Baby Steps

To begin this post, I would first like to apologize for my radio silence over the last month-and-a-half. You see, my wife and I just welcomed our first child into the world, and she has taken up a greater majority of my free moments with her feeding schedule and diaper changes and whatnot.

In all actuality, though, it's those "whatnots" that are the most captivating parts of being a new parent. Or at least, that's how it feels for me.

Just the other day, during the long weekend, I sat with my daughter on the couch and leaned down to *boop* noses with her, and do you know what she did?

She smiled. AT me.

Sure, she had smiled many times since entering the world, but I had yet to see one that was not directly related to some escaping gas or a satisfying feeding. And here she was, smiling up at me as I leaned down making ridiculous noises and tickling her baby belly.

Sometimes, I will place her down in front of me and just watch her as she kicks and moves her arms about in that flailing, let's-see-what-this-thing-does jerky movement of a newborn. Every little kick or punch (her little fists are tiny but surprisingly forceful if she catches you off guard) is a new movement to her, a new exercise that her tiny body undergoes as it develops and grows. It is not lost on me that these little, uncontrolled movements are forming the basis for her eventual ability to sit up. To crawl. To walk. To run.

As I reflect on the needs of Roswell Theatre Company, it strikes me that there is a strange resemblance between our program and a newborn child. They are both growing at an alarming rate, and we see that the foundational movements have formed a sturdy basis for further progress.

Of course, I am not trying to insinuate that RTC is only a few weeks old - far from it! I would venture so far as to say that we are up and moving around on our own power with quite some ease, ready to get into mischief and open all the cabinet doors. But at the end of the day, isn't it worth it to go back through the photo album and think about those first, jerking movements that started it all? Aren't we capable of looking back through the lens of time and identifying the important milestones in our development? Shouldn't we marvel in how far we have already come in the anticipation of what more will follow?

I certainly think so. And I look forward to continuing the development of the foundation I've been gifted.