Getting Out and Being Social

Calliope as Little Lord Fauntleroy.
Doesn't she have regal bearing?
(And aren't her tiny bare feet just the cutest?)

Calliope and I had our first mommy and baby date this week, with my friend Sarah and her three month old daughter, Isla (pronounced "Ayla").

Isla is wishing for a more belly-baring shirt, and making do. 

This was only our second solo outing with the car, so I was pretty proud of us. Though I wish the car didn't make her scream -- it's so stressful!  

The previous day we journeyed to my cousin Bonnie's house, 20 minutes away. We got to greet her younger daughter, Sarah, getting off the bus after her first day of 4th grade. She was the only one who hadn't met Calliope yet, and was very excited to have a committee waiting to see her home after her first day back in school!

Four year old Cousin William is very, very focused on his responsibility
of holding Calliope -- a job he is exceedingly fond of!

And as I mentioned in my earlier post, a couple of days ago, SMC Planner Robyn came to visit us, bearing pizza!

Friday we journeyed into Cambridge for a pseduo-reunion of my summer camp. It was meant to be a big reunion up at camp in beautiful Plymouth, Vermont, but Plymouth is just a couple of miles from the apparent epicenter of damage from Irene (Killington), so at this point, you need a FEMA pass to get into Plymouth. Obviously not ideal for a reunion!

So the reunion was postponed, but a couple of people offered to host events in the Boston area. Friday night a dozen or two of us gathered in one host's beautiful Cambridge home. I got awfully tired and ended up accepting a generous offer of crash space. (I should mention this home has EIGHTEEN rooms in it!) Calliope was a trooper once we went to bed and didn't make a peep all night (she did wake up, of course, but didn't cry); I was grateful that we avoided waking anyone. 

The next morning while all the middle aged ladies went kayaking, Calliope and I stayed put. While she napped I learned how to hand express. More fun and satisfying that milking a goat at barn chores! (My camp was a working farm.) Later in the afternoon, several of us went out to lunch -- Calliope slept in the Moby the whole time -- before we ventured over to Newton for the main event.

There were a handful of us at the reunion that were campers together starting back in 1984! It was wonderful to see everyone. My camp is a wonderful, beautiful place, called Farm and Wilderness, and in many ways, it's what I consider my true childhood home. It's certainly where I felt free to be myself, and truly loved for who I was. I will always be in debt to that community for that. 

We returned home last night and were glad to be reunited with Grammy, who freely admitted that she missed us. I am surprised to realize that we will really miss her, too, when we return to Brooklyn on Saturday. This feeling was certainly accentuated when she, out of nowhere, gave me a check to help tide us over, especially appreciated because of the issues with my leave. We will use this towards a postpartum doula, cleaning lady, and home delivery of groceries, all of which I am already scheduling. 

I'm very, very grateful today. For the millions of ways in which I am so exceedingly lucky.