Traumatized for Life

I just know that I've ruined snow for poor little Noah for the rest of his life! This has been a new experience for me--babies and snow! I lived almost all my life in Southern Nevada, where you really don't get snow. All of my babies, except for Noah really didn't see snow until they were old enough to go play in it. It wasn't something we had on a daily basis! I'm not used to buying baby snow suits for my babies nor do I know what the protocol is for letting them experience snow for the first time.

Noah was born last April, and even though an unexpected snow dumped 3 inches just a few days before he was born, he didn't get to experience it for real until November. And at that time, I was too involved with the older kids to even think about letting him go play in it! I just kept him bundled up and warm inside. I mean, really, does an 8 month old want to play in snow? But then the thought occurred to me that I might be missing out on a great photo op, if I never let him experience the snow and how fun would it be to catch that first time of being in snow. So, I planned it all out. I bundled him up, the best I could (remember, I don't own a baby snow suit, nor baby shoes for that matter) and with camera in hand, we headed out. We had just gotten a few inches of new snow this morning, but it wasn't terribly cold. I couldn't wait to capture that fabulous picture that I was imagining in my head!

I set him down in the snow, because that's what you do, right? He sat there for a moment with wide eyes and a big grin, as he reached for a handful of snow. I was all excited! This was it. I pulled the camera up to my eye, only to realize that I hadn't turned it on. The chance was over and he was trying to crawl in it. Well, I didn't want him to get baby frost bite (that really wouldn't be a good mommy moment) so I quickly sat him back up, handed him a handful of snow and jumped back to get the picture.

Instantly, he toppled over and took a big gasp of cold air as he did so. He began to scream, as he laid there, spread eagle in the snow and I'm sure wondering what the heck was going on! I took pity on him and we headed back inside. He was still crying and just a tad bit wet, but I got daddy to hold him so I could at least get one picture, in the snow. As you can see, he really isn't too sure about that white stuff. I hope he forgets, at least by next winter, and doesn't hate snow forever!