Big Day Out

Yesterday, Thom and I got out by ourselves for the first time in 4 1/2 months. My brother Jim agreed to babysit for us, repaying some babysitting I did for him about 16 years ago.

Sometimes Aaron seems to be a bit of a Mama's boy, crying when someone else holds him and calming down when I take him back. So in the nights leading up to our day out, I laid awake for short stretches of time worrying about leaving him. I wasn't worried about leaving him with my brother, just worried about him being without me for several hours. But I thought about all the stuff we needed to take over to Jim's - play yard, stroller (which would calm him down if he became overwrought), crinkly green frog, milk for more feedings that he should actually need, etc, etc. And in the end, by the time we dropped Aaron off, I knew he had everything he needed so he would be OK without me for an afternoon.

When we arrived, I went over his routine (needing to be swaddled for naps), all the contents of his diaper bag, anything I could think of that was relevant. I told my sister-in-law Barb that I knew they had experience with babies, but it was the first time I was leaving my baby. She was very patient with me.

They had already set out a play blanket on the floor for Aaron. It was a colorful blanket with a crescent pillow Velcro-ed on to prop up Aaron's head or to prop up his chest if he was on his stomach and had lots of stuff to look at and touch. Elizabeth seemed excited that Aaron was there and after I fed him and put him down on the play mat, she sat by him and was singing to him when we were ready to leave.

After we left Aaron, we headed over to the theater to see an afternoon showing of Julius Caesar. A friend and coworker of Thom's was in the play, which was our motivation for going, and a good excuse for our first break from the baby. I had never seen Julius Caesar before and it was very well performed. I called Barb at intermission and she was just finishing feeding Aaron. Everything was going well.

After the play, we went to collect Aaron. Barb had left for work by then and Jim was holding Aaron on his lap so that he was standing up. He seemed content and showed no reaction to our return. Jim said it had gone very well. The only time he fussed was when he got hungry.

It was fun to get out with Thom on our own and felt good knowing that Aaron was fine without us. I'm sure we will be doing that again.