Perspective

It interesting how the things we appreciate change as we get older. Age and new experiences foster different "importances" for us (technical term, yes). For the first time ever I had a slip up with a cell phone over the weekend. My phone slid off of what was apparently an ever-so-slightly slanted table top onto concrete and cracked. It was still perfectly functional but since I have issues with these sorts of flaws I opted to get it fixed. I'm only a year into my contract and wasn't willing to shell out the full price for a new phone. For those wondering, I did research these new plans in which the cell companies "let you" get a new phone sooner but you basically pay the full price of the phone monthly over the length of your contract. I digress... Jake found a highly rated repair place online so we decided to give it a try. I called and even though they were a little backed up (usually an hour or two is all they need) I was able to drop off my phone at lunch and will retrieve it the end of the work day. When I walked into the place this morning the first thing I noticed was a very sparsely decorated, clean storefront with a few cell phone accessories on display. I could tell this place was all business. The second thing I then noticed was the waiting area under the front window. There was a chair, couch and a kids' play area. This surprised me. Don't get me wrong, in many ways Arlington is a very family-friendly community but the business core, along the orange line Metro where this shop is located, isn't exactly a family-friendly area. I can only speculate the the owner of this business, which actually has 3 locations in Northern Virginia, has a family or is family-minded. As I am now a parent I found myself really appreciating that they had the kids' area even if I wasn't going to use it. It certainly isn't any business's responsibility to cater to their customers' children but the fact that this one, unexpectedly does, was very much appreciated by me. Five years ago I likely wouldn't have cared either way. Oh how times change. Since I haven't completed my full experience with this company yet I won't shout them out in this post but once I get my phone back, if I am pleased, I definitely will.

Tomorrow morning is the little guy's 9-month check-up. We are extremely curious to see how much he weighs now, although I just realized now that he is sitting up we could actually put him on our bathroom scale to check ourselves. My guess is around 24 pounds. My parents recently gave him a toy firehouse in which you put the firetruck in at the top and it rolls down to the bottom and makes noise. He learned very quickly that what goes in the top comes out the bottom and he was excited to discover that his Baby Einstein balls also fit through the firehouse. He's becoming a smart little cookie who is sometimes too distracted to eat and often not interested enough in learning to move around. Each child is on their own schedule and I am loving every minute of watching his flesh out.