Memorial Day at the Shore

After some tumultuous travel days, mostly for Tim but also for me and Fiona, we made it to the shore for Memorial Day weekend.  It was a beautiful weekend, almost summer-like, and Fiona bounced back well from the Seattle time zone.  Fiona went on her first bike ride with Tim.  She did really well aside from wearing the helmet.  On our way up the boardwalk, she periodically tugged at the helmet, while on the way back, she just cried (being pinched by the buckle probably didn't help the cause).  We can try again later this summer.  

 

The bike may not have been her thing, but Fiona really enjoyed the beach.  She liked moving sand from the beach onto her towel, but wasn't too sure about standing in the sand.  Once she got moving though, she bee-lined for the ocean.  I thought that when she hit the waves she would freeze, but she just kept going.  Tim actually had to slow her down from going in above her head.  Looks like we have a water baby.

 

Seattle and the San Juan Islands

Our time in Seattle has been a blur.  Conferences will do that to you.  I think Fiona had a pretty good time.  If nothing else, she got a lot of fresh air on nearly daily walks to the Olympic Sculpture Park and Pike Place Market.  In the last few days, she even got in a few boat trips.  First, a quick ferry ride out and back to Bainbridge Island with great views of the Seattle skyline.  Then today, a longer ferry ride from Anacortes to the San Juan Islands and then a whaling excursion around the islands.  

The San Juan Islands and the trip out there were beautiful.  It really is a magical area of the country.  Timing was not on our side today though.  Fiona fell asleep not too long before we needed to wake her for the whaling tour.  Plus, we had to put her in a gigantic life-jacket that she hated.  Since we were in the cabin, I tore it off at one point just so I could hold her close to me and calm her.  Once the life-jacket was off, she was pretty happy but tired to the bone.  I don't even know how she stayed awake.  No whales were spotted but boating around the islands is gorgeous and we got to see a sea lion, seals, eagles, and porpoises. Fiona slept like a log on the ferry ride back, and is sleeping soundly now, likely to be awakened by me in order to get her to the airport and our flight home. 

First (5+ Hour) Flight

I am in Seattle for the AAM conference this week and my parents / babysitters and Fiona are along for the ride!  I had been anxiously awaiting the flight since it is long, and she has never been on a plane.  I am happy to announce that she did a-maz-ing.  We had the seats behind the bulkhead, which helped, and she had three people to bounce around to, but I am thrilled with how well it went.  Granted, it is still not easy to travel with an infant, but we rolled with it.  Of course, we got the anxious stares at the gate while boarding with an infant, but it was very satisfying to have several people tell you how good she was and that they didn't hear a sound.  Phew!  Fingers crossed that the return trip goes so well!  

The travel day was so long that we didn't do much yesterday other than get settled into our condo and walk around our Belltown neighborhood.   But today we rose bright and early (thank you jet lag), my dad and I took Fiona for a walk to Pike Place Market (we beat the vendors) and along Puget Sound to the Olympic Sculpture Park.  Fiona enjoyed the ride, saw some beautiful sculptures, and the fresh west coast breeze of the Sound.  We even ventured down to Tacoma because I wanted to see the Museum of Glass.  I love Dale Chihuly's work (Tacoma glass blower) and thought she might enjoy the Hot Shop where they have resident glass blowers who offer demonstrations.  I had seen glass blowing demonstrations in Venice that were pretty impressive, but I think the Museum of Glass demonstrations top them (check them out on YouTube).  They have an amazing studio with an impressive vent system that Fiona was very interested in.  The collection itself and the Chihuly Bridge of Glass were fantastic.  Plus, the Hot Shop colloborates with children ages 8-12 who design glassworks to be blown by the resident artists.  They are incredibly amazing and fun.  So glad we went.  I have to work the next few days, but Fiona will be out exploring so hopefully more pictures to share. 

  

The Great Wagoneer

Fiona loves her wagon.  It is a fun ride.  A fun walker.  Fun all around.  She knows the room we keep it and gets very excited about it.  Here are a couple more pictures of her and the wagon from the last week.  It includes one of her in the wagon at my parents' house; my mom bought a similar one at a flea market and said it was the best money she ever spent.  That is probably true because Fiona ust can't get enough.  Boy is she going to be excited to see that there is a wagon at the shore too!

In other news, she has really been feeling terrible.  She ran her first fever this weekend.  It was low grade, and we are pretty sure it is due to teething, but we feel just awful for her.  We have been keeping her pumped full of Tylenol.  She wasn't her normal happy self at Nate and Ashli's baby shower (although she was a little trooper--even happy--when she got caught in a passing rainstorm while walking back from the woods with Tim).  She has been extra cuddly but also unsettled, so I was happy her fever seemed to break late this morning.  We had lunch and dinner outside, wagon time of course, and she seemed just dandy!

12 week check up

Fiona (and we) have had a rough week.  She hasn't been feeling well since the party--not sure if it is a cold or just teething or the combo.  We had her 12-week check-up this week and the doctor said the same.  But, we have new stats!  She is 18 pounds 8 ounces and 30.25 inches so she is still low percentile in weight but high in length.  And, she still has a huge head; I have noticed more and more that outfits fit her in the body but fitting them over the head is the challenge.  Regardless, the doctor said she is growing just fine.

Despite being sick, Fiona has been enjoying all her new toys and other gifts.  Bath toys have been a huge hit.  She loves bath time but has only had one rubber ducky, some pouring cups, and general splashing to entertain her.  She has tons of bath stuff now though.  Her (or Tim's favorite) are some blocks with attachments that, when stacked created a Rube Goldberg like contraption to filter water.   The wagon has also been a big hit.  She knows where it is parked in the house and, when she can get to it, will use it as a walker, have us walk her around the house, or take her out.  Up until this weekend, we had only taken her for rides around the yard, but this weekend we took her around the block which she seemed to love.