Battle Ground, Washington
A trip to Montana for Jonah’s first extended car ride. We’ll see how it goes.
As Erin’s Western University classes fade into memory, we turn now to the next big agenda item: A trip to Montana. I’ve been wanting to get out to see my cousin Mildred (my grandfather’s sister’s daughter) for a few years now. Erin’s never met her and now that Jonah’s here, there’s no time like the present. So much the better, we’ll be stopping in to see other family and friends along the way.
Tonight we layover in Battle Ground at the always wonderfully hospitable Hotel Kann. As one might suspect, this is an extraordinarily pleasant way to be begin a long journey. Tomorrow we’re aiming to have breakfast with my aunt and uncle in The Dalles, and stay over with our friends Brian and Tracey in Spokane. That’s a long day’s ride, and, being Jonah’s first of this length, it will be interesting to see how he handles it. Heck, it will be interesting to see how Erin and I handle it. Already we’re planning to stop however often is necessary to maintain our sanity.
On that whole, that’s probably being unfair to Jonah, though. Although he’s recently started crying a bit more often (and so suddenly!), he remains a very peaceful child in most respects. For this we continue to give most grateful thanks.
Developmentally, Jonah’s been busy. He’s finding his hand more often than not when he tries to aim it into his mouth. Sometimes his cheek gets in the way (much to our amusement). He’s drooling a fair amount, though it’s pretty early for it to be teething and we don’t see any teeth coming in anyway. He smiles a lot which, as one might suspect, is heaven. He coos and makes weird noises. When you pick him up and he seems to hug you back, it’s one of the best feelings in the world.
He won’t remember it except through pictures, but I hope he has a great trip.