Ruby got her first dip in the Pacific Ocean (just her feet) this week when we took a road trip to Seaside, Oregon. It was a lovely trip, and she slept angelically in the car almost the whole way there and the whole way back. Our hotel was a 5-10 minute walk along the beachfront promenade to the main drag. We enjoyed having to take a little walk before every meal / outing. Ruby travelled in either the Baby Bjorn or our Premaxx sling, even during meals (we had no stroller with us).
Seaside is kind of a hoky town, as evidenced by the many shops-of-crap (from dolphin art to “antiques” to t-shirts with stupid jokes) and the four or five nearly identical surf-and-turf-style restaurants. We wandered around anyway, then went to Cannon Beach to spend an afternoon.
Ruby gained two new skills while we were there. First, she became more chattery and we enjoyed several nonsense conversations with her. She seems to say “ah-goo” when she’s happy. Click here to watch a few short clips of her vocalizing.
Also, one of our circus friends told us about a circus trick that only young babies can do, so we gave it a try. Check it out!
On the downside, Steve and I think Ruby has begun teething. Others (notably our parents) are dubious because it’s pretty early, but the signs seem obvious to us. Once a day or so, she’ll start yelling/crying like she’s in pain (not a regular fussy cry; and she rarely cries in any case). She’ll really bite down on any fingers put into her mouth, and she’s drooling what seems like an entire ocean’s worth. The first episode happened in Seaside on Tuesday night, and Steve ran off to Safeway to buy some baby Tylenol, which helped. We’re just waiting and watching for now, since babies can teethe for a while before teeth are actually visible.
You can see more photos from our trip in this folder of Ruby’s album.