Big Girl Day

Today was Big Girl Day! Brad and I took Carolyn to the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago all by herself, just to give her some extra love and attention just for her. She has done such a great job of adjusting to being a big sister and learning to share the attention that we felt a day just about her would be fun and good for her. Auntie Michelle watched Nora, who enjoyed a morning of endless snuggling. :) 

Carolyn was totally fascinated with all the underwater creatures. She saw sharks, sting rays, and lots and lots of fish! I wish I could capture how truly delighted she was. She was just jumping up and down and practically running from exhibit to exhibit. 

It was pretty different from the last time she was here- at three months old when we went with Aunt Michelle! :) Who does she look like here? Still can't believe how similar they look...

They have a new children's play area at the Shedd. I wish we could have spent more time here before Carolyn got too hungry and it got too crowded, but it was awesome! The kids can play with pretend tidepools and even touch real starfish (though the water temperature the starfish like is a bit chilly and Carolyn declined to reach in far enough to touch them). The whole thing is down underneath the oceanarium where you can see the dolphins and belugas swimming around. 

There are also very nice penguins (much better than the Stinky Penguins at the Grand Rapids zoo). I could have spent a long time there! I've always loved penguins.

As it was intended to be a day all about Carolyn, I brought M&Ms and pretzels for her to enjoy. :) If I did this again, we would certainly bring lunch because the $23 I had to spend really wasn't worth it for what I got! But oh well, live and learn.

Here's the Big Girl with Mommy and Daddy. This is at the dolphin training exhibition... shortly before we had to make a quick exit because someone had gotten a bit bored with all the talking and decided to kick the person in front of us repeatedly (in fact, the person who kindly took this picture, before he got kicked!) This was kind of the low point of the day... but fortunately, it passed quickly without the need for major discipline. :)

It's hard to say what Carolyn's favorite part was- I think it would have to be a 3-way tie between watching the dolphins underwater, seeing the sharks, and seeing the many "Nemos" in the reef exhibit. Flashes aren't allowed in the shark area, so we got a bunch of weird pictures like this. :)

Here Carolyn has discovered not one, but several "Nemos" and she was just so excited!!

I wish I had realized earlier how nice the pictures our camera took of the actual animals and plants would be. I loved the look of this swishy plant thing; it waved around so prettily in the water.

All the excitement wore us all out! I would gladly have joined Carolyn in conking out in the car if I could have- and we all got a nap when we got back to Shell and Bry's. 

All in all, a great day of fun. I could not be more grateful to be a family of four, but there are times when it's hard to feel like I'm doing a good job meeting the needs of both girls who are at such different stages. It was fun just for a few hours to just focus on one girl; and I think it made Carolyn feel really special- and I know there have been a lot of moments when she has probably felt a little "demoted" from her former one-and-only child status (though of course she couldn't tell me that in words). In fact, lately, I have felt so frustrated with Carolyn so much more of the time than I used to- it was so enjoyable to just do something FUN together without worrying about anything else except seeing that she had a good time and felt loved. I want to try to take time out to do things like this individually with each girl as they grow so that they both know how incredibly special they are!