I actually think it'd be really interesting to see the world
through Ellie's eyes. For her, every day
is still brand spanking new. She doesn't
have any expectation of what's going to happen.
She's not disappointed if anything special fails to occur. All that she expects out of each day is food,
a diaper change, and her naps. Oh, and
to see her mom at some point. That being
said, she tends to get really excited whenever something special or out of the
ordinary occurs.
For example, since today was such a wonderfully warm day, I
decided to take advantage of the situation and get us both outside for a
while. I personally have this belief
that Ellie does tend to get bored if she's stuck at home the entirety of the
day. I know that I do so why wouldn't
she. Stuck looking at the same set of
walls and the same toys every day would have to drain on her at least a little
bit. Anyway, after Ellie finished her
lunch, I decided to put her down for a nap around noon with the intention of
leaving the house once she woke up, hopefully sometime between 1:00 and
2:00. Luckily for me, Ellie woke up from
her nap around 12:40 and was ready to go.
As I strapped Ellie into her car seat, her eyes brightened and her smile
widened. She was more than excited to go
on a car trip; she was ecstatic. She
absolutely loves looking out the window and watching landmarks fly by as we
drive.
So, you may ask, "Where were you going on your
adventure?" That's easy. No one wants to be stuck inside on such a
great day so we headed to the Kansas City Zoo to make use of our new zoo
pass. Now Ellie had actually been to the
zoo once last year but she was so young that she couldn't really interact with
anything there. I was hopeful that she
would enjoy it more this time. Once we
parked, I opened the back seat only to be met by a huge smile from my
daughter. I then slipped on the baby
carrier, placed her against my chest facing outward, and headed into the zoo.
Ellie loves riding along in her carrier and being able to
gaze at the world around her. It doesn't
hurt that everyone we come across makes some kind of gesture at her, whether it
be a smile or a wave (or a "Big Red" chant at her Husker stocking
hat). Not the finger though (I realize
the negative connotation of the word 'gesture'). Since the weather had been erratic lately,
quite a few of the animals were not on display but let me be the first to tell
you that Ellie didn't mind. In fact, she
was much more excited to be outside than to look at anything.
Only two exhibits in particular made an impact on her. The first one being a bengal tiger. As it paced back and forth across its enclosure,
Ellie proceeded to dart her head back and forth to watch it go. She couldn't take her eyes off it. However, that could have had something to do
with me telling her that the tiger could polish her off in one bite. Not sure though. The second one that caught her gaze is
actually my favorite at the zoo as well; the penguins! She didn't get much out of the them on the
top level, but once we headed below to the underwater viewing area, she was
very engaged. Ellie even batted at the
glass every time a penguin came close.
Shortly after this, Ellie began to get tired of being carried around the
zoo, so we returned to the car and headed for home.
I know that I look forward to a lot more little excursions
like this one as Ellie continues to grow.
I know that there will come a time where things stop to hit her like
she's seeing them for the first time.
However, that will be cool too because then maybe she'll have favorite
things that she enjoys to see as well. And well, I'll have someone to perform the
"M-I-Z" chant in front of the tiger pen with me. It's less pathetic when it's not just one guy
standing there with his baby strapped to him.
At least that's what I imagine.
#DaddyWrite
No comments:
Post a Comment