hair (already a little boy . . .). Later this afternoon our other friends stopped by just as we were getting a little bored and invited us to the park with them. We stayed for a little while, and enjoyed swinging. I just love seeing the little kids with their sweat shirts, bright eyes, and pink noses running around and getting the most out of the day!