Daddy’s log – paternity day 12

Daddy’s log – paternity day 12. Feeling overly ambitious, Lena definitely gurgled the words “wine country” when she woke up… so who was I to disappoint. With my very feminine diaper bag, Baby Bjorn, and 2 extra bottles of food (and Lena, of course), we set of into previously undiscovered baby country.  With a quick stop at Target first… where Lena helped pick out her first Mother’s Day gift. Or at least I think that’s what she did. I pointed and waited five seconds for some sort of a response from her. The most exuberant sound meant that she had chosen.  It may also have had something to do with the well-timed tickle of the bottom of Lena’s feet, but I’m sticking to my story. Anyway, Kim is now the proud owner of a new point-shoot pink Canon camera with a pink carrying case. Again, daddy looking very feminine.

After a quick stop at UC Davis to surprise Mommy, Lena and I set off on the 40-minute ride to Napa, during which we found out that, in Lena’s eyes, Talking Heads rocks but the Stones… not so much. While at the visitor center in downtown Napa, one thing became apparent to me… Dads with babies get a lot of attention from older women… like a ton. Perhaps it’s because I looked a bit overwhelmed with baby in the front while furiously studying a map trying to decide whether a winery or the petrified forest was in the cards. … Should also probably say that I had this great idea of using Lena as my living version of the travelocity gnome. … but as you’ll see things didn’t quite work out that way.

Then it hit me… there was one winery that I really remember going to in Napa, besides Pat Paulsen’s winery, which had a neat “Do-It-Yourself-American Gothic” scene for visitors. But I hear that one’s gone. Anyway, Chateau Montelena it was… although I couldn’t tell you if I remember the wine being good… and I didn’t have any this time around, so I still can’t tell you. But my parents bought me a shirt from there, so I was determined to get Lena a souvenir.

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Well, sadly, it turns out that Chateau Montelena does not have a line of winery baby clothes, so we settled for a trivet. But the woman at the tasting room was nice enough to give us some crackers to go feed the ducks. … … failing however to mention the hellspawn in the form of a white swan that also liked crackers. So Lena’s lesson of the day was a four-parter… 1) ducks = meh, okay; 2) swans = very bad; 3) daddy will run from waterfowl; and 4) baby bjorns are not designed for running. The day wasn’t all a disaster though… we did achieve milk drunk next to the lake at the winery and had quite a view.