A Weekend of Firsts

This weekend was such a blast!  My parents and younger brother, Thomas, came to visit.  We had been planning on running a 5k, but we found out strollers weren’t allowed on the course so we decided not to do it.  It had been my goal to get back up to 3 miles by this weekend so I could run the Sweetheart 5k with my sweetie.  I did get up to 3 miles, so I still reached my goal.  I was just a bit disappointed we didn’t get to run.  It makes sense since it’s a certified course and strollers can get in the way.  I just hadn’t thought about that since I’ve never run a race with a stroller before!

Getting a bottle from Uncie Tommy.

On Sunday some family friends came to visit and meet Carter.  All through high school and college I babysat 2 boys (B & B) over breaks (Christmas Break, Spring Break, Summer Break).  I’ve known them since Big B was maybe 6 months old and now he’s 12!!!  They definitely prepared me for the adventures of having a boy!  The disasters of potty training.  The difficulty of hitting the target when standing.  The endless fart jokes.

One time when I was babysitting and Big B was maybe 5 he said to me, Bit (that’s what they called me because they couldn’t say Elizabeth) you better get married and have babies soon so I can babysit your kids like you babysit me.  It was just so precious!  I couldn’t wait for him to meet Carter.  He was so sweet with him and even put him to sleep!

We have an amazing aquarium here and they wanted to go to the aquarium during their visit.  We decided to go to lunch at a restaurant near the aquarium and then head over.  We had never had Carter out for longer than a couple hours so I wasn’t sure how it would go, but he did awesome.  He really is such a sweet, easy going baby.  Totally gets it from his sweet, easy going daddy!

Carter "riding" an alligator statue at the aquarium entrance.

Carter fell asleep right when we got to the aquarium and slept most the time.  When he woke up I wanted to get him out of the stroller and hold him up by the tanks.  I thought he might look at the bigger fish or even just stare at the lights.  It was so much fun watching him look into the tank.  Who knows what he was really looking at, but I like to think he noticed the animals.  

Checking out the animals with grammy and grampy.  He seemed to like the jelly fish!

Watching Carter at the aquarium made me so happy.  I could picture him a bit older hands pressed against the glass staring in at the fish with wonder and amazement.  That’s what I love most about young children, their wonder.  Everything in the world is so new and fascinating.  They look at things completely differently than adults.   I know the why, why, why stage can be so frustrating, Little B and I once went for over an hour with him continuously asking why and me answering him the best I could.  That being said, I am really looking forward to Carter at that stage.  The best moments in my classroom are when my first and second graders ask really thoughtful questions and we get the chance to research and investigate them.  And, yes, I pictured all of that as my 2 month old son stared into a tank filled with marine animals with what I felt was the slightest furrow of his brow in curiosity.  

I was joking that this was Carter's "I just saw a shark" face!

Every moment and every first is so amazing and I know there are so many more to come.  Now that he’s smiling more, I’m really looking forward to his first laugh.  As much as I love him right now I know that it will only get better.  Children are always growing, always surprising, always throwing curve balls and I’m loving these moments and also looking forward to what is to come.  All of these precious firsts aren’t just firsts for Carter, they are firsts for us.    

Family photo at the aquarium!