Terrible (not even close to) Twos

It seems that the tantrums of the fabled terrible twos may have started early in our little monkey. In Elliot's case, at 16 months. They aren't too bad yet, but are gaining in frequency. Sigh.

Here's a photo at the park today when Elliot melted. 

Elliot and the Birds

Today we visited a local alternative high school that has a small farm with animals. The poultry area was great fun! They had maybe 50 chickens of all sorts, from poofy headed fluffy ones, to Bantam, to traditionally colored roosters. And all of them friendly (besides one rooster). Elliot had a great time chasing them, quacking at them, petting them and watching their antics. There were also ducks, turkeys and rabbits to see.

Elliot has it in his head that all birds say, "Quack!" So he says that whenever he sees (live or picture) any bird: chicken, blue bird, crow, hummingbird, loon, duck. Today he saw real quacking ducks up close!

A couple of short videos with the chickens and ducks:

And here's a family photo from our hike we went on after the farm visit. Elliot was not in a good mood after we tore him away from his new feathered friends, and we couldn't get him to smile.

More leaves and Other Autumny Things

New hat made by Mama. Just in time for the snow!

We found Elliot's friend Oliver playing in the leaves too!

Oaks!

Halloween

Late, but not forgotten: some Halloween images. Elliot was a dragon. There's an old movie from the 70's called "Pete's Dragon." That dragon was named Elliot. Maybe next year I'll make him a costume!

A children's and big puppet parade we participated in. Fun!

E loves to play with pumpkins. Good taste in colors.

Carving up our pumpkin.

With his friend Greta before we went trick or treating.

The kids were a little confused about trick or treating. You ring a doorbell. When someone opens the door, you can't go inside, and they try to hand you things. Elliot escaped into 3 people's homes. He wanted to chase the dog or cat, or saw some trains in the next room. And he had no interest in the little colorful things the home owners were handing out. Maybe next year it will make more sense.

Autumn Colors

Some leaves around New Haven.

"Look, Mom, I found a leaf!"

E spent 20 minutes running back and forth on this bridge.

Playing in the leaves under the orange tree.

Colors at our favorite park

Looking out towards East Rock Park.

Boston with Aunt Rebecca

I didn't take many photos, and forgot to take any with Rebecca. Woops. But we drove up to Boston for the day to see Rebecca, who was there for a big crew event. After a lovely brunch at her friend's house, we ventured into the city and walked through Boston Common, the big city park. Not many autumn colors, but some fun puddles and a beautiful carousel. Elliot's second ride on a carousel was about as successful as his first, which is to say, not very.  He prefers to watch others go round and round while sitting on large animals.

Pretty rooster!

Is it bad to hold your child on top of a rooster against his will?!

Mr. Squirmy

Finally, something fun! Cold and wet puddle to romp through.

Trolley Museum

Who knew?! There's a really nice (though small) museum of historic trolleys in the town next to us. It had many old trains and trolleys (some still functioning in which we got to ride), train toys and electric train sets. The original old ads from the early 1900 still up inside the old cars were amusing (but no photos).

Trolley ride--the one minute E would sit still

E was squirmy and only wanted to climb the seats and walk the aisle.

Trains! He is starting to love playing with toy trains.

A first meeting with Thomas.

Weekend in NYC

We went to New York for a "weekend", staying a Sunday night at a hotel in Harlem. Wow, expensive city, but a fun two days. It's so crowded, I can see how it is the most populated city in the US. We almost didn't go since Elliot had a slight cold, but we couldn't get a refund on our hotel reservation and didn't want to lose the $150. Consequently, Elliot was a bit out of it the whole time, spending a lot of the time zoning out or napping in his stroller. He did get some run around time, and had fun with floor length windows in the hotel. He also loved riding the train to the city, walking up and down the train cars, smiling at people, and bouncing with the train motion, for the entire 1.5 hour ride, both directions.

Central Park Zoo

with one of the best bird exhibits Chris had ever seen

Walking around Downtown NYC

Flashing the street from our hotel room

World Trade Center Memorial Site

High Line Elevated Park/Garden

Orange!

Playing in the pumpkins at a local pumpkin patch.

Farm Friends

Elliot has had a lot of time observing animals these past 2 weeks.

• He loves watching the local squirrels scamper around (and luckily for him, there is at least 1 per tree around here). Our walks take a long time since we have to stop every 10 feet to watch the squirrel run away.
• There are chickens in our backyard to watch and feed. 
• Last weekend we went to Amherst, MA to visit some friends on their horse farm. They also had chickens, goats and a friendly cat. 
• At the local harvest festival, there was a petting farm area. 
• And today, we went on a bike ride to a local farm and got to see the rabbits and chickens there. He also did a lot of pointing to the goats, but they weren't very interested in coming over to us.

Chasing the chickens

The draft horses were friendly, but maybe a bit overwhelming.

Finally, almost caught one!

Petting the cat!

Feeding the sheep, goats and alpaca.

Fuzzy rabbit

A Tool in the Hand . . .

apparently isn't as good as the two on the counter.

Spatula-carrying is getting a little out of hand. Elliot now loves to carry around a spatula or two at all times. Any type of spatula (or other long-handled tool) will do. He gets very upset when it is taken away. He also LOVES his little blanket ("Wookie"), though I try to keep that mostly in his room so as not to get it too dirty.

I hope this phase doesn't last too long. The end of the table where Elliot whacks his spatulas is getting a bit dented and scratched.

Road Trip into the North

Starting at the end of August, we took a 2 week road trip into New Hampshire, Maine, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. It was a wonderful holiday, with many forests, beaches, rocks, fossils and a lot of hiking (and driving). Elliot was camping for the first time and loved it (he didn't love the long days in the car seat).

Our trip took us to:
Lake Winnepesaukee, New Hampshire to visit family friends Row and Hank
Acadia National Park in Maine
Into Canada, and along the Bay of Fundy in New Brunswick (Hopewell Rocks, Fundy National Park)
Over to the Bay of Fundy on the Nova Scotia side
Cape Breton Highlands National Park on Cape Breton Island
Halifax, Nova Scotia

Here are a few photos.

Boating on Lake Winnepesaukee

So many rocks on the beaches of Acadia National Park

Low tide at Hopewell Rocks on the Bay of Fundy

Car camping means eating outside!

Apple season in Nova Scotia

Family photo at the Bay of Fundy

Hiking in Cape Breton

Hiking amongst all the ripe blueberries in Cape Breton

We found a bear playing in the blueberries

Halifax: old and new

Elliot tries to get in touch with his Scottish heritage

Putting up the tent is one of the best parts of camping

Going stir crazy in the car on a rainy day