Day at the Museum

I love spending time with Paxton. From the day he was born, I have enjoyed his company. With every new stage of his life, he's more and more fun to be around. No one can make me laugh like he can. We find the same random things uproariously hilarious. At night, I always ask him if he's ready to turn the light out. I then lift him over my head from the chair we sit on together, and he flips the switch. Sometimes, though, he's feeling saucey and he acts like he's incapable of turning the light out. He rests his finger on it and pauses. He waits for me to complain in discomfort at lifting him above my head for so long with no action as a reward. As soon as he hears me urge him on, he starts to giggle. Then I laugh in response and we crack up together. Who would have anticipated that a 16-month-old boy could have such a wicked sense of humor.

One of the simple pleasures of being a mom is taking my son to a birthday party. We have gone to two first birthday parties, so far, and last weekend, we went to the joint party of Max and Lola, our longtime friends' son and daughter. Nick and Mindy rented the Austin Children's Museum after hours on a Sunday. I have never been there, but have wanted to go since Paxton was born. This was the perfect opportunity to finally check it out! God was apparently smiling on us, because as an added bonus, the theme of the museum displays right now is "transportation". Paxton's middle name should be transportation for as much as he loves it. Every third word out of his mouth is "car", "truck", or "ch-ch-ch" (Paxtonese for "train"). He thinks people in wheelchairs are the coolest people in the world, because they have their own personal set of wheels. The boy loves to G-O, go.

As you entered the museum, there were two tables with trains on them. Immediately, Paxton attached himself to one of the tables. I humored him for a while, thinking he would be enticed by the rest of the fantastic displays scattered about. No such luck. We left him to his own devices and went to say our hellos. People would ask us where our little guy was and we'd point across the room, noting the tiny blonde head bobbing behind the train table. Finally, I literally dragged him away to see the rest that the museum had to offer.

He ended up having a great time. He enjoyed some delicious pizza and his favorite treat--cupcakes! There was a train that went around the upper wall of the main room, and the children could go into a little overlook to control some aspects of the trip. They could push a button to make the train start its journey. They could press various buttons to hear an assortment of train noises. There was a button to make wipers clean the window, and one to make the railroad crossing go up and down. Paxton really liked it, but his enthusiasm was dwarfed by that of a two-year-old little boy who was the very definition of glee. Every time the train would pull back into 'the station', the little boy would scream with joy. It was adorable, but also intimidating to my little guy. He had the same shellshocked expression he donned at the carnival. He didn't know places like this existed in the world. I'm sure he was wondering why I was holding out on him.

I can't wait to take him back to the museum for the next exhibit. As he gets more and more in tune with the world around him, he appreciates new experiences more. I already love spending time with him, taking a new look at the world through his eyes. But as he gets older and more curious about that world, I find myself even more captivated with his blossoming personality. He's one cool fellow. I'm so lucky to be his mom.