What a wonderful summer day it was today. Seventy-four degrees of breezy sunshine with a wash of clouds off and on, a weather forecast threatening storms which never came to fruition. Both the babes slept in today, til after 8:00, and both had dispositions as sunny as the weather. Nat remarked with some surprise as we reviewed our day on the porch this evening, "Both of our children were really good today!... I guess we deserve it." It WAS good, and deserved, to have a day we could relish at its end, finally.
Ivy and I went to Baby and Me group, (we walked there, which makes us hard core) where she is no longer the youngest baby. A mum who we'd met in Baby and Me with Jack was there with her new 2 week old. It was kind of stunning to see how much Ivy has changed from that 2-week-old stage already. I look at her and see a still-tiny baby, still mushy and snuggly and new. But compared to that little bundle, our girl is an independent woman of the world, moving and exploring and interacting to such a greater extent. In the past day she has started, I think, to turn the corner from being 5 weeks old. Suddenly she is coming out of that newborn cocoon and we can see glimpses of the little butterfly to come. For one, the baby acne is starting to fade. She is no longer bright red and only somewhat scaly. Her eyes are open more, and wider, and she is looking intently at the world. During her alert periods she is branching out from just 2 modes-- impassive gaze or angry squawking-- to include a face of wonderment complete with smiles and the beginnings of coos. She showed this off nicely at group this morning, even doing smiling for while with me while I bounced her on my knee. Yep, bounced her on my knee while making ga-ga noises at her. We were, in retrospect, possibly bordering on sickeningly sweet there for a minute.
Nat and Jack joined us for lunch bunch at noon and all told Ivy and I were at the parent center for about 4 hours. Jack was a fabulous boy all morning, per Nat's report. They'd been to the History Museum and to Whole Foods before coming to group. Jack was thrilled to report, upon coming in to group and unpacking the Whole Foods bag, "Look mom! We brought EVERYTHING!" He snacked on blueberries and a bagel before heading off to play "run and run" with friend Max. With whom he played nicely today, nary a moment of their usual discord. Seriously. It was a good day.
Home for naps (which were taken promptly, with no hour-and-a-half of mischief in his room like yesterday). I got some much needed cleaning done on the second floor. Turns out this is a much bigger house now that we are using 3 more rooms than we used to... whew! Why is it the house gets bigger just when my time to clean it gets shorter? We are re-purposing Mike's room as a guest room and decided we needed to repaint this week. Of course, we need yet another unfinished project...So I got a bit more done in there too before relaxing for a bit of chatting, reading, and iced coffee with Nat on the porch, after he got back from his bike ride. Pretty damn idyllic.
After the babes woke up from naps, we headed off for the first Wade Oval Wednesday. We got free street parking (good day continues...) Walking into the park, the sounds of the live reggae band drifting across the green, children kicking and catching and chasing balls in the grass, family upon family gathered on blankets strewn in the shade or sitting at the umbrella tables by the bar tent, the smell of charcoal grilling and corn dogs in the air-- I felt that we had stumbled upon summer, that it had been waiting for us in this exact spot all along. It was perfect. Nat and I took turns sitting on a blanket with Melinda and Will and the babies, while the other followed Jack around. He was simply thrilled to be there. He ran and kicked and threw his ball, wanting to be just like all those other kids. Then we wandered among the blankets where he would occasionally plunk himself down in the grass, legs out front, and sit for a moment watching the music and the people. He must've thought, well, everyone else is doing this, I suppose I should too. He was stinking adorable. He also wanted to pet every dog he saw. We got to meet a few police horses, and a few little girls, 4th grade-ish, who Jack adored. Nat taught him to say "enchante" when introduced to them. Can I tell you how cute he was saying "enchante" in his little boy voice with his little shy smile and his twinkly eyes flirting away?
Ivy was also thrilled to be there. She really did seem to enjoy herself once she woke up, laying on the blanket and looking around, wide-eyed, at the shapes of trees and people and dappled sunshine. Smiling up at us from her stroller as we walked around the perimeter. It is exciting to think she is only going to get more interactive, more and more interested in her world, that there will be more to her than warm baby snuggles and little baby fussing, and soon. I keep saying that I am not really in love with this newborn stage, that it lacks much of the reward of parenting other ages. And yet. It is sad to think that she will never again be as small, as soft, as mushy and bundle-y and simple as she is right at this moment. That she will continue to grow, at warp speed and we will blink and she will be two and I will miss the snuggly weight of her, having her wrapped on my chest, bouncing her in the crook of my arm, comforting the baby-fusses with rocking and nursing and touches to her oh-so-silky head. Motherhood somehow makes it entirely possible to want two conflicting things, completely, at once...
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