Babysitting redux

Alex and Emilie volunteered to babysit baby Miles tonight and Brandt and I offered to help. I don't know what I was thinking since I was such a lame babysitter to baby Dominic back in January...I guess I hoped to redeem myself.

I don't know if I can consider myself redeemed, but the babysitting went very well. Of course Emilie did all the work while I just watched. I'd like to think my presense was a calming influence on baby Miles, but he's a pretty chill dude to begin with.

This morning we had brunch at Alcove Cafe and I let Brandt eat some of my potatoes and he *loved* them. All this time I thought he wasn't into solids, but he's just not into bland solids. I feel so bad about the plain broccoli and tofu we ate the other day. I didn't enjoy eating it, yet I expected the mouse to. So we'll eat more interesting stuff going forward.

The drive down was good. It took 3:45 and included one quick bathroom and snack break in Barstow. The drive looked a bit different, though. The Rock-a-Hoda (which I now learn is really Rock-a-Hoola) water slides have disappeared which I find kinda sad. First the Nevada Landing casino in Jean closed down and now this. At least the "Crookest [sic] sheriff in the USA" homemade billboard on the other side of the freeway from Rock-a-Hoda is still there. And it looks like the CLOSED FOR REPAIRS rest areas have finally become a priority because parts of the old structures have been knocked down and construction equipment is parked next to mounds of dirt.

So, yeah, it was a pretty exciting ride. Actually, it was a pretty weird ride. For the first time ever, everyone had to stop at the agriculture check. I would have been mad about the brief stop waking up the baby, but the old man said, "Oh my gosh! I'm talking to Venus!" If only I'd been quick enough to say "Why thanks, Uranus!" back, but I'd been awake since 5:30 so I just smiled...and got a "Your sweet smile is the highlight of my day!" Weirdo.