Travel crib troubles, Opa and more

It's Friday morning. We got back from Pittsburgh on Thursday afternoon. And it looks like Nathaniel was just being cranky because everything was so different -- especially his sleeping arrangements.

In Pittsburgh, he'd been sleeping in the travel crib. It was big enough to fit him, but he pretty much came in contact with one of its mesh walls every time he rolled over. As a result, he'd wake up and wonder what the heck was going one. Result: Lots of crying, little sleeping.

We were unsure whether this was the return of an ear infection, teething, some other sickness or just irritability based on everything being out of whack.

Looks like it was the last of those. It's now 7:08 a.m., and Nathaniel is sleeping like a baby is supposed to sleep. He went to bed in his more spacious and comfortable crib about 8:30 p.m. My recollection is he woke up at around 2 a.m. briefly (Amanda gave him a binky and he was back out) and again at 6 a.m. (I gave him a binky and he was out again).

We're glad to see he's doing OK, although this makes overnight trips a real question for the near future. That will be something to figure out, I guess.

Pittsburgh was a good visit, other than Nathaniel's fussiness. We got to visit some pre-college friends as well as some college friends. Unfortunately, all the visits were abbreviated versions of what we usually have because we're on Nathaniel time. It was still great to see everyone. Nathaniel got to meet his screaming cousins along with uncles and aunts -- and visit again with his Oma (his grandmother on my side ... that name's origin is described long ago in this blog). And Oma watched over Nathaniel one day, allowing Amanda and I to have a nice lunch at a great little restaurant and wander around a part of Pittsburgh that's apparently gone through some reworking since I moved out (we went to Mallorca, continental Spanish cuisine, and wandered in the South Side ... I recommend both to anyone visiting Pittsburgh, as per those commercials from Pa. Gov. Ed Rendell).

On the downside, Wednesday was the second anniversary of my father's very unexpected death. It's sad Nathaniel will never get to meet him or know him. My father definitely loved his grandkids. He quite often was one of the main reasons they were screaming so much.
And he had this habit of just leading off most of the grandkids to a local park near the house in Pittsburgh. Only the park wasn't really that local (a 15 minute walk including hills can be tough on a young child) ... and the parents didn't often realize he'd whisked them off immediately, leading to a traditional eye roll and nervous wait for their return.
Then he'd sometimes do things like the one return with the kids carrying a cat. The cat obviously belonged to someone ... not to mention I'm very allergic. But my dad was quite pleased with the find because the grandkids were so happy about it.
I'm sorry Nathaniel won't get to be part of that kind of mayhem. But just like I see more of my dad in me as time goes on, I'm sure I'll see "Opa's" effects on Nathaniel eventually as well.