Poppy is six months old – I am honestly not sure where the time has gone. So now I find myself reflecting on six months of being a parent. First and foremost I do love it; I honestly do not have the words to describe this, just as I don’t think I will ever have the words to describe the love I have for Poppy. I think I have said this before but it is so important it needs to be said again, I really understand when a parent says they would kill for their kid. I would kill for Poppy in less than a heartbeat. I honestly did not understand that love could be so consuming. It really does not matter how I am feeling, I can be grouchy, I can be tired, I can be angry and I just need to look at her and all of that negativity melts away – it takes one smile, one giggle even just a sideways glance. She is copying us now which is so much fun. She sees a cup she grabs it and tried to drink, we pull a face she tries to pull it - every day is an adventure! She is sitting up alone, doing baby push ups, grabbing and reaching...The dogs still adore her and she adores them, she also loves Archie the cat who is very patient with the early attempts at petting. Toy wise we are loving Manhattan Toy (whoozits) and Folkmanis puppets. Robert and I reamain utterly unrepetant about our utter lack of restraint when it comes to Poppy - we are both very aware that she may well be our only child, so yeah right now she is spoiled.
We have started solids in the past couple of months and as we have reached 6 months we are looking at ways to have her grow to be an adventurous eater. Why? have you ever really looked at baby food? It is bland and it is boring. I read an amazing book called "Hungry Monkey" and that really made me think about how in the US and UK we train our children to like bland and boring foods. So every so often we introduce a new taste - something a little more interesting and so far so good. She likes mile tikka masala sauce, she likes katsu curry, hummus, tofu, mild enchilada sauce. Believe me she liked mixed garden vegetables much more when I mixed in some katsu curry sauce!
I have to thank my moms from Isis for how smooth this has all turned out to be. Knowing so many great women who have little ones the same age as Poppy has made such an incredible difference in my life. I also love watching all of us grow as mothers, and as women. I love hearing about every milestone these babies reach, their triumphs are ours, their sniffles and tummy upsets are ours. Robert and I realize how easy it is to become isolated after having a baby but thanks in part to these great families that hasn’t happened. I also have to thank Jill and Shaun, Janet and Chris, Dana and Joe, Stacey and Jake for all their help and advice! And then there is the UK contingent..Ste and Lou, Helen and Beccy, and the mysterious of course Agnes Elizabeth...
I think it is funny that after going through so many warning lectures after I had Poppy about how I was at such high risk of post partum depression here I am not taking any anti-depressants and just feeling more content than I have in a very long time. I know I am maybe an exception to the rule regarding post-partum depression but apart from those first 6 weeks when I was just tired, frustrated and still hurting I have never felt better.
I am more tired than I though was ever possible. We went to see Alice in Wonderland – I was so excited, my parents were babysitting, we were out on a date! We had an early dinner, we settled into our movie seats with our dark glasses on and I promptly fell asleep. We haven’t tried the movie theater again – hell we haven’t tried another date yet! It seems although we talk a good game about having a babysitter we just cannot quite leave Poppy with a stranger, and of course leaving her with a friend feels like we are imposing even though given how she just charms everyone this is probably unlikely!
I have noticed other changes too – and I am not sure they are positive, but I think they may well be natural. I am so incredibly judgmental. There I said it – I look at some other parents and I judge, and I often find them lacking. I am not talking about our friends I am talking about the people I see in my regular every day activities. I see the family with the 3 or 4 year old in the stroller and I wonder why they are not making their child walk. I listen to how other parents talk to their children and I flinch. I am being honest, I physically flinch. I see so many peole with toddlers and young children not restrained in cars, or those parents who insist on smoking around their children, and please don't get me started on the soda in the bottle or the sippy cup! We were standing waiting for the T the other night listening to some (very) young moms talking to each other - every other word was an F-bomb and they were laughing because one of the kiddos had apparently said "No shit momma" - this child was maybe 3 or 4. Am I snob for being utterly appalled by this?
We are also more intent than ever on getting the hell out of “Dodge.” Last week a 14 year old was shot and killed 3 blocks from my house, on a basketball court we drive past at least 3 or 4 times a week. This is the same basketball court that has tennis courts and a playground and just a couple of weeks ago I had said to Rob, “Maybe we should bring Poppy up here one day just to play.” Not likely now. So we have started looking for houses out of the city. We are specifically looking at Manchester-by-the-Sea, Essex, Beverly and Gloucester right now, but will likely look at Scituate and Plymouth too. We are as Robert puts it “shopping by school district.” I do love the city, and yes, we could look at private schools but they are around $25,000 a year for elementary (infants) school and I don’t want to do that when we can just move to a town where there are regular schools that are just as good.
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