Do you remember the first solo outing I had with you and your sister?
It was to Jungle Java.
I sat in the little baby area next to you, in your going-out sleeper on the blanket I made for you and tried to keep the calm as I guarded you against all of the other germ-filled toddlers and tried to keep an eye on your sister and told myself, "I can do this."I wrapped you in the Moby wrap and nursed you as I waited for a call from the lactation consultant about your weight gain. It was a daring adventure and I wasn't sure I could do it until the moment it was done.
Today, I watched as a mother sat in the baby section with her two year old daughter as she nursed her seven week old son and I thought, "That was me."
Then I heard her telling her friend that she was glad to get out of the house because, as she said, "of course" they hadn't with the new baby. And I was glad that wasn't me. I was glad in retrospect that I didn't let your arrival slow us down. I'm glad that I went, sometimes on the edge of panic, with you and your sister in all sorts of cool places last summer.
I'm even happier that we've done so much more this summer. You and your sister will be starting full time at day care in August, so for the three of us, the summer is almost over and looking back, I cannot find a wasted minute. All of them have been intoxicatingly joyful and filled with precious memories.
So was this time at Jungle Java with you. You played in the same baby section, of course, but you ran around, you slid, you climbed, and then you walked out of the baby section; it's walls too low to hold you now, and followed your sister into the big kids section.So this is my special memory of this trip: The image in my mind of you, bold and daring. You walking away and going to all of the places you want to go. Following your sister, shrieking in laughter at the sight of her. And then you stopping. Turning. You looking back to make sure your mama is following right behind you.
I love that about you.
Love,
Mom
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