Sometimes I feel like I write too much about the day-to-day. It's kind of the nature of being a Dad, and I do my best to focus on the positives, but the whole global pandemic does seep in on occasion to bring the mood down. As much as we have stayed incredibly satisfied in our happy little bubble, I am anxious for that bubble to burst. I want to share the joy of my child with the world, but for now, we have to keep that under wraps.
As much as we love having fun with him, there is something to be said to see him interacting with others. Right now, there are only a select few people that we really let him see and interact with, because we want to do everything we can to keep him safe. It's been good that my wife's Mom has a place in Florida so has been able to come down on occasion. My own parents had a temporary place in Florida and left when things started to escalate in March. They just came back in the middle of December, and from 13 months to 22 months, he's turned into a completely different person.
Before this started, we had preliminary plans to meet up with my whole family at my sister's in Michigan, see friends out in Colorado, and see Stef's family at her sister's in Delaware. We were lucky that it worked out to go to Delaware on a road trip. But the last time my siblings saw my son was way back in October of 2019, so far back that Elizabeth Warren was the favorite for the Democratic nomination. Remember that week? It was a long-ass time ago.
Seeing him interact with others is so cool because that is when he truly becomes an individual and not a reflection of myself. Sure, we experiment with things, but I do something to get a reaction from him and vice versa. The unpredictability of others, although sometimes aggravating, is still great because you get to see how far he's come, and he gets to be totally surprised in how others react to his shenanigans.
There aren't many downsides to moving from Iowa to Florida, but I do miss being closer to family and friends. You can build relationships, but as an adult, I barely know how to do that, and you can never replace those lifelong relationships.
So we stay safely tucked away in our bubble, happy, but still looking out at the world, and wanting more. But hey, my wife and I got our first shot a couple weeks ago so we’re only a month away from actually being protected. The issue is that the little guy does not have a vaccine so although we know we need to push forward, we’re going to do so tentatively. The goal is that things feel somewhat normal again.
Ah, normal. That is a joy that I can't wait to share with the little guy. Maybe we'll have a few people over to enjoy it with us.