Sea World with the Fords

Dear Jack,

You had so much fun today! We went to Sea World with our friends, the Fords.

You got to see the dolphins, which I know you liked.

But mostly, I think your favorite part was the aquarium.

You walked around that aquarium, in and out of groups of people, ignoring all of them, just looking at the fish. You kept trying to say "fish" all day long and mostly I think you got somewhat close. Normally you are such a mama's boy, staying close by me, but today you had fish and weren't concerned about my presence at all.

I have no idea how long you could have stayed in that aquarium. We left after about twenty or thirty minutes and you cried and cried and cried at having to leave.

After a stroller nap, a trip through the penguin exhibit, and a nice lunch, you recovered somewhat and were ready for the water park.

You played for a little while, but then it was obvious that your stroller nap was not enough and you were ready for another rest. Your dad got me and you settled on an inner tube on the lazy river and for five full circuits of that river, you slept on me. I have mentioned before, both the time with you at Schiltterbaun and back when we came to Sea World with your sister two years ago, that riding on an inner tube, holding a sleeping baby is pure joy to me. I was a little melancholy about it today, though, because I was fairly sure that this was my last time to get to do that. By next summer, you will be two and probably won't need a nap badly enough to sleep through all that noise and sprays of water.

So I just tried to enjoy every second of the ride.

After your nap, we returned to the two exhibits that you and your sister loved most, the dolphins and the aquarium.

The fish were just as enthralling this time as they had been in the morning.

I love this age for you. The contrast between your growing independence, walking away from me in a crowd to go after what you want, and your still baby-ness in the way you snuggle when you are sleepy is so perfect to me.

I want to freeze time for you right here, but then I'm afraid I will miss the excitement that tomorrow promises.

After all, there was a lot about last summer, with you in the water sling, sleeping on me as I walked around with your sister that I miss and wish I could go back to, but then I wouldn't be able to share the joy of the aquarium with you.

And I wouldn't want to miss that at all.

Love,
Mom