We had a little bit of trepidation about camping with you. We wondered how’d you do outdoors for days on end, if it’d be too cold at night, how you’d sleep, and whether it’d just be too hard getting all of your gear in to the campsite. Before we went we did a lot of research about camping with a little one and we even tried to solicit advice from others who had camped. People seemed to fall into two camps (ha!): either they camped with a little one and it went well and they’ve been camping as a family ever since, or they wouldn’t even consider trying camping with a small child. The latter group of people had so many fears about camping and such strong opinions against it that they made me question our decision to camp with you. But I’m so glad we gave it a go!

You did great last night. You haven’t had a very predictable or good sleep routine ever since we’ve been back from HI, and you haven’t been sleeping that consistently recently. But last night you did great. You went down easily, woke once in the middle of the night for a feeding, and went right back to sleep. You woke in the morning for a feeding at your normal time, then we all snuggled and went back to sleep for another hour. It was wonderful and I’m so excited that we’re able to introduce you to this experience so early.

Today we boated (you did not) and lounged on the beach.

Relaxing on the beach with Sophie

There’s no shortage of hands wanting to hold you.

Playing with Uncle Kyle

You and papa – you’re in your outfit from cousin Kyle and Sandy. I love this picture.

Aunt Jen held you and dipped your tiny feet into Lake Tahoe. You seemed curious and interested, picking up and moving your feet about. After a couple of minutes you expressed your displeasure at the activity, letting us know you’d had enough of the cold water. You lasted longer than I thought you would. The water is COLD this year. Last year your uncles and I (and you in my belly!) swam out to the island every day. We all did it today and I think it is the coldest I’ve ever been in water. Brett said it was 55 degrees out. It was craziness. I won’t be doing that swim any more this week.

First dip in Lake Tahoe

Curious about the water and sand

And we discovered that your aunt has a special touch with you; she is great at calming you down and getting you to sleep. We’ve started calling her the baby whisperer, and our never-ending quest to get them to move to CO has just increased in urgency.

Playing (before the baby whisperer action)

You and Jen (after the baby whisperer magic)