Colorado Family Vacation

Last week we spent three nights in Colorado.  We rented a little cabin between Lyons and Allenspark (about 1.5 hour northwest of Denver and 45 minutes south of Estes Park).  The best part of the cabin was that it backed up to a little river which was pretty relaxing to sit out next to.

 

 

The first full day we were there we hiked the Ouzel Falls trail which started at the Wild Basin trailhead.  It was about 4.5 miles roundtrip.  It started at an 8500 foot elevation and had a 870 feet gain through the hike. 

 

Here's us getting ready for the hike.  Matilda spent the hikes in our new hiking kid carrier.  She really likes being in it.

 

The weather wasn't nearly as cold as we expected.  We expected lows in the 40s and highs in the mid-60s, but when we got to Denver it was 85.

 

The hike was pretty nice.  Not too steep.  Mostly winded through the forest, with a few nice river and waterfall views along the way.

 

The couple hiking behind us told us that the waterfalls are much more impressive in the spring, but I still thought they were pretty nice.

 

We took a nice break when we got to Ouzel Falls.  We let Matilda stretch her legs (since circulation isn't great in the carrier) and ate our snacks.  The dang ground squirrels kept trying to steal all of our food. 



 

 

Can you see Jason in the second picture above?  Matilda thought it was hilarious seeing him up so high and kept yelling "Daddy!"

 

 

To our surprise, Matilda fell asleep on the hike back out.  We knew we'd be hiking during her naptime, but she never just falls asleep when we are out.  We figured the sound of the river must have reminded her of her sound machine and just soothed her to sleep. 



Matilda hiked the last 1/10th mile or so by herself.  Since she got a decent nap in, we headed to Estes Park for a couple hours to just hang out.  The town is pretty touristy and crowded, so we didn't stay long.  We were surprised by how many elk we saw in town though!  We saw several different herds.

 

The next day we hiked the Emerald Lake trail and the Alberta Falls trail.  Both trails started at the Bear Lake trailhead which was at about a 9500 foot elevation.  Our total mileage for the day was about 5.2 miles with about a 650 foot elevation gain.

 

When we headed to the trailhead, we accidentally took the wrong park entrance much more north than we had planned, so we had to wind an extra 30 minutes through the park to get to where we meant to go in the first place.

It was incredibly windy for the first half of our hike.  The Emerald Lake trail passes by three different lakes, and the second lake looked more like a river because the wind was causing so many waves.

 

When we got to Emerald Lake, we tried to rest for a bit behind a big boulder that semi-blocked the wind for us.  Matilda wasn't real happy at this point.  At first we couldn't figure out if it was because of the wind or because she was really tired, but we finally realized that the new socks I had bought her were cutting off her circulation and her feet must have fallen asleep.  Once we rolled them down and she was able to walk around a bit, she was much happier.

We then hiked back out and to Alberta Falls. Matilda fell asleep again in the carrier, so she was in a pretty good mood once we got to the falls.  We rested for a bit there as well.  Matilda had fun gathering rocks and eating her goldfish.

 

Overall, it was a really good trip.  We had a couple of hiccups along the way (like missing our first plane and Matilda getting carsick in the mountains), but I'm glad we got away for awhile.  Matilda loves being outside, so that kept her happy most of the trip.  I also think this vacation was easier/ more enjoyable than our Maine/ Boston trip because we had a better idea of what traveling with a baby/ toddler was like. 

Eighteen Months Old

Stats: At her 18 month appointment, Matilda weighed 18 pounds 15 ounces (7th percentile).  While she only gained 6 ounces during the past 3 months, the doctor said not to stress over it.  She's still on the growth charts (barely), so we'll just continue to try to get her to eat as much as we can.  

 

 

She wears 18 month clothes, and probably won't be in 2T until her 2nd birthday.  She got her first pair of shoes a few months back and loves them!  She's actually on her second pair of shoes now and has moved from a size 3.5 to 4 (still tiny!)

 

She got her first molar on her 18 month birthday (see sad teething pictures at the end of this post), so she's up to 9 teeth now.

 

Sleep: She still takes two naps most days.  Every once in awhile, she'll only take one nap, so I think we're pretty close to transitioning to one nap full time.  

She still sleeps in her Zipadee-Zip sleep sack.  It's become her comfort item, and she often wants to keep it on for a bit when she wakes up.  The little hand coverings are worn nearly full through.  We've bought a new style of sleep sack that has open hands and feet, but she's still pretty attached to her original sleep sack, so we'll see when we can get her transitioned into the new one.

She goes to bed at 7 pm and usually wakes up for the day between 6-6:30 am.  She usually wakes up a couple of times a night (around 10 pm and 5 am).  I usually have to go back in at the 5 am wakeup to get her back to sleep, but sometimes she go all night without us having to go in there. 

 

Eat: Pretty much the same.  Still loves fruit and vegetables, followed by noodles, rice, and eggs.  Won't eat much meat.  She also likes beans and edamame.  Oh, she loves ketchup, so probably once a week she eats ketchup with a side of fries. 

 

She went through a phase about a month ago where all she wanted was steamed carrots.  She ate them for pretty much every meal!  Ha. 

 

Snacks are usually fruit, string cheese, dry cereal, goldfish, raisins, or apple sauce.  She's also obsessed with popsicles and will go to the freezer multiple times a day whining/ crying for us to get her one.

She drinks water, a ounce or two of milk, and a yogurt smoothie most days.  Sometimes she'll drink Pediasure too.

Play/ Milestones: This is such a fun age!  As far as gross motor skills, she walks great (even backwards), twirls in circles, likes to creep/ sneak, and practices up/ down.  She likes wresting with Jason.  Oh, and she's learned to hold hands with us, which is cute and helpful when we're out and about. 

Her favorite thing to do is to be outside.  It's been a hot summer, but we still managed to get out fairly often (especially in the evenings).  

My mom recently asked what her favorite toy was.  I was almost at a loss for an answer, because lately she mostly just wants to collect and play with rocks and acorns. 

 

One week when Jason's mom was in town, she, Jason, Jared, and Matilda went to the beach.  It was her first time, so she wasn't quite sure about it.  Jason said she had more fun in the showers cleaning the sand off, than she had the rest of the time.

Matilda's language has exploded the past couple of weeks.  She says Mama, Daddy, eat, bath, night-night, nap, cheese, water (although it sounds more like aw-er), diaper, poop, toot, burp, dog, kitty, baby, bubbles, tractor, book, ball, hi, bye, no, uh-oh, whoops, pop, and a handful of other words I'm forgetting at the moment.



She can point at most of her body parts and is getting pretty good at identifying objects in her picture books.  

 

 

She loves books and she and Jason go to the library every week or two to pick out new books.

They also go to music class once a week which Matilda enjoys.

Fall festivals start up this month, which I always enjoy.  Matilda and I went to the one at Buchanan's Native Plants.  She enjoyed playing in the rocks (as always) and she liked listening to the live music. 

Hip Dysplasia/ Leg Update: No news here.  Still in the brace at night, and will get x-rays in December to check the progress.

 

(Below are the sad teething pictures from her 18 month birthday... poor thing.  At least she got a popsicle!)