Yep. I'm at that point in my life. Julianna's friends and their moms are the center of my social circle. But it really is awesome. In the three years that we have lived in Seattle, making friends has been a bit slow for me (I'm not the most outgoing or involved person you'll ever meet). So after attending a free class called Snugglers, offered at the hospital where I delivered for moms with babies between the age of 0-3 months, I have met a diverse group of supportive and well-rounded women.
It's a large group and we all keep in touch to find out which car seat to buy next or at what age we need to start child-proofing the house. Every 4-6 weeks the whole group gets together to see how the babies have changed and to line them up side by side and force them to play nice for a picture.
I have clicked with a couple of the moms in particular, and we have now formed a smaller mommy group which meets every Friday. We rotate to one of the four of our homes each week, and there is always something yummy served for lunch (last week was olive risotto and homemade banana bread with cupcakes for dessert). With all the questions that crop up surrounding being a first time mom (when do they start to sit? when do they start teething? What do you do to help alleviate the pain (theirs and ours!)? What foods do we feed them first? etc, etc... the list goes on and on), having a group of women who's babies' ages are all within a month of each other is priceless.
These three have a bit of a love triangle going on. Jack is having a little trouble deciding between the blue-eyed blonde and the exotic half-indian! And shortly after this they were fighting over who would take a nap in the only crib in the house and who would be stuck in the pack-n-play. Last month they were all lying down for a picture, this month they're sitting up and grabbing each other's toys; I'm a little afraid to find out what they'll be doing next month!
Julianna is such a big girl that she was able to sit in the grass on a little blanket we brought for her and eat Cheerios while we enjoyed a Subway sandwich. She even nibbled on a few small pieces of turkey and some honey oat bread. As you can see above, we weren't the only ones who had this idea, but the other families made for good lunchtime entertainment.
This time away from work and homework and his Blackberry seemed to do Daddy good too. He snuck a few kisses atop her sweet head and wrapped his arms around her even though she was secure and snuggly in her pack. And along the way he looked back at me and said, "I love her so much". This new life has brought us so much purpose and meaning and it fills us to the brim.
She tried to make nice, giving Baby a little smile.
Come'on Baby, no need to fret over who was at fault. Let's be friends.
Or she might even like to be on the receiving end of a few Eskimo kisses...
See what a sweet girl I am, mom?
A villan usually comes under the cover of darkness, but not this pearly white culprit!
