A list of firsts, but not the last…

Unfortunately my vacation is over and I have had to come back to the real world, but it has been 13 days that I am incredibly thankful for.  As an individual who typically doesn’t have an opportunity to take long extended breaks, this vacation was even more special because we had an opportunity to introduce Nolin to so many of our friends and family. 

This trip also consisted of a lot of firsts (including realizing that Nolin has grown 5 inches since he was born) that I was excited to be able to experience with Nolin.  He probably won’t remember too many of these, and I don’t want to forget, so I figured listing them out would be a way to ensure these memories don’t fade.

• Nolin’s first flight:  An 8am flight with a 5 ½ week old is pretty much every parent’s nightmare.  We figured that if Nolin was going to freak out we might as well share the fun with 125 of our closest friends.  Instead the Southwest staff was amazing and Nolin was mesmerized by the flight…he never made a sound.  It was fantastic!
• Nolin’s first day in court:  Let’s hope this isn’t a trend in the future, but Nolin had a chance to visit grandpa at work and sit on the bench.  Thankfully he was behind the bench instead of in front of it.
• Nana’s first great grand child:  Shortly after arriving, we took Nolin to visit his great grandmother, and she was in her glory. She got off the phone pretty quickly when I called to tell her we were coming…I guess the mayor of Aragona wanted to make sure she was ready for the big occasion.
• Nolin’s first road trip:  We took a short journey to Richmond, Va. to visit my cousins Kathleen and Brian and their families as well as our friend’s Brenton and Jessie and their son Steven (with an “S”).  During this trip Nolin, would also ride to Washington D.C. and DuBois, PA.  He seems to love riding in the car…he’s definitely the perfect child for us.
• Nolin’s first baseball game:  This was one I was excited for coming into the trip and this time, Grandpa was in his glory and while Nolin didn’t catch a fly ball, he did enjoy the smell of hot dogs, cold beer and his first official O’Brien baseball jersey during his first baseball game.
• Nolin’s first boat trip:  We had a chance to take a short trip on our friend Bridget’s parent’s boat.  Like most things, Nolin was relaxed being on the water and during his dance off with Bridget’s daughter Ellie, I would say it was a tie.  Jenn especially loved a comment from another boater that she was jealous of how quickly Jenn could get back into shape after giving birth…apparently this is one of the advantages to adoption.
• Nolin’s first trip to the beach:  Nolin got a chance to partially experience the beach as my parent’s Jenn and I went for an early evening walk.  Jenn had Nolin wrapped up tight in his Moby Wrap to protect him from the sun, but I think he may have seen a wave or two.
• Nolin’s first trip to the zoo:  We took Nolin to the DC Zoo and it was hot.  We met up with our friends Tom & Hillary and their children.  He slept through most of the zoo, but I think enjoyed the miniature horse.
• Nolin met his first Amish friend:  Don took us to introduce Nolin to his Amish friend that owns a store and deer farm.  While he has 8 children of his own, he had never seen a Moby Wrap and thought Nolin looked like a Kangaroo.
• Nolin’s first State Park visit:  There will be plenty of state park visits in Nolin’s future if his mom has her way.  We took him to Moraine State Park to meet up with our friends Julie, Derek & Renee and their children (not all together…although I am sure Derek would feel like a stud if that were the case).  We had a picnic and played Disc Golf…I will get into this adventure in more detail later.

As you can see, there were so many firsts on this trip.  I am so glad that I was actually able to take a full 2 weeks off and experience all of these things with Nolin.  He grew up so much during those two weeks it made me realize just how quickly these days will be gone.

Nolin and Jenn are still hanging out in Pennsylvania for a week and a half, so I told him to close his eyes, sleep a lot and he better not grow until he gets back.  Unfortunately, I don’t think he’ll listen to me. He will probably experience some additional firsts without me, but I will be there in spirit waiting to receive my cell phone videos from Jenn’s dad to document them all.