Eli and the Winds of Change

The next two weeks Eli, Shelby, and I are taking an ambitious trip to Seattle and Sao Paulo. I'm writing this from Seattle, where we've been since yesterday morning. Eli was surprisingly quiet on the plane. He didn't howl at all, though he clearly grew impatient at the confinement in the last two hours. The days of carrying him on our lap are probably drawing to an end, but it is hard to justify spending a lot of money out of pocket to take him on business trips. We made it to Seattle and our hotel by noontime. Lunch at the Pike Place Market was followed by a rejuvenating nap. We visited our friends Renee and Eric, as well as their daughter Mia, after Eli's (and dad's) nap. They live about 20 minutes from our hotel, so it is a fairly easy cab ride. We spent the afternoon watching Eli and Mia play together. Eli really liked some of Mia's toys, as well as their dog Lucy. We all ate pizza together for dinner and then returned to the hotel for the night. Eli has a pack-and-play in the room, but it isn't the most comfortable crib he's slept in. He was restless, waking a few times during the night. Eventually he curled up with us and rested until about 6AM.

After he woke up, Shelby and I took turns exercising in the hotel gym. We had breakfast with our friend Esper. We converted the leisure seating at Starbucks into a baby picnic area. A good time was had by all. We then went back to Renee's house and spent the day with her and Mia. Eli took a nice nap in the car and continued to sleep once we arrived at Renee's house. He woke up by 11. Together, we went to Gymboree and enjoyed a toddler music class. Eli is a natural percussionist. We returned to Renee's house and had a 'silly lunch' of french toast. We spent the afternoon at the Seattle aquarium where Eli and Mia had a great time watching the fish and seeing the exhibits. Each time Eli goes to a museum he gets more engaged.

Eli and mom took a good nap after the aquarium while I checked email. Everyone was woken up at 5:30 to have dinner with Esper. A comfortable meal at Cheesecake Factory provided a nice cap on a fun day.

Also, I had to have to Grand Hyatt fix a 'baby chute' in our 17th floor room. A baby-sized, open-able window at toddler eye level is just a touch dangerous. They have now engineered a very sophisticated lock on the window, so we are happy. But I was incredulous about this window earlier in the day.

Tomorrow will be a busy day. Eli will be staying with Mia and Renee's nanny. We'll bring her over in the morning, come back to meetings (both Shelby's meeting and one I have in another building), and then pick up Eli in the afternoon. It is very nice having good friends in the area who we get to see on trips like this one...Renee and her family are being overly generous to us, but we are incredibly grateful for their hospitality.

More to follow as we experience Seattle and prepare for a week in Brazil.