Maybe this baby is ok

I have a brand new nephew. It’s a pretty fun development in the family: first baby from my youngest brother and the last of all my siblings to become a parent. To be clear: I am not a baby person. Never was. This opinion became ironclad when my Kellen was a baby. I was unhappy with the whole baby situation pretty much always, unless Kellen was asleep, and then I could see why some people might like a baby. But that only lasted minutes…and then the kid was screaming nonstop once again. It was a rough, rough beginning. I had just moved from Vermont to California, was going through a divorce, had no family for 500 miles, and had started a new weather forecasting job and had to find 24 hour childcare to accommodate my bizarre work schedule… I remember that the first time Kellen slept six hours in a row, I marked it on my calendar. I was so relieved I cried. Kellen was two years old. How did I survive?

Recalling how much I hated my life when I was a new parent, with no family and only new friends nearby, I was determined not to let that happen to my brother. They are also in a new town with no family and only new friends nearby, and no friends with infants. I said to them, “Give me some dates! I’m coming for a week and I will be your servant.”

I prepared myself for misery but I was ready to sacrifice for my brother. Would you believe what happened? I fell in love with the baby. HOW did that happen?

Anyway, it’s a long drive to their town in Walla Walla, Washington. I do enjoy trips through the Columbia River Gorge, however, and I make the best of it. I like when I can stop for breakfast in The Dalles. This time I took photos of murals I saw in the city of The Dalles. Yes, it’s an awkward name. It’s not “Dallas” like the one in Texas. It’s The Dalles, pronounced like “pals.” And there is always a “The” at the beginning, as you can read in the banner on the light post.

The Gorge part of the drive is three hours of the four and a half hour trip (5 hours with a breakfast stop), and follows the mighty Columbia River, where the landscape eventually loses all its trees but not its grandeur.

I follow the river as it curves gracefully north, and I cross state boundaries from Oregon into southeast Washington state. At Wallula, I leave the river and head due East for Walla Walla. I made a planned stop at Wallula trailhead, but didn’t hike.

Somehow we had not communicated clearly the time of my arrival (I chalk it up to new baby), and my brother, Ian, let me know that they had been expecting an evening arrival, not midday, and they weren’t quite ready. So…it is Walla Walla wine country after all. I found a winery on a lake, and decided an afternoon wine tasting was a perfect way to use up some time.

I stopped at Waterbrook Winery. They were not doing tastings, but offered a flight, which is nearly the same thing. I enjoyed the sunshine and my last baby-free moments. They let me carry my glass with me when I left the dining area and I sipped while I walked the trails.

At long last, I went into town and met my teensy baby nephew for the first time. He celebrated his one month birthday while I was there. My brother and sister in law were so grateful to have me there for some time off to rest, but also because they both needed to work. Karen is a Naturopathic Doctor and had an important meeting to attend and needed baby completely away from the house so she could be fully present on the call. I took the little guy for a walk in the stroller. Ian needed to do some repair work on their car and wanted hours of baby-free time to get it done, once and for all. He also had gardening, laundry, and his Toyota parts business to run.

It took only the first day for them to tell me what they needed with their boy, and to watch me handle it, and by day two they were more than happy to hand him over and leave to do their own things. That young, he needed to eat every 2-3 hours, so there was a regular cycle and we took turns with Mom feeding him or us bottle feeding him. I learned all the systems of constant dish washing and constant burping and changing and cleaning up baby vomit. Mom got to take naps during the day because she has baby duty all night. Dad got to run to the store.

I worked, but also had time to hang out with their cats, and read a book, explore Ian’s amazing garden, and play with my nephew. I sang, told him stories, introduced black and white visual stimulation. I played for him some Bad Bunny, and I think he was mostly startled about that. It was necessary to do my duty as an Aunt though, and bring my musical taste into the equation. I’ll try some more reggaeton next time.

We all got confident, and decided to take baby out to his first winery.

It was fun to visit Echolands with these two because they are/used to be frequent visitors so they were recognized the moment they walked in. Our server said, “Hey! I haven’t seen you two for so long!” They gestured at the baby, “Well, here’s the reason.” An exception was made to allow my nephew inside, even though he is clearly younger than the legal drinking age. He was a doll and slept almost every moment we were there.

In fact, he was always a doll. I mean, within ranges of what’s reasonable for an infant. I realize the circumstances in which a baby is raised must have such an impact. This one happens to have two absolutely adoring, doting parents, and an Aunt Sis (that’s me). They’ve got a couple of people right in town who have already stepped up to help out, and others like me, who have traveled from far away to get to Walla to pitch in.

The big event at the end of the week was a wedding they wanted to attend without baby. We were into a good routine so that by the day of the wedding, everyone was confident that Aunt Sis could handle baby nephew as long as they wanted to be at the wedding. I think they were gone six hours? Whatever it was, the time flew by. Little guy and I went for another stroller walk, we listened to more Bad Bunny, we read stories, vomited and pooped and slept (him, not me). It was all good.

My time was up so fast and I had to go back home to my own family that I was missing. I’ve been reminding Karen and Ian ever since that I am prepared to do it again. Just give the word and I’m there. But I am NOT a baby person. Never have been. But maybe…maybe this one baby is ok.