A hike in Maryland
Today, we took a trip up to Catoctin Mountin Park in Maryland. It was supposed to rain in the morning, but we experienced one of the best days of the spring so far - sunny and warm, but with a nice breeze that kept us cool. While the hike was nice, the main issue was Margaret's gastrointestinal distress. After getting to the park, we went to the visitor's center where, as I was carrying her to get a map of the park, Margaret vomited. I didn't even notice since I was holding her in her preferred face-out position (lucky for me), but Abby said, "Mark, she just threw up!" As I apologized profusely to the National Forest Service staff at the center (she managed to puke in a pretty convenient spot, right in the middle of a clear floor), she spewed again (which has taught us an important lesson - always beware of a second occurrence of something like spontaneous vomiting.) We ran to the bathroom to avoid messing up the floor even more and to clean up the kid. Not sure what was up with her, we debated whether we should actually bother with a hike. It would've been a shame to drive for an hour without seeing anything, but if I stuck her in the backpack (our new mode of carrying her), there was the clear risk that her next target could be the back of my head. In the end, we decided to take the risk. Margaret slept for most of the hike and ended up sleeping for much of the day. Those sleep patterns, along with her lack of appetite, clearly indicated that something wasn't quite right with her, especially because she became a very cuddly baby, whimpering on my shoulder as I held her when she wasn't in the backpack or carseat. In general, Margaret is busy baby, not a cuddly baby, so that type of behavior indicates a problem. By the time we got home after another marathon sleep session, however, she appeared to be feeling better, but we'll see whether she's feeling ok tomorrow.
Beyond the trauma of baby barfing, one thing that this trip has made me think about is the difference in my outdoor adventures pre- and post-Margaret. Before her arrival, some combination of my brothers (Dan and Steve) and I took backpacking trips every year from 1995 to 2005. We hit the Smoky Mountains in Tennessee, the Wind River Range in Wyoming, and the Beartooth Mountains in Montana, among other places including the trip to the Cascades with Dan in 2005 pictured below. But since Margaret's birth, we haven't made such a trip, and I'm not sure whether any will happen anytime in the foreseeable future. Abby's trip to Costa Rica notwithstanding, kids really mess with your freedom.
