The actual holiday of Labor Day (which fell on Monday Sept 5 this year) was a big day for Evan, as not only did he officially turn one month old, but he met another new relative who had travelled all the way across the big pond to meet him. Nana Hingst (aka Louise, or John's mum) arrived and we took Evan to the airport to greet her. Evan's been doing wonderfully riding in the car seat for us, and he gave us no problems on the hour-long ride to or from the airport.
A happy Nana holding her grandson, whose wearing a hand knitted (and oh so soft!) hat and sweater from Nana's good friend Sandy.
Evan's first overnight road trip
Given he'd been doing so well for us in the car and at home, we figured we might test the waters with him and take him and Louise on a short road trip deep into the Rocky Mountains during this first week of September. After all, Louise had come all this way and so she might as well get to see some new sights of Colorado, and John hadn't yet been very deep in the mountains either and was anxious to see some new parts of the state he was now calling home. So this past Wednesday we packed up John's Toyota Highlander (there was no way everything we needed to take would fit in my Honda Civic!) and headed west. Of course, we had to pack most everything the night before we left to try to leave at a reasonable hour Wednesday morning. We packed his portable pack n' play bassinet, his car seat travel system stroller (which is not small and hardly fits in my Civic on its own), the boppy (nursing) pillow, Evan's infant rocking chair (in case we needed a seat for him to chill in at the hotel room), and a big bag full of clothes, burp cloths, blankets, diapers, wipes, etc. Our goal was to leave by 10am, but we were unsure what Evan's nursing schedule would be the night before or that morning. We ended up hitting the road at 11am, so one hour later, which I consider to be a victory for us considering all of the things we had to do to prepare for the trip with our new infant.
On the drive into the mountains along Interstate 70 (aka I-70) we made a quick coffee and bathroom stop in Idaho Springs, and then a lunch stop in Dillon. I was able to nurse Evan in the car (made easier by having the boppy) while we had lunch in Dillon. After this pit stop we continued on our way to Glenwood Springs. Evan was an angel and slept the whole way except for the time I had to wake him up for lunch. The views as we got closer to Glenwood Springs were magnificent. I-70 winds through steep canyon walls, with the highway elevated in some places that had no ledges for a road to sit on. As we arrived into Glenwood Springs, we could see the Hot Springs pool right away (however it was empty, which we later learned it was closed Wednesday for cleaning), as well as we drove by the historic Hotel Colorado and through the downtown area as we headed to our hotel. We had initially thought about getting a cute cabin or mountain home to stay in, but for a great price we ended up getting a 2 bedroom suite at the local Residence Inn.
This accommodation ended up suiting us well, so that Evan's nightly feedings didn't awake Louise and so that we had plenty of room and amenities that made us feel like we were at home. Plus it provided us with a free hot breakfast every morning, and on the evenings that we were staying there they had free food and drinks at dinner time. We arrived to the hotel around 4pm, which gave us some time to unload the car, get settled in the room and get Evan nursed again. The free "BBQ night" dinner, which consisted of mediocre cheeseburgers and hot dogs, began at 6pm. The free wine and beer is what made the meal more worthwhile! Even I had a small glass of white wine...my first alcoholic drink since I'd been pregnant. I figured since I had just nursed Evan before the meal that I would be able to get away with a small drink with my dinner and that it would have time to be out of my system before his next feed. However, when I fed him a few hours later I could have sworn I smelled the wine on him, so I'm not sure if I gave myself enough time after finishing the drink before nursing him the next time. :( I think that in the future if I want to have a drink, I'll try to have some stored milk ready for him to be fed by bottle to give myself more time to get the alcohol out of my system. After dinner, we spent the evening in our living room of our hotel suite and introduced Louise to HGTV (Home and Garden TV), a channel that is on 24-7 with home improvement style shows. We watched several back-to-back episodes of homes being remodeled on "Property Brothers" or homebuyers choosing the right house to buy on "House Hunters" before calling it a night.
Glenwood Springs
On Thursday we took our time getting up and ready, although we made sure to hit up the free breakfast before it ended at 9am. We first headed out to the Linwood Cemetery, which is where Doc Holliday is buried. It was quite a steep hike to get up to the cemetery, and the sun was already out in full, so we made sure to make stops in the shade along the way. While the hike was fairly short, it was challenging for all of us still as it was the most active I'd been since the delivery, John had some extra weight he was carrying in the Baby Bjorn carrier, and it was Louise's 3rd day in Colorado so the altitude made it that much more difficult for her. We made it to the top and wandered about the cemetery noting some old gravesites from the late 1800s, and many of young children and babies. That part made me so sad, to see so many graves of young ones, so I had to keep moving along in search of the Doc's memorial. And it is indeed just a memorial, as they don't know for sure where his actual grave is. They think it may be in the adjacent "Potter's Field", which is a field with unmarked graves where they buried the poor and destitute, as well as any visitors who died in the area that had no family or friends to claim them.
John, Evan, and Louise at the trailhead for Linwood Cemetery.
John, Evan, and I at Doc Holliday's memorial. Some folks had left him some coins, playing cards, and even a bottle of whiskey by his headstone. Louise left him a $2 Aussie coin.
After our morning exercise, we took a more casual stroll around the downtown Glenwood Springs area. First we made our way to the Glenwood Springs Brewery, where we had lunch. I didn't have a beer though, as I knew I needed to feed Evan soon and didn't want to chance giving him any more alcohol than what I'd already given him the previous evening. We got seated in a booth in the back part of the restaurant so with the assistance of a nursing cover I was able to give Evan a bit of lunch while we were there also. Other than the in-the-car nursing sessions that I'd done a few times prior to this, it was the first time I'd had to nurse in public and I was a bit nervous. However, the cover worked well in the sense that someone really would not have known what was going on underneath, but it was terribly hot (the cover I have is polyester--yuck!--and thus doesn't breath well) and it was hard to check on him because the neckline lays flat on my chest. Some nursing covers on the market (including one called a "Hooter Hider", lol) have a rigid piece that keeps the neckline more open for the mother to look down and monitor her baby. I think I may have to look into one of those, and if so I'll make sure it's breathable cotton!
After lunch, we walked along the pedestrian bridge that crosses the Colorado river and I-70 to the side of town where the hot springs pool and Hotel Colorado are. Today the pool was full of water and semi-full of people. We did not stop for a dip, though, given that I am not allowed to swim just yet (post-delivery, but also because I have stitches from some more recent skin excisions that can't get wet). Maybe we'll come back another time and I can test out the warm hot springs waters. We wandered back through downtown past some shops and had an ice cream at the Sacred Grounds coffeehouse. Evan was awake for all of the post-lunch stroll and just took in all the sights with us. After ice cream we were all pretty tired, especially from the morning hike, so we returned the hotel for the evening. The hotel dinner was "Comfort Night" and they were serving chili and salad, which did not sound appetizing to us, so we ordered Chinese take out from their local Zheng's Asian Bistro and stayed in watching more HGTV. :)
On the pedestrian bridge over the Colorado river.
Louise, Evan, and I out on our stroll. Evan was awake for most of the afternoon.
Aspen and the drive home
We wanted to get an early start to our last day of the trip, given we wanted to visit Aspen and drive the scenic "Top of the Rockies" drive back home all in one day. Though we didn't make our goal of leaving by 9am, we hit the road by 10am and got to the Maroon Bells (a pair of beautiful greater than 14,000 ft peaks, known in Colorado as 14ers) north of Aspen, by 11am. The problem was that Evan was beginning to stir by the time we got to the Maroon Bells, since it was nearing time for his next meal. Thus, I figured I should try to wake him and feed him before we headed out on the walk around the lake, while John and Louise walked down to the creek that ran along the parking lot to check out the views. However, he wasn't having anything to do with it! He didn't want to wake up or eat. By the time John and Louise got back to the car, he was fussy and seemed more awake so I tried a second time. However, he fell asleep in my arms and again wouldn't eat! So we decided he would just sleep for the walk and nurse when we got back to the car. Then while we were putting him into the carrier, he got fussy and woke up more, so I figured for sure he'd eat a little before we went for the walk. Thus, we took him out of the carrier and I tried a third time (third time's the charm, right?). This time he nibbled for about 5 minutes, and then fell asleep again. At least he had a snack, I figured, but he was still a bit fussy when we got him into his carrier and throughout the walk. We took in some quick views of the Maroon Bells, and walked along the lake side that lays almost like a mirror at times in the foreground, and then returned to the car. No time or energy for a long hike today, although there are plenty of hiking trails around this area. Evan then ate a bit more after the walk, but what we had hoped would have been a short sightseeing stop (maybe 1 hour all up) ended up taking 2 whole hours. Thus, the adults were hungry for lunch by this time so we headed into the town of Aspen in search of a cafe for food.
John, Evan, and I at the Maroon Bells.
We were advised of a few eateries (by the visitor information agent) that were kid friendly, and proceeded to the Aspen Ajax Tavern, that resided at the base of the Silver Queen gondola. It had a big outdoor patio with views up the slope, and food prices that were probably pretty typical of Aspen restaurants. We had lunch while Evan slept peacefully in his car seat at our table, and then headed out to quickly take in the rest of the sights around the Aspen walking mall (streets that were for pedestrians only). Of course, Evan was getting hungry again by this stage so we had to make this part of our visit quick. I went back to the car to nurse Evan then while John and Louise strolled down to the John Denver Sanctuary.
Afterwards, it was time to hit the road home as it was already 4pm and we had a 4 hour drive ahead of us (longer if we made stops, which we knew we would). The "Top of the Rockies" scenic byway is very scenic. It takes you over Independence Pass on some roads that are so narrow that we feared passing another car coming from the other direction. At the top of the pass is the Continental Divide, so we stopped for a quick photo of Louise at the top of the place where rivers in North America will either flow into the Atlantic (if flowing to the east) or the Pacific (if flowing to the west) Oceans. At 12,095 feet in elevation with a brisk wind, it was pretty chilly up there.
Narrow road on the way over Independence Pass.
Need I say more?
We stopped in Idaho Springs on the way home to feed Evan and get ourselves some dinner. Beau Jo's pizza for us and the typical milk for Evan gave us all the fuel we needed to finish the last hour of the drive home. However, Evan was pretty fussy on this part of the drive (it was the late evening hours when he's normally fussy after all), so we cranked up the radio to distract and sooth him. Nothing like driving along the highway at night with the bass thumping ("Party Rock is in the house tonight...") to sooth your little baby. :) After he calmed down, he stayed awake the rest of the drive staring at the lights that zoomed by out the back windows. All of that fussing must have helped him burn some energy because last night was the first night ever that Evan has gone 5 1/2 hours at night between feedings, which gave John and I a full 4 hours of sleep in one block! Then after that middle of the night feeding he went another 4 hours, giving us another 3 hours of sleep! We all needed it, as we were dragging after the long day we had yesterday. So after a great road trip, Evan gave us a great gift of sleep!
Odds and Ends
On many mornings, when we are not in a rush or on a schedule to go somewhere, I will nurse Evan in the mornings and leave him with John in bed. Then both father and son "sleep in" late together, usually with Evan laying his head up under John's arm close to or on John's pillow. On Tuesday morning this week that special moment that John loves to share with Evan was harshly interrupted when Evan had a little "chuck up", as Louise would say. Of course, being a baby, Evan has little chuck ups all the time, however this one went right into John's face! Quite a rude awakening! One may think that this would taint John's desire for morning snuggles with his son, but I assure you he has not been fazed in the least. At the very moment that I write this post, he is upstairs in our bedroom, in bed with Evan, snuggling and sleeping in late with his son. :)
Now just so you don't think that John is the one always getting the dirty end of the stick, I will share that on Monday (not long after Louise had arrived and we were home getting her settled in) I was nursing Evan and he had a little chuck up on me too, and I mean on me while I was nursing him if you catch my drift. It was the thick curdled milk kind, so of course that shirt I had been wearing was a goner too. Therefore, Evan has not unfairly been targeting John with his projectiles and chuck ups, as he has gotten his mommy too. I consider him to be an equal opportunity puker. :)
1 comment:
Sounds like Evan is such a joy! I of course laughed at John being awakened with the up chuck to the face. :) loving all the wonderful pictures as well! I wish we could be there! Love you all!!
Post a Comment