Kai is six months old today. It is a trip to consider that he has been a part of our lives for over a year, if you include the pregnancy. Katie and I are coming up on one year in this home. Profound changes in the past year for Kai, Katie, and myself. Kai is currently sleeping after a restless morning. Funny how a little change in schedule can throw things off the way they do. Kai is a ray of light. Restless or not, his disposition is really mellow and cool. He greets us with big smiles in the mornings and seems to take everything a day offers with cool acceptance. He is becoming more and more aware of the world, growing stronger, and curious about everything. Six months on the outside will do that to a baby.
Seeing Lily, Josie, and Silas - and his friends in the valley - grow alongside of Kai fills me with wonder. So many people talk about how quickly it all happens. Knowing Josie is already two is crazy. All the profound changes are not my family's alone. The families of those I know best are blossoming on either coast. Gathering the tribe in VT is going to be an amazing adventure. Who is napping when and what will the wake and sleep schedules be like? Boys and girls, moms and dads, nights and days...we are in for an adventure for sure.
Yesterday Katie and I went to Hartman Rocks in
Gunnison for our first mountain bike ride of the year. It was a good exercise in staying true to our lifestyle. Kai woke from a snooze in his car seat when we arrived at the parking lot. As Katie got geared up and left to ride, I fed Kai. He was fascinated by the
dirt bikes and dogs as much as eating. We went into town for some
errands while Katie rode. I picked up some new tires for my bike and put them on while Kai overlooked from the pack on my back. He was squeaking and cooing and very interested in the process. When Katie arrived we changed out the pack and she resumed responsibility for Kai and more errands in town while I rode. Climbing up into the ignacious ring dyke for the first time this season filled me with the familiar curiosity about my physical condition. Would my lungs burn, would my hip hold up, would the saddle feel like sitting on hot coals?
I rode the first half hour without stopping. After that I needed to straighten out my back. I was relieved, in an awkward way, to suffer back pain but no hip issues. The back pain is something I always deal with unless I stretch (which I didn't) and/or do core strengthening exercises (nope). Dealing with my hip has been a brutal reminder of my vulnerability and the fact that I have been incredibly fortunate to have had good health my whole life. As I spun through the sage and rock, climbing and descending, soaking in the vistas, I was filled with the goodness of everything. For two hours I felt the rhythm of a good ride in the high mountain desert. Grateful for Katie and Kai, a body that still pushes, and a cool and beautiful spring day.
As I rode back towards the parking lot I got a call from Katie that she was still running errands in town and would not make our rendezvous on time. I was tired and losing steam and Katie's call annoyed me. I pedalled the road miles into town rather than posting up to wait for a pick up. As I entered town and started poking down the back alleys through the industrial area in town, all negativity was lost to my magnetism to industrial refuse - all things rusted and static, beyond their time. I took photos and daydreamed. Funny how easy it is for me to fall into an emotional trap when I am whooped on. Glad that I am easily drawn from my malaise by a world full of eye candy.
Katie, Kai and I met back up in town. Having a couple days off of work with nothing to do but hang with the peeps is the best. I love having Katie and Kai sharing my orbit. Kai is six months old. He is a perfect fit in our world, a part of the gravity that keeps us functioning.
