Believe it or not, Soren didn't make a trip to my hometown of Anacortes until he was nearly six months old! Papaw Bill and Grannie Annie have made lots of trips to Port Townsend to see us, but this was our first time traveling north. (One excuse we can trot out is that there was no car ferry service for the month of January.)
We visited lots of friends, including my high school friend Amber (above). We are holding each other's babies! Her little girl Avelyn is two days younger than Soren.
And here is the family of Nat, my friend from way back in elementary school! He just moved back to the area and it was good to meet his new son Timmy (far left) as well as reconnect with his older boy Frank (whom we had not seen since he was first born) and his wife Diane (holding Soren).
Our friend Barb brought Soren a Rubbermaid container, labeled on the lid as "Soren's Toy Box." But we soon realized it could be used for all sorts of fun games!
Of course, the real attractions in Anacortes are the grandparents. Here's Soren with Grannie and Papaw on his six-month birthday. I was worried about two aspects of our trip: 1) that Soren would be fussy on the 45-minute car ride, and 2) that he wouldn't sleep well away from home.
Well, my first worry was just unfounded. He napped all the way there and only whined part of the way back. My second worry was alleviated by the fact that we brought with us his hammock, his blanket, his stuffed animal, his humidifier, his radiator, and even the inflatable bathtub in which he bathes right before bed. So he must have felt pretty much at home, because he slept better than he usually does! I hadn't slept in the same room with him since he was three months old, and was surprised at how little noise he makes. I slept soundly, too. And then my parents played the role of Jeff (who was back in PT working) and took over at 6:30 a.m. when Soren was wide awake so I could get a little more sleep.
A really fun thing was an "open house" my parents organized to introduce Soren to some of
their friends. About a dozen people came, and it was quite the party. Soren was a cheery lad and allowed himself to be handed around and generally charmed all present. As you can perhaps see in this photo, it snowed that afternoon (a bit unseasonably for the Northwest), and by the end of the day, four inches had piled up!
As my mom exclaimed, "Soren, if we'd known what a fun houseguest you would be, we would have had you over much sooner!" Agreed.
It snowed four inches on our second day visiting Nora in Fort Collins, Colo., and here are some pictures as proof. It's a novelty for us Western Washingtonians, so we don't really mind the inconvenience. But I wouldn't want to have to coordinate getting Soren out the door in the appropriate outerwear every day for the next six months. Look at how wet his feet got!
Soren loved clearing snow from Auntie Nora's sidewalk and road. He is such a good little helper, once a task is demonstrated.
The next day the temps were still in the high 20s, so we bundled up to take a walk on a trail along the Poudre River. You can see not much snow had melted. Here's a family portrait, sans Soren: Ann, Nora, Shelly, Bill.
Here is Soren modeling the necessity of layering. We bought the vest and some other warm clothes at the ARC, Nora's favorite thrift shop here.
Down the trail he goes...
