Oh Dear

Dear Rowan,

Mummy would like to thank you for waiting until *after* swimming class to do THIS:

Duffle Coat Weather

Hurricane Sandy is on her way, but don't worry, we don't have Rowan out in the garden today under the trees. After all the storm preparations yesterday, Rowan decided to enjoy the garden before it's drenched with rain. It's perfect weather for a duffle coat. He spent some time investigating the various leaves and working on his pincer grasp and fine motor skills to study the grass. He even tried a taste test. I think he was checking the pH level of the soil.

Honey Pot Hill

It's that time of year again to pick apples, drink cider, and rake leaves.  So far we have done the first two but haven't done much in the way of raking leaves.  Last weekend we were up in Massachusetts to celebrate our friend Erin's birthday.  We went apple picking at Honey Pot Hill Orchard in Stow, MA.

Birthday Girl

Apples!

Carrie admires the wee man

Talented

 At the orchard, they also had a small petting zoo and a pumpkin patch.  We figured we might as well take the obligatory photo of the baby with the pumpkins:

When we got home, Rodney noticed the orchard was having a photo contest on their Facebook page so he entered this photo above.  So far the wee man has lots of "likes" - the winners are announced on November 10 so stay tuned! 

I have been thinking about what to do with all these apples we brought home and finally got around to baking a pie yesterday - Caramel Apple Pecan Pie:

Struggling with the lattice crust

Before...

and after!

We ended up stuffing our faces with Indian food last night and didn't have any room for dessert so we haven't actually tasted the pie yet.  It did smell pretty yummy coming out the oven, though.  We'll get back to you on that!

Fevers are Funny

We had a rough few nights with the wee man there. There was one night last week that he was up every 2 hours, which he hadn't done since he was just a month or so old. He has been teething, you see, and teething apparently hurts. I'm not sure who was more miserable, him or me. We were up in Boston over the weekend and when we got back on Sunday night, Rowan felt quite warm to me. I checked his temp and it was 102.3F (that's 39.1C for you Brits). This is a picture of him that night. He obviously thinks fevers are quite funny.

A dose of Tylenol sorted him out and he slept soundly that night (as I woke up every hour or so to check on him).  He seems to be feeling much better now and we've had a few good nights of sleep.  He had one top front tooth through last time I checked and I suspect the second top one is almost through as well. 

Harbour Town

One of our last days on Hilton Head Island was spent in Harbour Town, which is centered around one of the island's marinas. This is where you go to see yachts that you'll never be able to afford. Rowan got to see some Dolphins from the pier. Before leaving he tried out the swings in the play park.