sunny day

When Morgan went from two naps down to one (which was rather late in the game, Fall 2008), her world became transformed every morning at 9:00 a.m. She became hooked, as millions of other children have been for four decades, on Sesame Street.

Encouraging her excitement for the characters, up from the basement came the well-loved, fifteen-book set that my parents received when pledging to PBS circa 1980. The memories came flooding back. I remember some of my favorites, as is evidenced by the tattered pages and binding...

Grover Going Up in the elevator to the roof-top pool.
Prairie Dawn conquering the metropolis as a courier on a Special Delivery.
Bert and Ernie getting crazy on a rainy day in their living room in Anyone Can Play.

Morgan now has favorites, too. She also enjoys counting her way to the swimming pool. She gives a sweet "shh" as she sees the librarian do the same to Grover as his excitement takes over the library. She also loves Cookie Monster's attempt to help Bert and Ernie make soup, and then - "uh-oh" - eating the whole pot in one gulp.

She is fascinated and knows every character by name. So when Scott and I discovered we could get tickets for Sesame Street Live for half-off on Super Bowl Sunday, we thought it would be a great chance to dip all six of our feet in the water together. After all, we had never done anything like this with Morgan before, and weren't sure how her cautious personality would take to bright lights, loud music and larger than life characters.

There was no need to be worried. We weren't even parked before Morgan noticed the billings plastered on the side of the theatre walls. "Elmo! Elmo! See 'em? Elmo!"

As we walked inside the beautifully vintage foyer, her eyes darted quickly around at all things Sesame Street. I was taking in the detail of the architecture. Morgan was taking in the posters, the balloons, the t-shirts, the flags. We had arrived.





Our seats from the mezzanine were perfect. A safe distance from the stage, we were still able to see it all, as well as make quick exits to the bathroom as Morgan deemed necessary.



As Big Bird and Elmo opened the show, Scott and I exchanged glances as we witnessed Morgan's reaction to it all. She was elated. In an odd way, I found this moment just as moving as any of her other firsts. A lump was in my throat as I watched her experience a new milestone.







Each time a new character came out, Morgan became excited and called it's name, pointing.





Morgan's reaction to the Elmo's World scene.
How I wish this picture had been in focus.

At intermission, the $10 Elmo balloons came out. Our friends had warned us ahead of time not to succomb to the purchase, and we didn't. Instead we empathized with every parent whose child just couldn't heed the warning "don't let go" as their ten dollar bills slowly wafted to the ceiling of the theatre. Ouch.

After 90 minutes (and admittedly, a slight headache), we headed home exhausted. What fun we had! What an experience.