Baby shower in the Bahamas

 This past week Wilson and I were lucky to have a crew of friends come visit us. We hosted a crew of 6 friends with 1 baby. These 7 people include friends that we made when Wilson and I were just getting to know each other in North Carolina. So they are intimately familiar with the last decade of our relationship and now it is so exciting to share this new babydom phase with them.

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I didn’t know to what extent we would share our "babydom" phase with them on this trip. I thought that the trip would be primarily focused on showing them our new island home – the 500 feet walk to the beach, the geckos out the back porch and sometimes inside, Rose Island, and the abundance of fresh delicious fish. I didn’t quite realize that we would also talk and share so much about the babydom phase and our own childhoods. 

 For example, one friend shared a "poop" memory that I thought was pretty profound: he remembered the last time that he went in his diaper and that he consciously decided that it didn’t feel right and he wasn’t going to do it anymore. And then he didn’t. That struck me as profound for two reasons --one, he remembered that philosophic bit of reasoning at such a young age; and two, he engaged in that philosophic reasoning and then stuck to it.

But beyond philosophical "poop" memories, the weekend was also touching because our friends planned and executed a surprise baby shower. They decorated the baby’s nursery and the house so cute. They got us a tiara and button that said "mother-to-be" and "dad-to-be" respectively. And they organized presents from friends all over the country: Connecticut, California, New York, DC.

Everything about the day was so special. When we entered the room with its decorations, I teared up because I thought that our baby wouldn’t have a baby shower since we live here in the Bahamas and our friends and family are scattered throughout the world. Then, when we left the house for 10 or so hours to take a boat to Rose Island, go out to dinner, and see the aquarium at Atlantis, it was really fun to hear the congratulations that Wilson in his "dad-to-be" button got from complete strangers. (My belly has already been soliciting congratulations even without a tiara). And finally, when we arrived home to ice cream and presents, the first present was a puppet wall-hanging which one friend used to creatively photo bomb all the subsequent baby pictures.

Thank you, thank you, thank you dear loved ones for loving us and giving us such a special day!

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