Escaping Nevada and Starting Solids

Karen and Leah have been back in Provo for a few weeks, but I drove back a week ago. I had hoped to make the drive in one long day, but when the GPS suggested switching to pedestrian mode, I started to realize that I might have to split the drive in half.  Spending the night in Nevada is not appealing to me. I once considered staying a night in Reno, but realized how trashy it was after reading a number of hotel reviews. One customer would complain that it was too long a walk from their room to the slot machines, and another would note the lovely plastic palm trees in the bedroom but lament the lack of an ashtray. So Karen found a hotel for me in Elko, which turns out to be the classiest city in Nevada. The hotel may have had a chandelier of antlers, but at least it didn't have any slot machines. I should also mention that I got my first speeding ticket, and you should all be proud of me for repressing the urge to ask the police officer how exciting it must be to live in such an adventurous-sounding place as Battle Mountain.

Leah is five months old, and she has started showing an interest in real food. We decided to gauge her interest by giving her a few token spoonfuls of rice cereal mixed with milk:

She seemed to enjoy both the food and her shiny spoon:

A few days later, we bought a booster seat and gave her a full meal. As shown by the photographic evidence, she was intrigued but had no mastery of any of the basic skills required:

For more pictures of Leah's enthusiastic but amateurish introduction to solids, see our Fall 2010 album.