Seth 16 weeks

Dear Seth,

You are 16 weeks old today. Right now we are on our way home from Edmonton where we just spent the weekend visiting with your great aunts and great grandpa. When we get home the new house rule is that we can't turn our backs on you unless you're in the crib or on the floor. You are going to be rolling over from your back to your stomach any day now, and you can already do it if you're propped up even on a slight incline. Your new hobby is doing reverse crunches and bringing your feet up and grabbing them with your hands. You grunt and grunt until you succeed and if it takes too long you really start to fuss about it. It's only a matter of time before you get those toes into your mouth, what fun! When your legs are pulled up like that you roll almost onto your side so I'm sure you'll figure out what to do next before we know it. You have also started to stiffen your body and arch your back when I put you in the Bumbo, so I'm sure one of these days you'll pop right out of that, too. So much for the Bumbo "babysitter."

So let's see, since last week we've been away from home every day so I might as well just talk about our trip. Wednesday morning we got up and daddy helped pack the car. I took everything but the kitchen sink and it all just barely fit into the Subaru. We headed north to Grandpa's house on the river and spent the night. My goal had been to make it out of the house by 3pm and we just made it - my car's clock read 3:06pm and it's a little fast. Thursday morning we got up and had breakfast and you took a little nap while I packed up all your stuff yet again - this time into Grandpa's car. He has a Honda Ridgeline and I thought we'd have plenty of room but I didn't realize he didn't have a cover for the back... so it was a tight fit but we managed to stuff everything in. We got on the road around 11am and headed north again, to Canada. Did you know you are one quarter Canadian? We didn't have any trouble at the border since your Mama had done her research and was all prepared with our passports and a letter from daddy saying it was ok for you to travel. Thankfully we weren't going south that day because on the other side of the border there were about 20 semi trucks loaded with cows lined up waiting to cross into the States. Moo! I bet that was stinky!

It took us about 8 hours to get from Sandpoint to Okotoks, Alberta where we stopped for the night. We saw tons of wildlife out on the highway - a turkey, deer, elk, mountain goats & sheep, as well as a donkey and plenty of cows and horses on the farms. Well, Grandpa and I saw them... you pretty much saw the back seat head rest and maybe some trees whizzing by if you bothered to take a peek. Along the way we had to stop just a handful times to feed you and ourselves and change your drawers. All the Tim Horton's we've stopped at have had a diaper changing station inside, which was lots easier than the front seat of daddy's truck. Although you did have your pants changed on the side of the road one time with about 100mph winds and semi trucks whizzing by. You didn't seem to mind too much even with your little bum exposed to the breezes in the treezes. You did great in the hotel room and went to sleep without much trouble, waking up at about 1am and 5am to eat. We got up for the day at around 8am and managed to get on the road again by 11. Okotoks to Edmonton was a significantly shorter drive and we got to Auntie Gloria's house at about 3pm. We visited there for a bit before heading to Auntie Bev's house to set up camp and get you down for a nap. You just took a little snooze and then joined everyone in the kitchen for burgers and homemade caesar salad crafted by your grandpa's cousin Robert. It wasn't long before you completely lost your patience with your world being turned upside down. You went from fussing to inconsolable within about 10 minutes so we went to your room and had some quiet time before you finally fell asleep for the night around 10pm (mountain time) - about 2 hours past your bed time.

Saturday you woke up a new baby. Probably relieved that you weren't immediately strapped into the car seat, you gazed open mouthed around Auntie Bev's kitchen in awe at all of her yellow walls and red appliances. You took three textbook 90 minute naps and woke up just in time to head to the church for your great grandpa's 95th birthday party. Once we got there you were the picture of tolerance as you got passed around to your Mama's various aunts and cousins and cousins' kids. You started to fuss just a little so I fed you in the handy dandy mother's room at the church, changed your diaper, and returned to the party where you were good for almost another hour. Then you hit a wall and I could smell a meltdown coming. We went back to the mother's room and I sang to you and rocked in the dark until you fell asleep. You took about a 15 minute power nap which was just enough to take the edge off. You sat in your car seat with a glazed look in your eye until we left.

On Sunday we had brunch at Bev's house and you sat on Grandpa's lap and flirted with Nola across the table. Grandpa poked a link breakfast sausage into your mouth which you gummed a little, grimaced and then spit up a few minutes later. I guess you're not ready for that yet. After another nice long nap we went to the West Edmonton mall, the largest mall in North America, on a mission to find some baby souvenirs for you. Grandpa carried you the whole time and you tried to eat his coat as you stared wide eyed over his shoulder at all the chaos around us. We found what we were looking for and headed back where you took another little nap before dinner at Auntie Gloria's. That night I managed to get you to bed around 9pm and I got to go soak in the hot tub - uninterrupted (yay!), but things went downhill from there. For some reason you were waking up every couple of hours and were not easily convinced to go back to sleep as per usual, even after being fed.

Monday morning a very tired mama packed up all your stuff yet again and we began our journey home. You slept almost all the way from Edmonton to Okotoks, minus our stop for pizza in Innisfail, Alberta. We got to Okotoks at about 5pm and hung out in the hotel room all evening, you chewing on all your toys and me and Grandpa watching a movie on TV. Once again you went to sleep by 9pm but woke up about every 2 hours. I had to change your PJs once at 4am because you somehow managed to pee everywhere except in your diaper, one of the joys of little boys. Then before 6am you were WIDE awake and no amount of coaxing could get you back to sleep. It was all I could do to keep you relatively quiet until you took a nap around 7am. You didn't want to eat or suck on your pacifier, but you happily chewed HARD on my knuckles. Maybe you're teething or you just wanted to get up and on the road because you miss your daddy.

So here we are. As I type we are crossing the Rocky Mountains at Crowsnest pass and you are peacefully sleeping in your car seat. Maybe somehow you knew that if you slept too much last night you'd just be sitting bored but awake all the way home today. We are making good time today so we might get back to Grandpa's house with enough time to have dinner and then head the rest of the way home to Spokane.

Love, Mama

P.S. We made it home safe and sound and got to visit with daddy for a few minutes before you hit the wall of exhaustion. I put you in your crib and you were asleep in about 10 seconds flat. You're happy to be home I guess. We'll have to do your weekly picture with the monkey tomorrow.