Riley went on her first camping trip this weekend! We were up in Ashland for my 10 year high school reunion (yikes!) and spent a night up and Squaw Lake with a few people the following night. Riley had a pretty good time, despite having a bit of a cold. Here she’s sporting her Camp Out outfit from Houston and Taylor.

The trip gave us an opportunity to finally try out the backpack baby carrier thinger (the “Wanderer”) that Eagle hooked us up with for Riley’s baby shower. It’s great! She has more room to move around than in the Bjorn, and there are some loops we can hook her toys through so that she has something to play with.

Alas, in these trying times (3-6 weeks is a difficult time for babies), on occasion even the bouncey-bouncey doesn’t quite do the trick. I suppose we’ve been lucky that her most difficult period is typically in the evening (and not, say, the wee hours of the morning), but even so consoling a fussy Riley is a tiring process. Fortunately, we’ve discovered a new secret weapon!

It began with a recommendation from the baby book: using a hair dryer can help prevent diaper rash by getting her bottom dry before going back into a new daiper. It didn’t take long to notice that it did a great job of calming her down, too. These days, we don’t even have to blow the warm air on her (although sometimes that helps)—the noise alone works wonders when she’s just too hungry and worked up to start feeding.