Visiting All the Grandparents

We spent two weeks in Idaho and Washington last month, visiting all the grandparents. Malcolm was, apart from some sleep difficulties, a great traveler, and the grandparents were all thrilled to have him. The weather was mostly good - cooler than Arkansas, and rainy at times, but not depressingly so. I got some very good flower pictures, since everything was blooming profusely. Here are some pictures of Malcolm with the grandparents; I'll save the flowers for another day.

Malcolm reached 10 months while we were there, so he let Grandpa Rider help him with his month card picture.

Three generations of Benjamin Riders at Lake Coeur d'Alene. In this picture Malcolm is starting to look a little more like Benjamin now, although a lot of his expressions are still very much like mine.

Malcolm got to meet his Oma Jennie for the first time ever, and despite the look on his face in this picture, he did get along well with her.

There, that is a happier look. Jennie was, of course, in love.

Malcolm does love to chew on rocks...

Grandpa Mikey and Malcolm in a quiet moment. Usually, they were winding each other up instead.

Malcolm and Grandma Candi, reading the same book. You'd never know it by these pictures, but my mother does have a large collection of children's books - she was a children's librarian after all. But Malcolm really liked that one - it was one of my favorites as a baby too.

The drive from Bellevue to Idaho and back can get rather long, especially if you are strapped in a car seat facing the wrong direction, so it was lovely to be able to stop and visit with our good friend Ellen along the way. As a bonus, she gave Malcolm his first piano lesson on a real piano!

Malcolm in Bellevue, Part Deux

 Here are some more pictures from our recent trip to visit the grandparents.

We didn't even coordinate our outfits on purpose! One of those mysterious family occurrences, I guess. Malcolm is taking after his grandmother and closing his eyes in family photos, although this time Grandma actually kept hers open.

I guess Grandpa didn't get the memo about wearing blue.

Grandma Betty and her dog Chi Chi go down to this park at least once a week to walk. This morning it was cold enough that Chi Chi needed her jacket. Malcolm took the opportunity to catch up on his morning nap.

Malcolm gets to Skype with Grandma and Grandpa almost every day, so he recognized and remembered them this time and didn't act all shy. But they don't get to hold him over Skype, so they were very happy to have him around for a few days.

Grandma's owl made him laugh. 

Grandpa let his beard grown out (much to grandma's dismay) just so Malcolm could pull on it. Malcolm duly obliged, although he doesn't look too sure about it here.

Another new experience on this trip was sitting in a high chair at a restaurant. We've taken him out to eat before, but until now he always sat in someone's lap. To him, the best part was the mountain of napkins to shred. He kept me busy, picking up the confetti, making sure he didn't eat too large of pieces. He behaved very well - no shrieking.

He also got a stroller upgrade while at the grandparents' house - now he can finally see where he is going! We really needed a new stroller- he only tolerates the old one, and won't let us use it for walks. It is not really meant for anything more vigorous than a stroll around the grocery store or the mall anyway. And he is getting too heavy to carry in the snuggli on long walks. This is much better, and assuming he will allow himself to be held down for that long, should last until he is 4 or 5 (I doubt he will allow that - I certainly didn't!).