Celebrations, Fun and Bad Parent Moments #623-625

Let's start with the fun stuff. We celebrated our Family Day with Minnow by going to eat at a new Ethiopian restaurant in our area. I have to say that I was impressed with the food and the decor. The service was not the best, but actually very comparable to what we received when in Ethiopia--so really no complaints. We had Doro Tibs, Key Wat and Shiro Wat. All of which were delicious. Bad Parent Moment #624--I forgot to order something not spicy for little Minnow. He was happy eating the injera with a little bit of the Doro tibs that we sucked dry of spice. The restaurant--Selam--was very cozy and inviting. It was full of Ethiopians--well not full but there were a group of young men eating and a couple out side who were all Ethiopian. They loved little Minnow--he being 16 months old was a little shy when they wanted to hold him but he was giving our high fives and smiles. The owners--a young engaged Ethiopian couple--have a coffee ceremony set up. We are hoping to experience one next time we go.

Today we went to the City Museum. It is absolutely the most amazing "museum" I have ever been to. I cannot wait until Minnow is a little older so that he can really take advantage of everything that it has to offer. He tried today but, he is little and it is a big place. It isn't cheap--cost $18 dollars for me (this included the aquarium) but Minnow was free so that was nice. It is an interactive and hands on place with lots of slides, climbing, etc. Minnow was having a great time. He especially loved driving the glass bottom boat and looking at the fish. Bad Parent Moment #625--Minnow was driving the boat and Mommy wanted to go check out some more of the neat stuff. Mommy took Minnow off the boat. Minnow screamed as though I was poking him in the eye with sharp sticks. I did then let him splash in the water of one of the touch/feel fish tanks and let him touch a sting ray. He still wanted to go back to the boat...We didn't.

All in all this whole parenting thing is pretty awesome. I love watching Minnow grow and it is still hard to believe how far he has come in a year and how much he has changed. It is amazing and I am looking forward to adding to our family. We are 2 months into our approx 7 month referral wait. It is much easier this time. So much easier. I am still excited to "meet" our baby girl but I am surprisingly calm with the whole waiting thing. I loving being Minnow's mom.

Bad Parent Moment #623--This morning Minnow was watching SpongeBob and I thought it was the perfect moment to go the the bathroom and get more coffee. I was making my latte and thought to myself Boy he is sure being quiet. It must be a really good episode. So I peak around the corner as I like to early on hone my spying skills. He wasn't there. A quick moment of mom panic. I looked in our bedroom--no Minnow. I looked over to the stairs and the gate wasn't closed. Remind me to scalp hubby for forgetting to close it. I run upstairs and there in Minnow in his room reading a SpongeBob book. I grab him and hug him and he just laughs as though deep down behind that really cute and sweet smile, he knows he scared the shit out of me and that he isn't suppose to go up the stairs. What was I saying about loving being a mom??? It gave me a fleeting glance at what the future holds as our little minnow grows up. Watch out girls...