Road trip

The family. The lake.

A few years ago Anni and I took a week-long trip to Amsterdam (to see Bryan) and Brugge (to get engaged). We pride ourselves on our packing skills; we bring just enough clothing and keep the luggage light.
We were driving to the airport, discussing what was stowed in our bags.
"How many shirts did you bring?" Anni asked.
I thought about it for a moment.
"Uhm ... two," I said, immediately realizing that was too few, especially considering the unpredictable weather and that I didn't plan to do laundry while abroad.
My bag was light on that trip, but I had to borrow shirts from Bryan. And I got a nickname: Scotty Two-Shirt.

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There was no similar packing mishap last weekend when we took our first road trip with Elise. You don't underpack with a 4-month-old. It was almost embarrassing how much stuff we crammed into the truck, but we could not pinpoint anything that could be left behind: Gotta have lots of baby clothes; need a couple of toys; she has to sleep in something; she likes the bouncy chair and it gives us a break; bottles are necessary and so are blankets; etc...
We figured that Duluth was a good first-trip destination because it's a short trip, we hadn't been up there for a few months, Anni's grandparents hadn't seen Elise, staying at the Simmonds house is cheap and enjoyable and Lake Superior always is alluring.
We wondered how Elise would handle the car ride. She had little problem with it. She slept nearly the entire way to Duluth on Friday afternoon, waking just as we rolled into town.
Anni's Uncle Jay and Aunt Patrice offered to babysit Friday night while Michelle, Anni and I went out. We had a good time, even though Anni and I were fighting to stay awake past 10:30 p.m.

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On Saturday we went to the lake. Upon arrival, Elise seemed content with the fresh air and crashing waves on Superior's shore.

Elise surveying the lake. She approved.

We set her down on the rocks to get bundled up. Strangely, she liked it. In recent days she has taken to gnawing whatever she can get her hands on -- rocks included.

It's clean; we removed the zebra mussel before she gummed it.

Everyone should at least dip their toes in the lake, even a 4-month-old. The water was chilly, but she didn't mind her North Shore Baptism.

Elise did really well the entire weekend, including the 45 minutes or so that we were down at the lake, enjoying the scenery and goofing off.

She's cuter than the gulls that swarmed overhead,
but Anni had to watch for droppings from both baby and bird.

No stroller to relax in, just a rock recliner.

The ladies.

Who wouldn't want a lakeside nap?

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We also paid a visit Saturday to Anni's Gagne grandparents, so now Elise has met all five of her great-grandparents on both sides. (George will see her again next month.) She was very mellow during the visit, letting the great-grandparents hold her for a quite a while. She eventually napped and Anni's grandparents fed us some great rhubarb pie.

Great-Grandma Gagne

Great-Grandpa Gagne

We wrapped up Saturday by driving out to the Marsolek family cabin about a half-hour north of Duluth. Again, Elise did just fine, sleeping on the drive out and back and generally remaining content during our visit. Anni's Uncle Brian and Auntie Andrea were re-roofing the cabin. I should have brought work clothes; I was worthless in shorts and sandals. I didn't lay one shingle, but they fed us dinner anyway.
On Sunday, we packed all of our stuff -- a total of three bags, plus a portable crib, bouncer seat and stroller; yeah, a bit much -- and headed home.
Somebody insisted on taking her turn behind the wheel:


All in all, a smooth road trip with the little one. It was good prep for the next time we hit the road: Thanksgiving in Chicago.

The nondiagnosis

Question -- What do you get when you combine a baby with ear infection symptoms and a long wait at the local clinic?
Answer -- A tired baby who was cleared of anything beyond a case of the sniffles and parents who were relieved at the diagnosis (was there one if no illness was detected?) but chapped about having to wait an abnormally long time before the casual doctor came sauntering in, oblivious to our obvious frustration.
Today we made our second unplanned trip to the clinic for Elise (the first was for Gunk Eye when she was a week old).
Since the middle of last week she's been congested, on Friday and Saturday her breathing sounded like Keith Richards' raspy laugh and today she was unusually irritable. (For those wondering, the symptoms existed well before her Saturday swim in WARM water.)
Thinking there was a remote possibility of an ear infection, we went to the clinic this afternoon. After spending more time than necessary waiting for the "expert," the tardy doc came in, listened to her chest, waved a light on her eyes and found some fluid in her ears, but no infection. Elise just has some crud.
"About all you can do is give her some Tylenol and some extra tender, loving care," the doc said annoyingly.
The good news is that by this evening, she seemed to be getting a little better. That is to say we no longer are able to pull nasty gunk from her nose using the Booger Bulb. (Progress is measured in many ways.)
Other good news: The clinic visit gave us a chance to put that baby on the scale and get an updated weight. At nearly 4 months, she weighs 14 pounds 9 ounces.

A good day

A belated Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there.
It was a nice first holiday on my end. The photo sums it up.

The baby bobber

Elise's first swim went swimmingly.
Since she is nearing 4 months, it seemed a good time to get her in the water. (Start 'em young, right?)
So on Saturday, Anni asked her dad to drop the temp in the hot tub so Miss Elise could take the plunge. The impetus for all of this was two-fold: It was roasty-toasty on Saturday, Anni's birthday, so it was an excuse for all three of us to get in some water, even if it was warm. Also, Anni bought Elise a bathing suit a few days ago and was itchin' to get her in it. (It has a monkey on it.)
If the 20-minute swim session was any indication, this little lady is fond of water. She seemed just fine as we took turns moving her around the tub like a baby bobber. Unlike her dad, she didn't flinch when a little water got in her eye, and either by accident or design she figured out how to splash.

She was having a good time. In fact, I think it was the parents who decided swim time was over, not the child. Typical, eh?
The good news for Anni and Elise is that there will be plenty of swimming opportunity this summer: Anni's birthday present was a small backyard pool.

The Wading Ladies

Wide brim = hidden eyes
No sun = farmer's tan

Advanced baby sign language

Cow (and baby) tipping

Elise has a stuffed cow (more on that interesting toy in a future post) and it's her preferred toy right now. Anyway, she was trying to eat it this morning and this happened:

A string bean shops for beans

Everything's a first for Elise, and on Sunday she made her maiden voyage to the St. Paul farmers' market. Sitting snug in the sling -- which looks much better on Anni than it would on me -- she was very content as we and Anni's cousin Michelle perused the early-season produce.
Not sure what Elise's highlights were, but I do know that she was not as excited as Dad was to see the guy selling rainbow trout again this year. Unemployment be damned, I'm buying fresh fish.
The trip was a success and we'll be back throughout the summer. Maybe in a few weeks, when there is a variety of produce, I'll set Elise in a vegetable and play Anne Geddes. Ugh.

Meet Chuckles

Elise started laughing yesterday when Anni was playing with her. And then she kept laughing. And then she laughed some more. I managed to record a little bit of it. Oh, and Anni wanted it known that what you hear on the video is not her normal laugh. Really?

Avoiding Mushdom

Zoned. Out.

You know how universities conduct studies of children who completely zone out in front of a television and are oblivious to their surroundings? Researchers determine that those children either end up with mush for brains or the inability to socialize later in life -- or both.
Miss Elise has discovered television, and she's destined for Mushdom if we don't nip this boob-tube fascination.
We're to blame, though it certainly is not intentional. When we feed her we'll often watch TV -- it's too hard to hold a book or magazine, and at 3 a.m. each of us needs some kind of entertainment to stay awake.
We first noticed this about a week ago. Elise was getting burped when she saw the TV ... and promptly zoned out. So for the past several days we have watched how she responds to the TV and can safely draw this conclusion: She's going to be hooked if we don't intervene.
You want evidence of this emerging problem? Here you go: I was watching a hockey game the other night and she was on the floor. I intentionally turned her so that she was facing away from the TV. No problem for her -- she simply craned her neck upward and unnaturally backward so that she could see the TV.
Impressive? Yeah. Funny? Kind of. A sign of troubled times ahead? Maybe.
But don't call in the researchers just yet.
To be continued...

Babies 101

Elise met Uncle Bryan back in mid-March, when she was a wee one and he was in town for a brief visit.
Well, he's back and she's bigger. A good time for a crash course in baby care, don't you think? We did.
Bryan came over Saturday afternoon/evening. Within minutes of his arrival, Anni had him changing a diaper -- a major accomplishment for someone with borderline Hughes-like cleanliness issues. He completed that task (It was a "wet" diaper; the real test will be a blowout.) and promptly washed his hands. We'll get rubber gloves for him next time.
Later, Bryan sat in for me during Elise's bath. His job involved constantly pouring bath water over Elise's belly and lankly legs. Oh, and removing toe jam. (Whodathunk babies get toe jam?)
Lastly, Bryan gave Elise a bottle and she was kind enough not to spew all over him.
Overall, he sailed through his crash course in baby care -- and in the process got a firsthand look at our exciting Saturday evenings.

Knit-picking about the weather

A knit hat in June? Yep. It's early summer, Minnesota-style.

We're busy translating this...

Photo drop

Random shots from the past week:

Anni was weeding. Elise was protecting a cherished item.

"Gardening is tough work. Now, where's my bottle?"

Ms. Doo-wop's looking for the nearest fountain diner.

This lady digs books. Actually, both of them do.

"They propped me up like a doll, so I'm plotting revenge.
Revenge is spelled b-l-o-w-o-u-t."

Chillin' in the new high chair.


"Tummy time" is not supposed to be nap time.


We're having a stare-off. Well, either that or she's
freaked out by the start of the unemployment beard.
If it's the latter, mother and daughter think alike.