We are gathered

Seb finally arrived in Florida, a tired heap of wasted muscles and bloodshot eyes fresh from a flight with no less than three stopovers. He found it difficult to go to sleep and even more difficult to stay asleep because he wanted so badly to wake up baby S and have a look. I completely understood but nevertheless said "no way are you crazy!" He heard the desperation in my voice and thought better. He got his first look at baby S at a hearty 6am anyway, only four short hours later.

We are resting and enjoying the very hot weather combined with a swimming pool and followed by shopping trips and lots of television. We are following a rigid baby S routine finding this sometimes difficult, since we have always vacationed doing things by the seat of our pants. In the past years we would usually bike the Pinellas Trail for a long stretch each day, stopping off at the beach for swims in the hotel pools along the way. Often we'd visit my brother and his wife in the evenings for a late night glass of wine and a chat or take in last call at a local beach bar followed by a midnight swim. All that has changed this trip. The baby really puts things into a different perspective. We keep forgetting that we can't just dash off to do just anything at any hour.




We wake, or are awakened at 6am, oh and at 4am too thank you very much. Most days we putter around in the car in the afternoon. We visit the ghastly mall where I spent so many hours of my awkward teen years gawking at designer jeans and overpriced sneakers and boys. We usually swim at 4 in the afternoon with baby S and then we all take outdoor showers poolside. Seb loves this Crusoe lifestyle. I've even taken to shaving my legs poolside in a nifty bucket, it's just easier than finding time to do it indoors. Seb is not so amused by this part.

All in all we have tamed our lifestyle in one hundred subtle little ways. It's all very nice but sometimes strikingly strange. It's like trying on a different outfit, one that you never thought you'd see yourself wearing but one that surprisingly looks very good on you. We are adjusting, changing, and becoming a family.