So Much to Do, Too Little Time (and a Milestone!)

So much to do, too little time.

And I'm not even talking about things like laundry and grocery shopping... that's a given.

I'm talking about fun stuff!

I'm trying to decide what to do tomorrow morning. We have two choices.

One is our usual Friday morning activity, what I call "Ladies and Babies". I made that name up; it's actually a free, drop-in new mom and baby support group run by a local nonprofit. There are multiple groups in different towns once a week, and Jordyn and I have been going to this particular one most Friday mornings all year (and also one in a different town on some Wednesdays, but I don't like that one as much). Since we've been going on a regular basis, I know a lot of moms who have also been going for a while, and have developed friendships. The group runs for 1.5 hours from 10-11:30, and then a bunch of people go to lunch afterwards (picnics in warm weather, an inside coffee and sandwich shop in cold/yucky weather). I really enjoy it, and look forward to it. All the moms (and couple dads lately!) bring their babies, and so it's also kind of a huge playdate. We all sit in a circle on the floor, there's a facilitator (who sits in a chair, sans baby), and after introductions, it's a place to ask any question you may have about babies and/or new parenthood... sleep, breastfeeding, sleep, introducing solids, sleep, developmental stuff, why does/n't my baby___, sleep, travel with baby, teething, finding babysitters, sleep, going back to work, etc. (yes, sleep is definitely the most talked-about topic!). And of course things that don't relate to SMCs like relationship issues, how to get your partner to help more, blah blah blah. And the babies sleep, or eat, or play, or scream, or whatever, and when they get old enough, they start to interact and it really turns into a playdate. The group is for people with babies up to one year old. As soon as your baby turns a year old, you're out. So people are always "graduating" (although a lot of people can only go while they're on maternity leave), and new people are always starting. So we have a limited number we can go to, since Jordyn turns one in early August. And we had to miss last week because I had to work last Friday (I try not to work on as many Fridays as I can), and I'm going to have to miss at least one in May since we'll be in Denver, and we may end up missing next week.

The other choice is called "Barn Babies", an event at my town's public library. There are going to be baby animals from a farm there. The website doesn't list any details, just says it's for kids of all ages, and there are several sections, each lasting 30 minutes. We had to sign up ahead of time, and a friend of mine signed up a group of five of us for 11:30, and all the sections are booked up. So, it'll be fun because it'll be with a group of moms and babies we've gotten to know and have been having playdates with, but it's short, and I don't know how much Jordyn will get out of it. She'd probably get more out of it next year and the next few years after that than she will now. I'm also planning to take her to a local farm that has all kinds of animals there, so she'll have another chance to see animals soon.

Hmmm, what to do, what to do?? Part of me says to go to Barn Babies, because that's for Jordyn, and Ladies and Babies is for me. But she enjoys L&B, too, since she gets to play with other babies there, and then she can be social at lunch (unless she falls asleep, which she often does on the walk there, although we may be having a picnic tomorrow if the weather is nice, which is a much shorter walk). And while Barn Babies is a one-time thing (at least for this year), we *are* going to go to the farm one of these days, and our time at L&B is limited. I can't tell you how sad I am about not being able to go to L&B anymore once Jordyn is one! It's really been a great support, and a way to meet other moms (the group we'd be going to Barn Babies with is actually made up of moms and babies we know from the Wednesday L&B group that we haven't been to in a while, but we see them for playdates all the time).

Would it be so wrong to choose L&B, which would be more for me, over Barn Babies, which would be more for Jordyn? I guess that's really what it comes down to... That kind of makes me feel guilty... should it??

What would you do?

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A milestone... I've been both looking forward to and dreading this day for a long time... As of today (or maybe yesterday), I'm now the proud mom of a mobile baby! Yep, Jordyn's crawling!

Jordyn Crawling!

(not the best video, but the best I have so far; for some reason, it wouldn't upload until I put it on youtube)