Of fishes and futons

Thanks for the warm wishes. I’m feeling a bit better today. I just kept thinking about how time seems so much more precious with Noah. If Elisha and I went a year or two seeing each other it wasn’t that big of a deal – but thinking that the next time Noah sees Elisha he’ll probably be this walking, talking little man who doesn’t recognize his aunt made me sad. Anyway, such is life I guess.

But we had a really lovely time while Elisha was here. Tuesday morning her and my Dad came back into the city on the train. After Noah’s nap we went to the remodeled Adventure Aquarium. I had been to the aquarium before it was redone and I have to say it is greatly improved, though still no comparison to Baltimore’s aquarium. My one complaint is that the $17 admission price and $7 parking fee seem really exorbitant. That said – Noah LOVED the aquarium. He was in awe for almost the entire two hours we were there. Luckily the place was virtually empty so we had him next to the glass of every tank so he could chatter, point and gawk. I’ll have to take him again sometime soon. I hope he enjoys the zoo this weekend even a fraction as much - I’m worried that the crowds and the distance from the animals might make it a bit difficult to get him to focus at this age. We shall see.

After the aquarium we had a late lunch/early dinner and then headed back to the house. Noah went down for a nap and Dad, Elisha and I just chatted on the front stoop. Janette stopped by with baby Jules and was gracious enough to give my Dad a ride back to the train station. Mark, Elisha and I played with Noah for a couple of hours until bedtime and then Elisha and I headed out for a few drinks. We talked a lot about personal things – our pasts and our futures, and we both cried both happy and sad tears. Have I mentioned I miss her already?

Yesterday after we took Elisha to catch her bus the day was pretty uneventful. In the evening Mark, Noah and I went out to dinner with our newly engaged friends Jen and Mark. We saw Jen’s ring which (barring my own) is honestly the most cool and stunning engagement ring I have ever seen (and I’m not big on bling) and caught up on the engagement news and wedding plans. The diner was pretty empty so it wasn’t a big deal when Noah started chattering happily at full volume because he’s too young to understand “indoor voice” – or when he crawled the length of the restaurant before we left. He’s usually really good in restaurants for the most part unless you expect babies to be completely seen and not heard.

So I have to share Noah’s new passion. In our office we have a squat blue foam futon from Ikea that barely survived Mark’s college days. It’s old and dirty, but I put a throw over it so we have someplace to sit in the office other than desk chairs. Noah has learned how to haul himself up on this abomination by burying his head into the seat and hauling his feet onto it horizontally before sitting up. And the look of pride and accomplishment on his face when he sits on it is priceless. Of course in all his scrambling I can’t keep the throw on the futon so he’s cavorting on the dirtiest sofa in the history of man. Anyway, once up on the sofa he has to get down – so he’s taken to just throwing himself off in a very haphazard and dangerous manner. I catch him some of the time – but my track record isn’t perfect. I spent a good half hour this morning trying to teach him to lower himself down backward. Hopefully these lessons pay off soon because otherwise I can’t take two steps away from him and that futon without fear of him landing on his little arm and breaking it.