Progression

It's Memorial weekend and we are packing for our annual trip to Sandestin. I've been going on this semi-business trip with Paul for the last nine summers...weird to think we've been together that long. I've progressed from girlfriend to fiance to wife to pregnant wife to mother of his child. He's progressed from wining and dining clients to being the client wined and dined.

Miriam's first trip here she was nearly 6 months old. I really remember it well. She was the happiest little thing (not little, really, she was chunkalicious and precious) in the water and in her stroller. We did take her out to the beach and she took to the sand WAY too quickly for me. I loved taking her to Baytowne and buying sassy bathing suits for her.


The next summer at 18 months, I couldn't keep her out of the baby pool. She STAYED in it and I stayed right there next to her making friends with all the other toddler moms who were confined to the most urine-filled part of the pool. I remember Paul and I being mortified at her behavior when we went out to eat. I remember having to constantly feed her into some kind of normalcy. There was no lingering meals, no 2nd glass of wine. I think I remember more than once asking for to-go boxes and the check as soon as the meal arrived to the table.

Last summer, at 2 1/2, things were different. She talked so much more and we were excited for her to sing songs to our vacation friends. She was jumping in the pool with floaties on...I stopped wearing eye make-up all together to the pool, I knew I was going under. Paul and I had progressed in calmer parents, or either she had just worn us down. Things she did at meals or in public didn't embarrass as much. We drank a lot more and that help make us more laid back. She made a friend last summer that I'm hopeful is there again...a little 12 year old whom Paul & I met on our 1st trip together, Addie. She was 2 at the time and I helped watch her for her mom and last year, Addie helped me with Miriam. Talk about progression.

Our ninth annual trip to Destin begins in the morning and my 3 1/2 year old is beyond excited. This year she will swim alone in the pool...with floaties on she is all over the pool. This year she will sleep in the bunk beds with no rails. This year she will play her imagination games on the beach while I can actually read a book. This year she will dazzle our vacation friends with her funny sayings and "all the single ladies" dancing.

...and this year, I've all ready scheduled a babysitter for 20 hours of the trip. Talk about progression!