lately: enjoying the fall

I've been doing my best to enjoy all the fall weather we're having right now. This means especially on Saturdays, when I make Sam and Oliver go out and find fun fall things to do around town like I mentioned before. During the week, we do some fun things on our own (we took a little hike in the woods today!) and if I didn't hate the idea of a "fall bucket list", that would be what I'd call it. I love fall. I love the leaves, the cold weather, the sweaters and scarves and boots, getting blankets back out, drinking hot chocolate, looking forward to all the holidays to come. I want to let Oliver enjoy it all, too, so I'm trying hard to look for the fun in every season (but especially fall). 

We've been enjoying watching the leaves turn and walking in the crunchy leaves that have already fallen. It's a new neighborhood for us, and we're still learning our favorite walks, and the best places to visit for beautiful views. I miss our old town, sometimes, and the ease of walking around with lots of sidewalks, playgrounds, and old streets. 

The leaves are just beginning to turn. It's not quite peak leaf season, I think, but it will probably be here in a week or two. Some days it still gets too warm for sweaters and scarves, although the mornings are almost always delicious chilly. Even I can mostly enjoy that midday sun, though, and how easy is is to play outside right now. No heavy coats or snow getting in our way. 

So our rainy Saturday excursion. My mom had driven up for a few errands and asked if Oliver and I wanted to come along. It was a good excuse to get out the house on a rainy day, when we were a little bored and looking for something to do. Oliver go to wear his raincoat for the first time, and put those boots from last spring to good use again. It was pretty empty, probably due to the drizzly rain, so it was fun for Oliver to run and splash, and fun for me not to care. 

 

Maine

Right now, I'm spending a week in Maine with my family, while Sam is working. It's sneaky of me, getting an extra holiday in after we already had one. We took our first family holiday back in late June, the three of us, for the first time, spurred on by my friend's wedding in Scotland. So now Sam is working, Oliver and I are spending time with my parents and siblings, and hoping that Maine is a bit cooler than Boston.

It has been so hot this last week that everything just feels like too much effort. You get hot and sweaty just stepping outside. The only escape is swimming, something that luckily Oliver has decided to love, as long as it isn't in an indoor pool. We've had so much fun visiting our local lake and playing in the water and sand. If tomorrow is hot, we're off to the beach, and I'm excited to show Oliver the Atlantic ocean again. I think he might be a bit more interested in it now.

We're renting this strange little house in the middle of the woods. It is pretty cool; tiny, but full of interesting arts-and-crafts details. My room leads on to the back porch that looks out into the woods and then off to the ocean. It's gorgeous. There's a fire pit outside and lots of sticks and room to run. Perfect for Oliver.

This afternoon we visited a local fair, and Oliver was in heaven. There were horses and sheep and cows and trucks and tractors. All his favorite things in one spot. We watched several hitching competitions, where people drive their horses hitched up in various ways (unicorn and four horses and other things) and he loved it. I grew up riding horses and I miss it. It made me want to start again. We even watched what they called the Redneck Truck Pull, which is when people have their trucks pull heavy things, or something. It got a bit boring, especially when the first competitor we saw was unable to hitch their truck up to the weights, and then kept failing to put the truck into four-wheel drive.

Back at the house, we've had delicious food, and lots of time for reading. I just started the Sea Lady by Margaret Drabble. I always find time to read, but it's even easier here, with Oliver surrounded by people who love nothing more than getting a chance to take him to look at the water, or play with his trains. The porch wraps around the house, and it's long and perfect for a toddler to run down, especially after three hours in the car. There's an outdoor fireplace on it, perfect for fires when it gets just slightly chilly at night (like it did last night; so far, tonight doesn't seem so cold, sadly). We're surrounded by trees and quiet and nature.

spring spring spring

Just last week the days were rainy and cold, and I wore wore all the layers I could. Then suddenly we turned a corner and bam, the sun was out, the leaves were out, and things here in Massachusetts are just a few weeks from full-on summertime (jungly, overgrown, way too hot).

So, from last week, when I introduced Oliver to splashing in puddles and created a dangerous new obsession with him, as he proceeded to spot every single puddle we ever passed from then until the end of time.

And above, on Mother's Day, when we went for a long walk to our favorite park. The only problem with this park is that there aren't any baby swings, but on Sunday we discovered it doesn't matter, because look who is grown up enough to sit and swing all by himself? You can't tell, but he really did hold on and not fall off even as we pushed him.

My husband freely admits that newborns and infants aren't his favorite, and he definitely dreaded it when I was pregnant. I used to dread the toddler stage. I know we're just beginning, but so far, it's pretty great. Tantrums and whining included. He's just so much fun when he's playing with trucks, making spice jars fly around like airplanes, or playing outside and finding all the sticks.

And now, from the sunny, perfect weather. Time for sand boxes, shorts, sandals, sunscreen and sweaty hair. Look at those brand new leaves. The gorgeous blossoms, huge flowers. So much beauty and change and maybe I'm already sick of applying sunscreen three days in, but I think it's worth it.

Oh and please note that playground picture, where he's pointing at the sky. Every time he hears a train or truck or airplane, he has to let me know. I can't wait to blow his mind when we actually get to ride an airplane ourselves (for the first time in his life! help!) next month.

a world with octobers

I know that every single person seems to love fall, and it gets a little boring to constantly hear about it, but some falls are just beautiful and this is one of them.  The trees are perfect right now, with so many bright colors that when the sun hits them, they look like they're on fire.  Some trees had leaves that turned earlier than others, so the ground is also coated with bright leaves and everything just looks like some kind of advertisement for fall in New England.

We're taking full advantage of the weather, which is mostly perfect.  Chilly mornings and evenings, but it can get up into the 70s during the day sometimes.  Oliver and I have taken what feels like a hundred walks, often stopped to play at the park or collect leaves.  On Monday, since Sam had the day off, we spent a while doing all of Oliver's favorite things at the playground, and letting him explore.  He loves swings and anything that lets him bounce, but he seems to hate slides.

I love the bright, sunny days and the grey, rainy ones, but the sunny ones are better for Oliver, because right now he loves going outside.  If he sees or hears someone open the door, he does he best to race after them, in hopes that they'll let him come along outside, too.  And he does this excited whole-body jump or wriggle when you're holding him and you bring him outside.  It's just so fun to watch him discover the world.  He has very definite opinions about where he wants to go, at all times, and right now we love seeing what interests him.  

I love the way the sidewalks look all covered in crunchy leaves, and so when Oliver was getting restless in his stroller yesterday, I took him out and let him walk around in a pile of leaves while I tried to pick out some pretty ones to bring home.  We're going to try making window decorations out of them, something my mom used to do when I was little, so that you can save the colors of fall and look at them all year round.

late summer, early fall

It's finally officially fall, so let's get on that, weather.  It is actually so much nicer now than a few weeks ago, but the days get a little too warm still for my liking.  We need excuses to wear all the sweaters now.  It has been nice to do some transitioning, like putting fans away and getting out Oliver's jeans and cardigans.  Then we realized that our tiny boy is way too small for any of the jeans he has in the 12 month size so we might need to get some new ones until he grows some more.  Even when they're rolled up, they are way too huge around his waist, and he can yank them all right off.  It's hilarious going in to get him from a nap and discovering that he's sitting there pants-less as he waits for us.  

Oliver got sick a few weeks ago for the first time, just a small cold, but he's been congested and not sleeping well and it makes everything a little terrible when your baby wakes up every single hour all night long.  He's better now, mostly, but it sort of destroyed his sleep and we're doing our best to fix that.  He now starts to scream whenever I put him in his crib for a nap, so that's been so fun.  The way he clings to me when I finally go in and get him up is just heartbreaking and it makes it impossible to say "let's just let him cry it out in there".  So.  The other day I drove around and then parked at the library while he slept for over two hours in the car.  But at least he slept.  But I was stuck in the car.  But he slept.  Since then it has been more of the same, and sleep training doesn't seem to help, so I feel like there's nothing to do but wait and hope it gets better.

We've had lots of fun times, though.  I went into Boston to visit my friends with Oliver one evening.  Some of them were visiting from out of town and had never met Oliver before, so it was really good to catch up, but a little strange to be there with my baby.  Sam decided to join his friend's fantasy football league, so now we have to watch football?  We helped a friend move and then hung out in his apartment trying not to let Oliver destroy the place, we have gone for many long walks and visited the playground and library countless times, and maybe soon we'll take Oliver to his first children's museum.  We took him apple picking on Labor Day, and of course he didn't care a bit about picking apples, but he did enjoy sucking on one as I carried him through the orchard.  I love orchards and all the New England ridiculousness of late summer/early fall fruit picking.  Maybe we'll go again, just to get some apple cider and cider donuts.

This weekend was full of birthday celebrations.  On Saturday, we had a surprise party for my aunt.  It was the first time I got to see her new apartment, and it's always fun to have a party (even though she'd figured it out and wasn't surprised at all).  Today, we had a panini party (as my cousin called it) for all the many family fall birthdays, and it was fun.  My highlight was when Sam went outside with some of the boys to play football and Oliver watched them longingly from the window.  He was so into it, it was adorable.  He stood in his tiptoes to look out the window until my aunt picked him up so he could have a better view, then eventually took him outside. And now our birthday celebrations are mostly complete, Oliver is officially one, and had all the cake and parties a baby could possibly want.

cape cod

Summer is drawing to a close.  My sister goes back to university soon, and my brother will follow a few weeks after her.  Then the days will get shorter and colder (hooray) and all this summertime stuff will just seem so far away.  I spent the week in the cape with my family, while Sam worked and visited his parents (since his dad just had surgery).  We missed him, but it was really fun to spend lots of time with my parents and siblings (and aunts and cousins, who came up for a day).  We visited the beach countless times, Oliver took his first wobbly steps one afternoon (not yet repeated), and nobody got sunburned.

Right now I'm listening to Sam play with Oliver in his crib and Oliver is giggling hysterically, the way he does when he is with his favorite people and they are giving him their full attention.  And so, the highlights of the last week:

- Taking Oliver to the beach and watching him play in the sand, stare at the waves, and laugh when we went swimming (in the warmer water on the bay side - he hated the freezing cold ocean at Nauset Beach).  

- Playing with cousins who adore Oliver when they came to visit on Thursday.  Oliver doesn't have any first cousins yet, but my little cousins love him and are so excited to play with him.  They are really sweet and spent the day trying to do everything for him, from holding his hands and helping him walk around to pushing his stroller as we walked to and from the beach.  Just another example of how lucky Oliver is, with so many people who dote on him

- Going to an arcade on Tuesday when we visited Hyannis.  It was really hot, we were sweaty and walking around was sort of tiring in the humid, damp weather, so we stopped briefly at this sort of depressing arcade to revisit our glory days of play ski ball.  I was still the best, Oliver watched in fascination, and we gave all the tickets we won away to a little boy who didn't seem to have very many.  

- Watching sunsets at various beaches almost every night.  Poor Oliver almost never got put to bed on time, because we'd go to the beach around 6, when you didn't have to pay for parking anymore, and then end up staying for several hours.  But the sky!  It was glorious.  One night we bought things like fish and chips and ate sitting on the soft sand, listening to the waves crash, watching the seals out in the water, and eventually ending up jumping in the waves ourselves.

- Visiting Provincetown, seeing the sights, eating dumplings on the beach as the sun set.

Our last night there we visited Marconi beach, played in the sand, looked for rocks and once again marveled at all the seals.  They were everywhere in the water, playing in the waves and peering out at us while we watched them.  We all agreed that something about their faces seemed friendly and dog like, until you see them on land and realize how huge they really are.  On Saturday, we drove him, bemoaning the crazy traffic (one downside to the cape) and making a quick stop at IKEA for meatballs and a few small things.  Who can resist the joys of IKEA?  It was the perfect end to a holiday week.