Bottle

As of today Elliott is drinking from a bottle. Hopefully things will be a little easier for Ilana and I can start taking over some feedings. Elliott took to the bottle easily and enjoys eating volumes and eating quickly.

The Many Faces of Elliott

Corn Maze Sunday

Today we went to Ricker Hill Orchard in Turner Maine to romp in a corn maze. On top of a corn maze there was apple picking and a bunch of kid activities that were perfect for Alden.

In the center of the corn maze we found a viewing platform. There may have been other areas to discover as well, but we didn't explore the maze extensively. Instead we spent a lot of time with the  horses, donkeys, and baby goats who were very friendly and sweet. There were also two snooty cows that would not let us pet them. There was a giant pile of hay bales with a long irrigation-tube-slide down one side and an irrigation tube tunnel through the middle. 

There was also old farm equipment to climb on, low-tech mini golf, frisbee golf, several inflatable jumpy castles, an obstacle course, picnic area, and a farm store that made fresh apple doughnuts from a (say) 50 year old doughnut machine.

It was our first whole family outing, although Elliott did not participate fully.

Big Brother and Little Brother

Alden is still digging little brother, which is great.

Yesterday at tummy-time Alden wanted in on the action.

More Wiggles

Elliott continues to grow and wiggle. He had a spell of about four days of crankiness, but that is gone today and he seems back to his pleasant self.

He is still living his life in roughly three hour intervals. A couple hours of sleep here, a few hours of feeding there, a few hours of cranky, a few hours of being pleasant, repeat.

Oh! Possum

We caught our first opossum today. I don't think they are bad pests, but Alden insisted we name him Julia and take him away. I am thrilled to have a captured a new kind of animal.

I checked online to see how pest-y opossums are... it turns out that they are not too bad. Mostly 'opportunity feeders' (garbage).

Sophia Birthday

 

Sophia was sick for her birthday this year,  but Alden and I went anyway. Sophia is kind of Alden's sweetie and there was a big party planned that had to be canceled. We thought it might be really sad if no one came... of course was more floppy than sad, but I think she enjoyed seeing Alden.

Last year Sophia had her party at the Botanical gardens. This year it was just Alden and another friend named Georgia who was dropped of at 7:30 before everything was called off. Sophia got some medicine and the kids had a pretty good time after all.

Head Strength Galore

Elliott doing tummy time.

Elliott Moves

Here is a short video of Elliott wiggling.

Ever Want To See a Beehive Floor?

New yellow hive in case bees swarm next season... hopefully they will just move into this hive. 

Mite count time! For three days we put these sticky pads on the beehive floor and see what gets stuck. Then you do a little math and get a mite count per day per hive.  "A medium frame will hold about 1,250 bees, a deep frame will hold about 2,000 bees (10 frames per hive). If your sticky board count shows more than 2 mites per thousand bees per day in mid-August or more than 4 mites per thousand bees per day in September, you should find a way to reduce the mite population."

Depending on the source, if you have between 50 to 200 mites per day you should do a treatment. 

Green Hive = 226 (sorry no picture)

Beige Hive = 200

Grey Hive = 450

Purple Hive = 350

Mimi visits

My mother came out from California for a few weeks to help out around the house and see the new baby. It was a great help to have her here and the timing of her arrival was just as Joseph and Sandy were leaving.

We tried to give mom as much time as we could with Elliott, however that was difficult to do since he needs his sleep and needs his food.  His dance card is pretty well filled with mommy time, so my mom helped by taking Alden on some trips, which took pressure off Kerstin and me. They went swimming a couple times and various lakes and the ocean.

They also went to the aquarium, the botanical gardens, the Portland Children's Museum, the Children's Museum in Augusta, on shopping trips, to the airport, LL Bean, the Gardiner park/playground, and also played games at the house, read stories and watched movies. 

My mom introduced Alden to Wallace and Gromit which is his newest most favorite thing in the world.

She was also a super helper around the house, picking up the slack that a new baby creates. She was also, of course, really keen on Elliott and it was great to see them together.