The Sandmonster meets The Waterman

A few weeks ago I wrote about our encounter at the beach in which Nolin instantly transformed into the Sandmonster.  Grabbing fist fulls of sand and when that didn’t satisfy him, he finally began to face plant in the sand.

We went back to the beach last weekend for a little bit and then again today.  This time, Nolin was not as interested in eating the sand as he was in playing in the water.  As we made our way to the beach today, Nolin had no fear.  He would crawl as fast as he could to the ocean.  He wouldn’t stop at the water’s edge, he just kept going.  We would bring him back up to the beach and he would head back down.

This is either a really good thing or a really bad thing.  I tend to believe that it is a good thing that he is eager to explore everything, but I also realize that this means that we will have our work cut out for us as Nolin grows up.  Which also means that I am sure there will be no lack of stories as we continue in our journey.

Eventually, Nolin took a break from the water and did what he does best…he made friends.  There was a family sitting on the beach beside us.  The kids were playing in the sand with shovels and buckets and that was just too much fun for Nolin to pass up.  On his own, he crawled over to the other kids, sat and watched them for a second and then jumped right in.  The best part is the kids and the parents welcomed him with open arms.

They started talking to us about how their youngest son was also adopted, but he didn’t join their family until 12 months.  As Nolin is about to turn one, I can’t imagine having missed everything so far.  It is yet another reminder of how lucky we have been in our journey.

Today I realized something as both Nolin and I were sitting at the water’s edge, the waves crashed on us to Nolin’s delight and I gathered half the beach in my bathing suit…one of the coolest things (and something I never expected when we became parents) about having a child is that it offers you an opportunity to relive all of the things that were exciting to you as kid.  The difference this time is that you are a participant, an observer and a teacher.