Stop and Smell the Poppies

Ok - so It's been 8 days since my last blog. But who's counting. Apparently this blogging thing is a little more time consuming than I thought. Or maybe it's just everything else in my life that's time consuming.... ummmm, like a baby! Everyone tells you that a baby is "work". But kind of like that saying about knowing when you've found the partner of your dreams, "You'll just know." You don't really know how much work it's going to be, until you're there. It's work, not sweaty work, or brain surgery work. Anyone can change a diaper, feed a bottle, do some laundry, clean the house, pay the bills, water the gardens, go grocery shopping, make dinner - well I could just go on and on. But can you do it all in one day?? I consider myself to be moderately intelligent and still these simple tasks can sometimes drive me to drink - wine, and more wine. And occasionally a vacation...Last weekend we spent with my parents, my Mother-In-Law, her husband and my Aunt and Uncle. It was a fabulous weekend! Jon Jon came with us, but he spent more time with everyone else than his own parents. But that was the point - for them to see him and for big Jon and I to have a break. But what I saw , that I have noticed in the past but didn't pick up on, was that Jon Jon really learns a lot from spending time with people other than me! Especially other Moms. Jon Jon is my first baby, and we live a bit of an isolated life (not counting FaceBook) - usually it's just the 2 of us out here in rural CT. Not that this is bad thing, I quite enjoy it. But we get into our routines as any parent child team does. But when Jon Jon spends time with grandparents, family and friends, they don't know what routines Jon Jon and I have, so they do what they enjoyed doing with their babies. And without a doubt, Jon Jon loves it, and picks up a new skill or a new way to play.

Last weekend his Great Aunt showd him what tree bark felt like, and what it was like to swing in a hammock. His Grandma taught him to do rasberries back and forth, and blow bubbles on command. And his Nana helped him try to clap for the first time, and touched a piece of bacon to his lips and oooo did he love it! All of these things that I wouldn't have thought to do yet! Do I feel like a bad mom? No. But it reminds me to try new things, and help him to try new skills. And even though there may be a pile of laundry waiting to be folded; there's also poppies blooming in the garden that Jon Jon has never seen before, and books we have yet to read together. So I've vowed that everyday we will do one thing we haven't done before - try a new toy, eat a new food, take a different route on our walk... As he discovers the world around him, so do I and that's coolest new skill I have learned in a long time.