2000 Miles, 6 New States, and the Letter "B"

At barely over 5 months old, our recent trip to Washington, DC, had a lot of new experiences to offer our little buddy, Holden. Bryna, Holden, and I headed out to DC last week for a conference I needed to attend for work in Baltimore, so the whole fam came along so we could all spend time with our friends in DC -- and so they could meet the little fella.

First, it was by far the longest trip of his life thus far, and the most time spent away from home yet. The 17 hour drive to DC and the 15-hour drive back were grueling, even for us adults (I'm still exhausted from the return trip yesterday). Holden got to visit 6 new states, quadrupling the number he has visited in the first 5 months of his life (those were Iowa and Missouri, and now we've added, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, West Virgina, Pennsylvania, and Maryland ... yeah, I know, these are not the most exciting states in the Union, but they count nonetheless). And in addition to the long trips to and from DC, we also spent 1 night in Columbus, OH, and 4 nights in DC (staying at 2 different places while there, too).

So how did the little guy sleep given all these miles and new places to visit? Well, I'd have to say that he's truly a ROCKSTAR!! Not only did he sleep in the car very well, but he slept perfectly at the hotel in Columbus (we stayed at an Embassy Suites so we had a separate space for him), he napped great every day in DC except the last day, and he slept pretty darn well each night in DC (sleeping through the night twice without waking up). He fussed some during 2 of the nights in DC, but one of those nights there were a bunch of people eating Thai food and hamburgers downtairs and the other night he was competing for attention with two 3-year-old girls in the room next to his (I think the girls won).

Overall, Holden had a great time visiting DC. He got to meet everyone there, and I think he especially liked meeting Zoe (our friends' 3-year old daughter). Holden got some hugs and kisses from Zoe (very cute!), who is expecting a little brother of her own very soon (so she had to practice her baby kisses). She got to hold "Baby Holden," as she referred to him, and make him giggle with some good old-fashioned "booga-booga" baby talk.

Oh, and on his last day in DC, Holden decided to begin working on the "B" sound, which he practiced all the way home. He ever got out several "Br" sounds, which makes us think he's working on "Bryna" as his first word ; )

While the trip was long, and a bit rough at times, it was well worth it! I hope we have opportunities in the future to bring Holden back to DC (and maybe actually go to the District to see the sights next time).