There is a golden time when Emmaline wakes up in the morning and before she goes down for her nap when she is generally delightful. It lasts only a few hours, after which she goes from goofy drunk baby to cranky banshee in a matter of moments. As all parents know, timing is key to a day without meltdowns. This morning, Daryl made a Dutch Baby. It's a thing, apparently, at least according to America's Test Kitchen, and it was truly scrumptious, though I'm guessing you can't go wrong with something you can put powdered sugar and strawberries on top of.
Bellies full, we got a late start to the New England Aquarium, where Emmaline's friend Nemo was waiting.
She was enchanted by the seagulls flying overhead on our way in (tweet, tweet, tweet, tweet), by the little penguin sprinkler system (showah), and the crazy catfish from the Amazon river basin. But we had missed that golden morning time slot because she was beyond tired by the time we got to the top of the central tank.
"Wawah," she cried from my arms, trying to pitch herself forward into the pool. Stingrays wallowed in the shallows above the coral reef. Emmaline's arms flailed, her little fingers grabbed hold of the concrete barrier and she pulled herself forward bringing her chest over the edge.
It was not the biggest meltdown I had witnessed during the visit. The aquarium was packed with toddlers and school aged children, their parents struggling with strollers and backpacks. It was chaotic and almost uncomfortably warm in the mad press of bodies. So while I kept watch over the UppaBaby in an out of the way corner and Daryl spent daddy time with the baby in the "Edge of the Sea Touch Tank" (hint: she does not like to touch things), I had time to observe more than a few children under the age of three nearly reducing their parents to tears.
"Time to go go?" I asked.
"Go go," Em repeated while at the same time continuing to try to join the diver in the tank below.
It may mean nothing more than that she wants what she cannot have, but if she ends up an olympic swimmer or a marine biologist then you heard it here first.
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