The Ranch.

Black Mountain Ranch

To those of you who have been waiting for a post (and I know you number in the thousands) - I'm sorry. I literally have just been too tired. The days are full and Babe still refuses to sleep much longer than twenty minutes at a time, so when she hits the hay I'm not far behind. We have been doing a lot during the days but I just haven't had a chance to get it out here.

Once again Babe is asleep and I'm going to try desperately to squeeze in a blog post about our recent overnight trip before she wakes up and needs the boob again. And yes, I do realize that my child needs to sleep longer, for both of our sakes. And yes, we are planning on sleep training her. We were going to start last week but then she got her shots so I put it off for a couple nights. Then she started teething! So now it just seems unnecessarily cruel to leave her to cry it out. So again, sleep training is on hold.

Recently my friend R invited Babe and I to come down to her getaway at Black Mountain Ranch for a quick overnight trip. R has a place at the private campground near Mount Baker. It's a great set-up, everyone has their own campsite equipped with their own trailer, motor home, park model etc. and there is a variety of amenities and activities to enjoy such as horseback riding, pools, golf and outdoor concerts. It reminds me a little of the summer place that Baby and her family stayed at in Dirty Dancing. But with trailers instead of cabins and without all the dancing - although they may have that too, I don't know. Also the name Black Mountain sounds like the setting of a scary movie not a romantic comedy. Anyway...

Since Babe has her papers in order (a passport) it was super easy just to pack an overnight bag (OK, two bags) and jump in the car and go. Thankfully the drive wasn't too long because Babe still loses her shit in the car. 

R did get us lost which added some time to the trip and extended the misery a little but all in all Babe did pretty good on the drive.

The really exciting news is that I finally took Babe for her first swim! I knew she would love it because she is such a fan of the bath. The pool was a little cool compared to her warm bathtub but she loved it all the same. She squealed and kicked until she was getting blue around the lips. We must have stayed in for 40 minutes or so and she literally kicked the whole time. Then after her warm shower she passed out on the walk back to the trailer.

Of course I have a ton of pics and of course I'm gonna share a couple here. I have video too but stupid Blogger won't let me post it.

R is a gymnastics coach and she was really great at helping Babe practice her physical skills - something that J in particular doesn't do, he always holds her. By that evening Babe was actually standing for brief periods while holding onto the furniture. I know she is supposed to crawl before she walks and I'm working on it, but she really just wants to stand.

R and Babe also worked on her sitting skills. Babe is still a little weak in her upper body and so when she sits she just slowly folds over (forward) until she looks like a human taco. So R and I spent a little while holding toys up above eye level to encourage her to sit up straight. See...she's getting a little better.

I didn't bring her little support stand for the tub because I wasn't intending on bathing her, but with the chlorine from the pool I figured I better. So instead of struggling with the big tub, I just bathed her in the sink after dinner. Cute?

The next day we strapped Babe into the Ergo and went for a walk around the park and down to the ol' rock quarry (another scary movie setting). I'll admit this was the first time I've been a little nervous of cougars or bears. I'm a nature girl and I love the forest and I've never worried too much about creatures in the past but now that I have my own little cub to protect I was on high(er) alert. Doesn't she already looks so big in this picture?

And just for fun here's a pic of Babe's crazy hair. It's all falling out on the sides but the top just keeps getting longer and longer!

The next day Babe went to her first birthday party for my friend's little girl. It was a pool party so Babe got to go swimming again and she impressed everyone with her amazing kicking skills. She's gonna be an Olympic swimmer, just you wait and see.

And that evening we brought one of the kitties back from my parent's house. You may remember from a previous post that I brought her home a couple months back. However it didn't work out and she had to go back. Now she is home again and things are going better. Babe is old enough to notice the cat and she is quite thrilled by the curious thing that meows and rubs against her tiny toes. I love this photo of Babe happily reaching for the cat and the cat turning for the door. The blur shows you the speed at which the kid can lurch for the cat and the cat can say, "Ah! I'm outta here."