Our World.

This little dark-haired, cuddly bundle--with a tried-and-true pair of strong lungs--has turned our world completely upside down, and we are loving it! We can't eat, sleep, or plan anything in our daily activities without first thinking, "Would Clarke like that?" or "Will Clarke behave through it?" or even sometimes, "Will Clarke sleep through it?" Like when we wanted to watch The Avengers and went to the over-packed theater armed with bottles, blankets, extra clothes, and everything else we could think of in case he woke up. I had him in the Baby Bjorn and kept glancing down every time there was a loud noise (which was pretty much every 30 seconds), expecting to see his little eyes open, but, nothing! It was the most distracted I've ever been during a movie at the theater, but at least I didn't have to duck out as I had expected.

Clarke is usually pretty good with noise. It's when his surroundings are too quiet that he gets restless and wakes up easily. His favorite noise in our home is the bathroom fan--it quiets him down almost immediately! I'm going to be in trouble if we ever move. After watching The Avengers at the movie theater in Downtown Disney, we took a walk down Main Street at Disneyland. There were crowds and crowds of people and the fireworks were going off, and still Clarke didn't wake up! It was astounding to me. But I'm sure it won't last so I'm enjoying it while I can.

Franco finished his first year of medical school last week, hooray! I'm incredibly proud of him and it's possible I let him play games on his iPod for hours on end as a reward for his non-stop studying the past year. The first year they say is the hardest, but it's as if he was always meant to be a medical student because he loves it and did so well. We celebrated with a trip to Disneyland with a few of Franco's classmates, and Clarke went on his first ride! He was awake all through It's a Small World, his little head turning from one side to another, taking in all the colors and songs. 

I can't get enough of watching my little one experience things for the first time. It's my favorite thing about being a mother, I think. Every day I see the world through his new eyes and it's like I'm seeing it for the first time. It's pretty amazing! I'm so, so grateful.