the Chattanooga Aquarium

A couple of weeks ago we drove down to Chattanooga to meet my (then) two week old niece, Millie, and help my sister as she started out life as mom. Chattanooga has an amazing aquarium, so we took the kids. 

That sentence sounds so weird to me. My sister and I each have a kid? But we are the kids. We are our parents' kids and now we have kids. 

Anyway, there's nothing that makes you feel like a good parent like paying $50 to get into the aquarium to show your baby some fish. The whole time I was aware that Liesel couldn't tell the difference between the aquarium window and our computer screen at home, but we took these pictures so one day she'll know that we spent some money to give her an enriching experience.

This shark scared her, so I could tell she was paying attention. That's my girl. Soak in the enrichment that is something other than me smiling at you and talking in my baby voice to you. 

Millie just slept the whole time. It's a good thing her admission was free.

I always thought that child-centered outings would be such a drag, but this was really fun. I'm learning that when you become a parent, you start to view the world through your child's eyes and suddenly everything is more exciting because you know it's the first time your child has seen these things. 

And then an impromptu newborn session started to happen and we just went with it.

Sweet Millie girl. When I got pregnant my sister was all "that's great, you have all the babies because I'm not ready yet." Five months and three positive pregnancy tests later, Millie was on her way, and Meg and I got to go through the insane road of pregnancy and birth together. I think it's safe to say that we're coasting now, which feels so good. Just coasting downhill, pushing our strollers along together.