This September marked Holden’s entry into the “terrible two’s” of early toddlerhood (yes, he is only 15 months old, and yes, he throws tantrums when he doesn’t get his way!)  This was also an action-packed month for us.  We did a lot of traveling around Vermont and kept pretty busy.  September is my absolute favorite month in Vermont, and I always try to live it up and kick off fall the correct way (i.e. lots of fall hikes, cider donuts, and sightseeing!)

We ended August with saying farewell to our exemplary nanny Laura.  Holden undoubtedly misses spending time with Laura and his buddy Mallory:

And although he misses his girls, Holden is settling into his new daycare routine rather nicely.  Dropping him off in the morning isn’t as aversive for him now that he has been going to his respective daycare places for 2 weeks.  The last time we dropped him off at the daycare center, he seemed eager to run around and interact with everyone.  We also found out that our pediatrician used to send her daughter to that daycare, which made us feel even more confident about our decision to send Holden there.

At the beginning of the month, we kicked things off with some very late season blueberry picking.  Holden had fun playing peek-a-boo with Rob in the middle of the berry farm:

We celebrated the marriage of our amazing friends Adam and Sue on September 6th.  Rob was their wedding photographer and did a truly amazing job.  It was a beautiful ceremony (it was on the top of Mt. Philo–our sledding area during the winter months).  The reception was held on a boat out on Lake Champlain.  What an amazing day!

We also attended the South End Art Hop in Burlington.  Holden doesn’t seem too interested in the paintings or sculptures, but LOVES the live music.  He danced for about a half hour, and got special shout-outs from the lead singer of the band.  Have you ever seen such utter glee in your whole life?

Holden went on his first hike when he was only 8 weeks old—but now that he is 15 months old, he can actually participate in hiking!  We took him to a very easy trail, Centennial Woods.  Holden loved it:

We also took Holden apple picking.  This was his second apple picking experience.  He was only 3 months old during his first apple picking excursion:

Just look at the difference a year makes:

Holden loved wandering the orchards.  He was a little confused about the apples, though.  At first he would point very deliberately at the clusters of apples on the trees and say “Baww.”  Then he would pick up an apple and throw it purposefully at the ground, fully expecting it to bounce:

By the following day, Holden began to correctly call them “apples,” apparently convinced that they are not toys intended for throwing.  While at the orchard, Holden got his first taste of cider:

And had his first (and second) cider donuts:

We rounded out the end of September with Holden’s second hike, along a portion of the Long Trail (I did have to carry him up a good portion of the trail because it was so steep):

And here is our boy proudly exhibiting his “new bed” that he sleeps in (or attempts to sleep in) each night:

Holden’s 15-month pediatrician appointment revealed that he is 33 inches tall (93rd percentile) and 26 pounds heavy (71st percentile).  He is trying so hard to be independent right now—which is both fun and painful for us to watch.  He wants to be able to do so many things on his own but lacks ability in so many basic areas (e.g. fine motor skills, language).  And there is no way to explain to him that these abilities will come with time—patience is not in his repertoire.

He is attempting to say more and more words every day.  Some new ones are:  bus, balloon, Bella (our friend’s dog), tree, apple, and pretty much any animal noise you ask him about (e.g. What does a pig say?  What does a cow say?)  So basically, Holden can snort, moo, hoot like a monkey, and replicate the demure meow of a kitty.  Holden insists on trying to eat with a fork and spoon, even though he’s not skilled with these yet.  I imagine he has been getting experience with these at daycare and that is why he has been so insistent on using them at home.  Previously we had not pushed utensils on him at all since his fingers were working out just fine for him (and us).  But man, once he gets exposed to something at daycare, he feels fairly compelled to bring those experiences home with him.

He surprises us all the time—sometimes we just look at each other and ask “Where did he learn THAT??”  We keep a humidifier in his bedroom (mostly to provide some ambient noise to facilitate sleep) and if Holden pushes the button and sees that it’s not turning on, he checks to make sure it’s plugged in.  Really?!  No one explicitly showed him that the humidifier has to be plugged in to work.  He just watched us (I guess) and inferred that the unit needs to be plugged in.

We are also trying to teach Holden some basic concepts about cleaning up after himself.  At this age, kids LOVE to think they are helping out, so why not use that for all it’s worth?? If I need to keep Holden occupied while I’m cleaning, I hand him a dustpan and small hand-held broom.  He loves to “sweep” and looks so proud when I tell him what a good job he is doing (I have a mighty good poker face).  And as part of his bedtime ritual, we get Holden to pick up his books and put them back on the shelf.  Sometimes he picks up his books without needing to be reminded, but that is pretty rare—usually we have to tell him to put his books back on the shelf.  He dutifully complies with our request and is so proud of himself after we tell him that he’s done a good job tidying his room.

We are having a satisfying (yet completely exhausting) time with our little buddy.  There are so many experiences we can’t wait to share with him, although we are doing our best to savor each moment we have with him as they come.