Pittsburgh and Portland

Claire and Spud flew up to Pittsburgh to spend the week with Aunt Megan and Uncle Brian and Cousin Marcus while I went to the Geological Society of America meeting in Portland and did nerdy science stuff. We left on the same day, and I got a flight that was strategically scheduled to take off about a half an hour after theirs, so I could help get them to the gate. It's sort of a two-person job getting a baby through security and onto a plane.

They had a short flight (1.5 hr), and Claire reported that Spud did very well on the plane. He only got a little fussy, and spent the flight napping and chugging a bottle and playing in Claire's lap. Claire was prepared with 3 bottles just in case of a flight delay. Those of you who have flown lately know that air travel is pure joy nowadays [sarcastic eye roll], and delays are likely.

So Spud got to spend some time with his cousin Marcus. He may not have known what to make of this other smallish human.



Marcus has a seriously tricked-out Exersaucer, with more toys and awesomeness than Spud's. When he got home yesterday, Spud stared at his own Exersaucer, then looked at me and shook his head in disappointment and murmured something derisive under his breath. I think he knows that someday I'm going to buy him his first car, and it's going to be a used Chrysler.





Marcus also has a cool ball pit. I have often thought that we should replace all of our couches in our house with ball pits, but Claire rejects this idea for some reason. Anyway, you are supposed to romp around in a ball pit, or at least lounge luxuriously amongst the multicolored spheres. Spud just sort of laid there, stiffly, like a slab of fresh salmon on a bed of crushed ice at the supermarket. He didn't get it.



Later in the week, Claire and Megan and Spud went to the zoo.



Mother animals teach their young at an early age about other dangerous animals. Baby squirrels no doubt learn about foxes, and baby deer learn about cougars. Claire took the opportunity to teach Spud about the dangers of kangaroos. Those of you that know me know that I was brutally savaged by a kangaroo in my childhood. I'm not really over it yet.

She may have overdone the drama a bit in this early life lesson, but you can't be too careful when it comes to kangaroos.



Meanwhile, I got to spend my last day in Oregon cruising the waterfalls in the Columbia River Gorge. Beautiful emerald green cedars mixed with golden autumn maple leaves and the rumble of the rapids and falls. Thin tendrils of fog made the air glow yellow and green. Nice!