Glenwood Springs: a weekend of firsts

We just got back from our first family vacation! The last three days were full of firsts: first time to Glenwood Springs, first family hike, first time in a hotel room with a baby . . . and the day ended with Lea's first x-rays. :( Don't worry - she's just fine. I will explain in a moment. But FIRST, some photos:

As it turns out, we didn't get much swimming in, so here is one of the two pool photos we got. We got in a couple of quick swims, and Lea even dunked her head in once. And loved it.

Just sampling the hotel literature.

And playing with what seems to be the best baby toy ever: a bag of Miss Vickies Potato chips. Crinkly paper, potato chips inside that make a wonderful noise, and a virtually pop-proof bag=Awesome baby fun. We are the best parents ever.

 Hike to Hanging Lake:

 This is a pretty ideal hike: it's less than 3 miles round trip, so doable in half a day. But it's 1000 feet in elevation gain, so I felt like we all got some exercise.Well, Kyle and I did. Lea just kicked back and enjoyed the ride. And the payoff at the end is well worth it.

 Claiming her spot in the bed. She started off in the crib, but woke up screaming both nights, so she ended up in bed with us. But then she had a pretty serious meltdown while we were out for dinner last night (another fun first - we had to take dessert to go), and then it just went downhill from there. We had a night like we hadn't had since she was about 5 weeks old - she was awake several times, and screamed for an hour and a half straight, so loud that I was afraid we might get kicked out of the hotel. I felt sorry for whoever was next to us -  but I was also so delirious and frustrated that if anyone had knocked on the door, I might have punched them.  

Anyways, she's had another cold for about a week, so we figured it was an ear infection. We packed up  and hit the road home, after making a doctor appointment for this afternoon. By 6am, Lea had a 101 degree fever, so we rushed out of there. We had been planning on getting a full morning of swimming in, but that will have to wait for next time. 

So the doctor checked her ears: no infection. Then she said that she wanted to run a chest x-ray to eliminate the possibility of pneumonia - Lea was breathing kind of quickly and she had other symptoms that could be just her cold, but could also be pneumonia. Which meant x-rays of her lungs. Hooray. They put her in this plastic straitjacket thing, and her arms were pinned up against her ears to hold her still. It was pretty pathetic to watch - Kyle held her hands, and she just screamed and screamed. I managed to not lose it, and the xrays showed clear lungs. So now we're just pumping her with ibuprofin and fluids and waiting this thing out - the doctor said it's probably some kind of virus, so we just have to monitor her.

But enough baby sickness drama. I'll end with more smiles: first bath in a big bathtub.

Other than having to cut the trip short, it was great to get away and up to the mountains. We'll just have to get back to that giant pool sometime.