Sol Duc Falls

Way back in July, 2015 we went backpacking. We try to go a few times a year and at least once with our good friends, the Sauras. This has gotten more interesting as our families have grown. The year before we went for the first time with our toddlers and Whitney braved the trek while pregnant. This year, Whitney impressively packed in two kids and it was my turn to carry a pack while pregnant.

We went back and forth about whether we should even try to backpack with little ones again, or if we should just car camp and make life a little easier. I'm a die-hard and my vote was always that we go backpacking but Blake was questioning and Sauras had quite the logistical challenge with fitting all their gear and two kids on two backs. In the end, we agreed we should just go for it.

Sol Duc Falls is a very popular area and permits are required for overnight backpacking trips. We were having a hard time picking a trail this year because there are only so many short, flat trails that also allow overnight camping. We finally decided on Sol Duc a week before our trip was planned and it was a long shot that we would get a permit for one of the few camping spots on the trail. The only things in our favor were that we were applying for weeknights and that we wanted the first or second camping spots on the trail, so as to only have to hike 1-2 miles in, and most people wanted to go farther in (like we would have a couple of years ago).We ended up getting a permit for the first camping spot on the trail, making our hike a whopping mile in, mile out.

In the trailhead parking lot, I took my camera battery off the charger and stuck it in my camera. We loaded our gear and put our packs on (no small feat) and headed to the trailhead. I set up for the obligatory trailhead picture and ... no juice. Completely dead battery. I guess leaving the battery on the charger while it wasn't plugged in, zapped all the power back out of the battery. We probably should have taken this as a sign that we should have just turned around right then, but we'll get into that later. Thankfully, Jason has a big camera too, so we still got our trailhead photo.

It was a gorgeous hike and a beautiful day. It was so fun to see our toddlers enjoying the outdoors and doing more hiking on their own. We felt like one mile in was the perfect distance for them... and maybe us too ;)!

It's this way guys!

Whitney's impressive load, she added Lincs to that at some point too!

All the girls

Family selfie

This little clip is pretty representative of the last half of our hike in. She is reciting Going on a Bear Hunt with me.

We made it to the falls (no surprise, since it's just under a mile) and took in the pretty view before trying to figure out where the trail continued and how we found our designated camp spot. It wasn't entirely clear but we eventually figured it out and set up our tents.

After we got set up, we explored a little around our camping area. This was during the height of the forest fires so no campfires were allowed. We were just up from the river, so that provided some entertainment and there was plenty to explore.

First things first though, Emerson needed a bath. Backstory: she had been potty trained for awhile, with the exception of naps/nighttime and long car trips (which were usually a nap too). When we left the house she wore special underwear that is like the cloth equivalent to a pull up. Still some absorbency but trim and pulls up and down. They can hold about one good pee but aren't as absorbent as a diaper. She rarely had accidents at home but being in her car seat for any length of time was usually hit or miss. She was at that point where you had to take her asap if she said she had to go. So I had packed diapers for naps/bedtime and the car rides and I packed her underwear. At this point in the hike.. she had wet through to her pants three different times. The previous two times I washed and dried out her pants in a restroom but this time we were on the trail and although she told us she had to pee, we found out that the hiking backpack was the same as a car seat and it was always too late. So she had to walk since her pants were soggy through. It was unbelievably frustrating since this was waaaay more accidents than she usually has and more than I had accounted for in my attempt at minimalist backpack packing. To be fair, it was a lot of stop and go traveling to get to the trailhead. End backstory.

So we headed down to the river to give her a little bit of a bath. She loves water she can stand in, really cold or not, so she was happy to get to splash around a little.

And then the rain started. We were in the Olympic National (rain)Forest, so I'm not sure why we didn't think of this likelihood, but apparently we didn't. Blake and I brought light jackets that were somewhat water resistant but Emerson doesn't have a rain jacket and she loves to live in her red jacket so that's what we brought for her, just light sweatshirt material. We also only packed her two pairs of pants and a shirt in addition to pajamas. We were halfway through day one and only had one pair of pants and one shirt left for her and it was raining, raining, raining.

Entertaining toddlers while backpacking can be hard enough but in the middle of the woods and add in some rain and no campfire and it's a little trickier. Whitney is good though and she entertained the kiddos while we set up camp.

They were holding hands. This was adorable, even if this isn't the best picture of it.

They could have spent hours down here, but unfortunately, it was right out in the rain.

Our humble abode.

Our campsite.

It was a long night. By the time we ate dinner and went to bed we were all soaked. I had dry pajamas and so did Emerson, but Blake didn't. We packed light because it's backpacking and that's what you do. Also, there were fires everywhere and it was warm in general. We picked the only rainy weekend in quite some time. Irony I guess. After a fairly sleepless night for everyone, except maybe Emerson, we were all fairly ready to pack it in. We had a little tent-to-tent discussion and started packing up camp. We were off after breakfast (or did we even eat breakfast?) and paused only for a few pictures at the falls (and some entertainment when Jason tried to ask the international tourist to take our picture and she basically said/gestured 'no thanks I'm with that guy over there'.. she thought he wanted to take her picture).

Sol Duc Falls

We hiked out as fast as we could (this pregnant momma wanted to use the 'real' bathroom). We did manage to get a selfie in front of the sign before I literally booked it to the bathroom (I'm only slightly ashamed to say that someone else was coming and I didn't want to risk my place in line).

Well.. better (really) late than never? 

5 Months

Five months.. it's like a tipping point before the next big milestones emerge, like sitting and crawling. I like this age because we've hit a stride. He still sleeps a lot but is awake for enough time that you can stop what you're doing and enjoy him until his next nap.

Harrison is such a sweet, happy boy. He is as easy going as his sister was at this age, except he's easier to put to sleep than she was (and still is). The week before we moved he started shifting his bed time from 2-3 am to more like 12-12:30. For about a week after we moved he slept for 10-ish hours straight from about 11-11:30 on, but now he sleeps about 6-8 hours from 9-ish to about 5am usually (I'm not complaining!!).

He is just over 16 pounds and is 25.75 inches long :).

He rolled over this month, and loves tummy time for the duration of his endurance level. He is the happiest, most smiley guy when he wakes up and loves to kick and stretch, especially when you take his diaper off. He is still fairly stiff and likes to be stood up. We just recently broke out the Johnny Jump Up, which he is enjoying. He is difficult to wear because he almost always stiffens up and tries to stand in the ring sling and he's too heavy for the cotton wraps now, but his legs don't spread open enough for the Ergo. I still use the ring sling most of the time because I can find a way to make sure he's secure and adjust the position for my comfort. He tolerates reclining baby holding devices (like the bouncy seat and swing) only if there's entertainment like the animals over the bouncy or is beloved Calmies ball. He can't be teething yet (right?) but he sure loves to chew on his ball, hands, blanket, anything he can. He's getting pretty good at grabbing things when he wants to. It's amazing that he used to just watch the toys at the top of his floor gym but now he can reach for them, and grab them.

Harrison is an observer. He will watch his sister (when she holds still long enough) and pays attention whenever he hears her talk. He is at that age where sometimes I have to feed him in a quiet room or he'll constantly stop eating to see what's going on. My favorite is when I'm talking and nursing him. He'll just stop and stare up at me, watching me and my mouth intently. When I look down at him he smiles and goes back to eating until I start talking again. He also really watches our mouths when he sees us eating

He does talk too, when he can get a word in edgewise. He's very vocal when he's not caught up observing. Talks and talks to his toys or anyone who will make eye contact with him (mostly in familiar environments though.. he still gets a little overwhelmed in crowded, bright or noisy places and he's so busy looking he forgets his social skills). He really only cries when he's hungry or when he's tired. It took me awhile to realize that he cries when he's tired because it looks and sounds a lot like his hunger cues but then he doesn't want to eat. Now I can tell and often people don't believe me. They hand him to me because he must be hungry but I've realized he's the kind of kid that says "Please put me to sleep!!".

He is finally a lot easier to diaper. Our one size diapers fit him pretty well, save for the occasional diaper that Emerson must have worn more and the elastic is a little looser and I have to snap, check for leg gaps and re-snap. Which is kind of amazing since his legs are so chunky. He's on the first set of snaps and the full-size insert. He is still in 3-6 and 6 month clothes. For awhile there we were tossing clothes in the 'too small' bin left and right but he's been in the same clothes for about two months now.

I have some momma guilt because I let him sleep in his bed almost every time he sleeps because... he will (Emerson never slept well or very long if I laid her down)! And because I have a girl who needs lots of attention and a new house that has constant projects and this real food lifestyle that keeps me in my awesome kitchen a lot.. so I snuggle him for a few minutes after he falls asleep and I try to memorize his sweet sleeping face and then I lay him down. I so long to just hold him and stare at him like when he was younger, but if I don't lay him down within the first 10-15 minutes of him falling asleep then he usually wakes up when I lay him down. And, I figure, if I can get things accomplished while he's sleeping, then I can enjoy him for the little bit that he's awake.

There are things about him that I still worry about with him, kind of holding my breath until he's past certain milestones. It's unlikely he'd have neurological issues, given his size and gestational age but still I wonder. The nice thing is that I don't bemoan the passing of time like I did with Emerson. I just take it one day at a time. yes, five months sounds a little scary to me because it's almost six months which is almost half of his first, sweet infancy year. But I get to just throw out the clock because he started it too early and now we're playing by his rules. I just enjoy him whenever I can and at whatever stage he's at and know that one day I'll look back on this blur and know that I enjoyed it, even if I don't remember it, even if it passed to quickly. It is what it is, and numbers are just numbers.

We love our happy, sweet, chubby boy!

Always chewing on his hands!

Chubby feet

I love his smirk here :)

Always stealing the show, "Mommy, this is my crazy face"

And a little sweetness

And a little fun.

Four Months

I did take pictures when he turn four months.. but then a few days later we closed on our house and moved and gave up aspirations of writing this post on time.

Here is what I can remember: He was over 15 lbs, started raspberries, most of this month he was up late making sure we made the most of our Netflix subscription and love, love, loves his hands. He liked to be sitting up or held so he can stand and was awake longer between naps. He'd gotten more vocal, likes to talk and squawk and really gets after you if he's tired or hungry and not being attended to. Otherwise, he remained a sweet, easy charmer. Oh, and this guy loves tummy time! Loves it! He doesn't last long that way, but if he gets fussy, I can put him on his tummy and buy myself more time to finish a task because he's so happy to be on his tummy!

I can't get my camera out without making sure she's included in the action.
None of the brother sister shots turned out this time. 

Three Months

Our little guy has woken up! He still sleeps a lot but he also smiles at you when he's awake (for 10-15-ish minutes between naps). It's the sweetest thing this momma has seen in awhile. Sometimes he's just looking around and then he catches your eye and lights up with a smile and gives you a few coos and goos. I love it.

He's getting so big! Our chunky Monkey weighs about 13.5 lbs and I haven't measured his length in awhile! He's growing out of 3 month clothes and is finally starting to fit better into the one size pocket diapers. He's been a really tough kid to diaper so far. He's stocky.. wide but short and even though his thighs are chunky, they're not chunky enough to get a good fit on diapers. Plus he's a super pee producer. Basically, if a diaper fits him in height and around his legs, it doesn't hold enough pee or keep the poop in well. If it holds enough pee and keeps the poop in then it comes up so high he can't wiggle very well to get his gas out, and it's harder to get a seal around his legs. Anyway, it's starting to get easier to get a seal around his legs but it's a work in progress. He's just been so different than Emerson in this regard.

He continues to be an easy baby. He rarely cries, although he's starting to get a little more aggressive in his communication when he's hungry. He still keeps life to a basic schedule of eating, sleeping, diaper change and smiling/cooing. So far, he will only take a pacifier when he's hungry (you know, when I don't really want him to have one, unless we're in the car and can't stop) but never when he actually wants to pacify.. then, only mommy will do. It's pretty rare though. Through most of the day he sleeps fine and needs just a little rocking/swaying to get to sleep at the most. Usually, I lay him down drowsy and he just falls asleep, we'll see how long that lasts. He needed to be swaddled most of the time until just recently. The week of Christmas/the week he turned 3 months, this changed. Previously, he'd get pretty over stimulated easily and the swaddling helped but by the end of the week he was much less sensitive to stimuli. Funny how it changed almost overnight.

What Harrison does that isn't as fun is this strange wake/sleep/fuss/sleep/wake/fuss thing from 10:30-2:00am. It's like clockwork. There have been a few nights where it ended at midnight but it's pretty reliable. I went through all kinds of worrying about things like reflux, intolerance to something I ate, etc (he also spits up more during this period), low milk supply etc.. until we realized the pattern. It is definitely worse if I've had any caffeine, like decaf coffee specifically (but thank heaven not chocolate or decaf black tea - probably because I ate/drank those things throughout pregnancy). I don't mind the alone time with him (or the netflix binging as I walk/rock/nurse etc) but the mornings are pretty rough sometimes.

Without further ado.. my chubby baby and a few with the adoring sister :). Only one more photo shoot in our (horribly lit) apartment and hopefully our house will have better lighting! Smiley as he is, it's still pretty hard to catch on camera. He has a pretty short window of awake and smiling before wanting to eat and sleep again.