A Day at the Aquarium

I have wanted to take Evan to the Aquarium for a long time. He has always been infatuated with fish, and ever since he watched Finding Nemo he has been both excited and terrified of sharks - so much so that we have to skip the shark scenes in the movie. He loves Nemo and Dory though. So we finally visited the Aquarium last Saturday, and despite the $30 fee for parking it was well worth the trip. Of course, the fun began before we even arrived at the Aquarium, because we got to cross the Zakim Bridge! For those not in the know, the Zakim Bridge is Boston's newest and showiest bridge and Evan LOVES it. He usually talks about the bridge in unison with Val and Joe. It usually goes something like this: "Go Boston, see Zakim Bridge, see Val Joe." Crossing the bridge elicits screams of delight that make any trip worthwhile.

However, the real fun happened at the Aquarium, and it began the moment we arrived. While Daddy and Eli waited in a very long line to purchase our tickets Evan and I went to look at the harbor seals in their large outdoor tank (pictured here). At first he was a little afraid but once he understood that the seals were behind the glass and wouldn't hurt him - he couldn't get enough. We watched them swim and frolic "lundel laddel" - (that means "under water" in Evan speak) - and then when the seals would surface we would quickly jump up to look at their whiskered faces. Evan was screaming with delight as I dutifully practiced "Catholic Calisthenics" kneeling, standing, kneeling standing, until my legs began to shake. This went on and on, even after Daddy came back with the tickets. After a minor tantrum, we convinced Evan that their were cooler things to see inside and he reluctantly followed. But once inside, forget about the seals, there were penguins!! And Fish! And Turtles! And SHARKS!! We also got to touch a star fish, and a hermit crab - just like in the book "A House for Hermit Crab.

The sharks brought on waves of terror. Evan would clutch me, bury his head and say "I scared a shark". Yet as soon as the shark swam out of view he would ask "where the shark go?" After a while the fear dissipated and the sharks all had names like "Sid", "Sherman", and my personal favorite "Mommy's cereal".

The penguins were a perennial favorite throughout the day. You can look down and see the penguins from almost anywhere in the Aquarium and Evan took every opportunity to do just that. He also astutely observed that the penguins were "flying" under the water.

But according to Evan his favorite thing was seeing "Nemo" and "Dory" (pictured below) in the tropical reef tank. Although by this time he was tired (it was well past nap time) and hot, but very excited none-the-less to see his friends.

Eli the tank

Eli had his 2 month check-up on Friday. He weighed in at 13 lbs. 13 oz and he is 24.5 inches long. I have a feeling that one day in the future Eli will be the bigger brother. The days of Evan's dominance maybe numbered...

It goes without saying that he is a sturdy baby. He has what we call "fat sleeves" (the fat on his arms creates a line at his wrists resembling the sleeve of a shirt), rolls on his legs, and dimples mark his elbows. In addition to being rotund, he is also very strong and can hold his head up for extended periods of time. He is a very happy baby. He smiles and coos and waves his arms in apparent joy. He always responds to Evan with a big smile. Evan for his part loves to talk to Eli and is mostly gentle - sometimes he likes to kiss a bit too hard. Evan seems to genuinely like Eli actually, and asks to hold him nearly everyday. So I prop Eli up beside him on the couch and then take the opportunity to try like crazy to get a decent picture. Which is much harder than it seems. Evan is a blur of constant motion (as you all know) and has lately taken to making strange faces for the camera. Eli is pretty easy, but occasionally loses his patience with the whole ordeal.

Eli has thankfully become a very good sleeper (knock on wood), and will sleep a six hour stretch at night and then sleep for four more hours. I am still exhausted though... We like to call Eli the "Nap Inhibitor". The name says it all, it doesn't matter what time of day I try to lay down - that will be the precise time that Eli wants to be fed, then changed, then carried, then fed again. My theory is that the silence of Evan sleeping keeps him awake. Since Evan fills our house with a non-stop symphony of loud noises, all of which Eli will sleep through, the silence must be deafening for the little guy. I am hoping that someday in the near future both boys will decide to nap at the same time.

Who ever told me that two boys was more than twice the work was right. I like to think that things will get easier when Eli isn't eating every two hours, but by then I'm sure there will be other exciting challenges.