6 MONTH OLD IN BANFF

Ryder turned 6 months old, Sept.20. The day itself was marked with a trip to the Public Health Nurse for his 6 month vaccinations. He weighed in at 20.14 lbs and measured 70cm. Despite my nervous anticipation, the vaccination happened without incident. It was only one shot this time instead of three and he didn't even cry. Then, because I was sooo brave, we stopped at Starbucks for a Skinny Vanilla Latte!

The next day, we had to go to the Children's Hospital as we had to see a physiotherapist for Ryder's Tortacollis. (Basically, he has a stiff neck.) This was a follow up appointment that led to a phone call with the "Head Shape Clinic." We will head to the "Head Shape Clinic" in October to see if Ryder needs to wear one of those plastic helmets to shape his head. He has a little bit of a flat spot and though Marty and I are not really worried about it, the docs and nurses around us seem to be a little concerned...we'll see what comes of his little assessment in October.

Friday, was unseasonably beautiful here in Alberta so after a morning of hanging out in the yard, we decided as a family, not to let this sunshine go to waste! We packed up the holiday trailer and headed out for one last camping adventure this summer. We hadn't really intended on stopping in Banff (the park is only an hour from our house) but the allure of the mountains, the short drive and the huge campground drew us in. It's funny, Banff is a World famous National Park, but we live so close that we NEVER camp there. Sure, we have a park pass and we hike there, we snowboard there, we go there for New years and for the occasional Stag or Staggette, but we never camp there. This weekend, we decided to. We stayed at Tunnel Mountain, a HUGE campground with all kinds of bike and hike paths, large sites and FREE fire wood!!

We set up camp, Friday evening and realized with horror that in our spontaneous haste to leave the house, we had forgotten to pack Ryder's Jolly Jumper!!!! Ryder had spent our entire 18 day road trip in August, jumping near oceans, in forests, and lake and poolside, but he wasn't going to get to "jump" in Banff! Instead we tried to come up with other fun things to do besides eating pine needles and dirt...reading wasn't as much fun, but it grew on him! :)

Saturday morning was crisp! I had bought Ryder and new tuque. He rocked it!

Once we were all properly dressed for the crisp morning, we headed out on one of the trails in the campground so Scout could pee...apparently, Marty had to pee too.....

We came across a wood pile, a cute backdrop for capturing my favorite smile!

Once the sun came out, and we had eaten a hardy campers breakfast, we headed to the base of Sulphur Mountain. There is a steep, switchback hike under the Gondola that we had decided would be the site of our adventure for the day. This was going to be Ryder's first big hike in the Baby Back pack I bought at a garage sale last weekend. Though we agreed to take turns, Marty wore the back pack all the way to the top. We stopped only once to feed Ryder and secretly, I think we were all glad for the short break. All of us except Scout. She had to be on leash and we were clearly slowing her down!!! Ryder "talked" alot on the way up, he looked around, he chewed on the toys attached to the back pack, but he did not sleep. He was not going to miss one minute of this adventure!!!

It was super windy at the top, but it was a welcome warm wind and we sat on a bench near the look out, enjoying the view we had earned.

Ryder has just begun eating SOME solid food, mostly cereal and so far only in the mornings, but he is definately interested in anything we eat. Enjoying snacks has become challenging as Ryder is determined to grab anything we are eating. The snacks at the top of this mountain were just as tempting to the little guy ever. Other than the fudgesicle Marty let him suck on and the animal crackers I let him taste, our apples were his favorite thing to drool all over.

We rode the Gondola down the mountain, which was a big "first" for both Ryder and Scout.

The rest of the day, we spent relaxing. I even got to sit in my lawnchair and read my book. I would have read a lot more of it too, had Ryder wanted to nap, but there was not one minute of this day he wanted to miss...that or, the big Starbucks I enjoyed after our hike, had enough caffeine to keep both he and I alert for the rest of the day.....LOL

We ended the evening with a trip into Banff for ice cream and a big fire in the fire pit!

Sunday, we packed up and headed home. We had a big date planned for 6pm, Ryder's first NHL hockey game. (I will write another post about that.)