Go West: Day One

Seattle to Spokane, 2012

We left Seattle at around 10:00 a.m. yesterday and drove through the Cascade Mountains, discussing (among other things) the space elevator, things we would buy if we were unfathomably rich, and social media. Will and I love a good road trip. I love the meandering conversations you have when you are trapped in the car; Will adores stopping along the way and striking up long chats with total strangers.

We wound up in Yakima at around midday...not terribly much to see there, but the wide streets and old signs really do remind you that you are on the frontier.

We also found our way to lunch at a breathtaking spot on the Columbia River Gorge. Cave B Winery was one of those places you hope you'll stumble upon but rarely do. It was especially cool to find it given the barren, almost lunar landscape of that part of Washington state, which reminded me a tad too much of The Hills Have Eyes.

We sat outside on the terrace in the sunshine as two military jets did an amazing fly over through the gorge. Just the kind of weird and wonderful thing we were after.

Axel was very amenable to the drive. I pumped a few bottles so that we didn't have to do any more stops than we usually would, and I broke out the cow book a couple of times to keep him entertained. Other than that he slept most of the way.

Once we got to Spokane, we checked into our hotel, took a dip in the hot tub, bathed Axel like a Roman senator, and caught up with some old friends.

Loose Ends

Axel, 2012

Often the idea of gathering my thoughts into a post on one particular subject is kind of daunting. But it's my blog and who says I have to be coherent!

- I'm clearly not the only one thinking about sleep training these days. I like Joanna's post on the matter (though six months? I am not sure we are going to make it to six months.) Officially, we're waiting until Axel's two month check up on October 8th to start, but unofficially we've been working towards a sleep routine for about 3 or 4 weeks now. Around the time we got home from Maine and Will went back to work we started putting Axel to bed (albeit in his bassinet, or stroller, wherever we were) at around 7:00 at night. His bedtime has stuck ever since. Around a week ago I started instituting more of a bath and pre-bed ritual as well. He loves bath time, it's so cute. His eyes get big and he looks around like "Whoa, this water stuff is excellent." Clearly, he takes after his mama. We're still not sleeping through the night but these baby steps (bedtime, him sleeping in his own room, bath time) have helped emotionally prepare us for the big change. Still, if we want to go out with him at night, we go out. We do the same ritual and put him in the stroller and it seems to work just fine.

- Did you know baby socks make excellent gloves?

- We are gearing up for our first plane ride (to Seattle, for a wedding) in a few weeks time. I'm excited. Although we've traveled with the baby before, this seems like our first big trip. We're staying at the Ace Hotel in Belltown and then driving across the state to Spokane for three nights. I love the West Coast so I am excited to explore crunchy Washington State and taste some tasty pinot noirs in the process.

- I also go back to work for a short term, 6-week-long assignment in three weeks. To get ready to go back to the office, we found a nanny who has been coming over two afternoons a week until she starts full time. It's been a good way to ease myself into it, as I can work away on my laptop in the other room and hear how she interacts with Axel, which is very cute and reassuring. It feels like an extravagance to have someone look after him while I am at home, but I think I would be way too anxious if we went from zero to sixty on my work start date. This way, I know she knows how to handle his various moods and I've been able to use the time to run some errands and catch up with friends in the process. Still, it's impossible not to feel a little guilty about any childcare choice you make and to feel that you are the only one who can really care for your baby as you'd wish. If only we lived in Sweden and I got a year's maternity leave!