Making New Mommy/Baby Friends

Kevin and I had an unusually active social schedule during the early part of this week. Monday and Tuesday were particularly exciting. On Monday, we attended a mommy/baby spa day; on Tuesday, we went to our morning swimming, and then for lunch and a movie at the mall!
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Jen, one of the mommies from swimming, invited several moms and babies to her house for a mommy/baby spa afternoon on Monday. Kevin and I went with Michelle and Parker. First, Jen's sister-in-law, Laura, taught us how to do baby massage. I think there were seven babies there: a 7-month-old, two 6-month-olds (Kevin and Parker), two 5-month-olds, a 2.5-month-old, and a tiny 10-day-old!

The littler babies weren't too keen on stripping down to their diapers (and a few were hungry!), but the 5 to 7-month olds were so excited to get naked!


Kevin LOVED his massage. After the first few strokes, he stretched out on his back and enjoyed the experience heartily.

After, the mommies got to do facial scrubs and facial lotions. The older boys were having so much fun in their diapers, that we let them continue to play with their clothes off! Parker was the life of the party--being the only one who can crawl, he was making the rounds to visit all his friends and their mommies.While the babies played/ate/slept as they desired, the mommies chatted about babies, birth, breastfeeding, and all other relevant mommy topics. It was so nice just to sit and talk with people who are sharing your same experiences. :))

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Tuesday morning, Michelle, Parker, Kevin, and I went to our morning swim class. I think it was more fun for us than them this week--we were getting them used to the feeling of water on their faces! This meant lots of splashing, pouring, and dunking! Parker didn't like the dunks too much. Kevin just looked really startled! But Kevin did like to play with the water spouts. He also gave me great big smiles when I stood him up on the edge, and helped him jump in the water. He also seemed to like laying on his belly and back in the shallow end, and wiggling himself around in the water.

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After swimming, Michelle and I headed straight to the mall. When we got there, we fed the boys as best we could (it's amazing how many places won't take two seconds to heat up some baby food for you!), and got ourselves some lunch at the food court. Soon after, the group of moms and babies going to the movies with us arrived. They all got lunch, too. I offered to watch the new arrivals while their moms got food. It was a surreal experience for me to be surrounded by so many little ones at once! This picture doesn't even show all of them! (I think there were seven.)

Kevin and Parker

We went to the "Stars and Strollers" matinee. Again, a surreal experience. They gave us a little goodie bag, compliments of Shoppers Drug Mart, with some lotion samples, etc. Then we went up the ramp to the movie theatres to where there was designated "stroller parking," and saw about 40 strollers lined up. We took out the babies, bags, and their carriers, and settled ourselves in the theatre. It's nice, because they don't put the sound too loud, and they keep the lights up a bit. Also, if a baby gets upset, well, no big deal! Everyone understands. :))

Kevin was awake for the first part of the movie. We were sitting pretty close to the screen, so he was mesmerized. Then, he started laughing at the movie! He thought it was hilarious! But soon he got sleepy, and I laid him in the carrier. He woke up once during the movie, but went back to sleep a few minutes later. He was such a good boy! It was an enjoyable experience. I would do it again, but maybe not on a swim-class day--we were both pretty worn out by the time we got home.

(By the way, we saw "Juno": it's a wonderful, quirky movie, with great characters. I recommend it.)

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"See my tooth? It's poking through, a little above mom's finger!"