New Days, New Experiences

Clothing Swap

Sunday morning, I got in the car, drove about 10 minutes away to Park Slope, and took part in a clothing swap. My dear friend and new-mom, KO, gave me the information about it from the Park Slope Parents website, and I was excited to attend. During the week, I organized three huge bags of the baby's old clothes by size and I have to admit, the prospect of giving away his clothes made me a little misty; pulling out the pieces was a trip down memory lane. So many of his clothes evoked specific memories of my little guy in his early months of life. Plus, there were also the clothes that were my favorite to put on him. He was so little, I couldn't believe some of the clothes ever fit him. Apart from the sentimental value of the clothes, there was also the irrational fear that my giving away the clothes was akin to letting go of any plans to have a second child, and that made me a little sad too. I also had entertained the idea of selling his old clothes, as I know that baby clothes do sell well, and I live in a neighborhood full of children and an unimaginable number of pregnant women. However, in the end, I decided that it was good karma to put the baby's clothes out in the universe for those who may need them. And that it doesn't mean that there won't be a second child (either way, I have no control nor do my son's old clothes, it is up to the Higher Power, plus I could have a girl and the clothes wouldn't be of use to me anyway). And that I probably wouldn't have had the time to sell them, I mean they've been taking up needed space for the past 7 months already! New York square footage doesn't allow for sentimentality. But the icing on the cake, and what drew me to the swap in the first place, was that the baby also needs clothes and this was the perfect way to score a "new" wardrobe, for little money. So off I went to the Old Stone House (pictured above) to drop off and pick up - this is basically what happens, you drop off what you don't want and take home what you want. It was a little overwhelming at first, the tables were organized by size and boys and girls clothes were mixed together. Unfortunately, there were many more selections for girls, especially in the sizes I wanted. I was surprised, seeing as most of my pregnant friends had boys. I still made out with a bag of clothes, some Summer shirts, some clothes for the Fall. I got to see KO and her family again and I had a wonderful drive (I haven't been driving). All in all, a good deal!

Mom & Baby Yoga

I had forgotten that the building had scheduled work for our apartment today. So, I checked out the Time Out NY Kids website to see if there was anything the baby and I could do to get us out of the way and out of the house. Sure enough, there was a free trial Mom & Baby Yoga class, sponsored by Karma Kids Yoga, which had a Brooklyn location not too far from us. I hadn't taken a yoga class with the baby since my class with Xing and her son in Vegas last August, so I was interested to see how a class would go in NY. I only had one hour to get myself and the baby dressed and out the door, and of course, we were about 15 minutes late, but the class was just beginning as we entered. Let's just say that a yoga class with a mobile baby is COMPLETELY DIFFERENT than a class with a baby who can't walk yet. And apparently, the class was for babies who can't walk yet! The listing said up to 18 months. Oh well. But the instructor was very nice and reassuring, letting the baby walk around and do his own thing. She pulled out toys to occupy all the babies and I was terrified that my baby was going to drop the toys on the other babies' heads as he walked around in the center of the circle, talking up a storm. He's becoming a different baby, much more relaxed and vocal than I anticipate. I think I expect him to be more reticent, as he has been in the past when in groups of people. Between the library Story Time and this yoga class, I am seeing perhaps a pattern - he likes to be heard and he likes to be heard over the person talking, LOL. But it isn't in a disrespectful way, he just has a lot to say and he needs people to listen. Very interesting. He didn't really want me to hold him, unless it was to nurse, he much preferred to explore, play with foam blocks, grab babies' bottles. Any time a song was sung (yes, we sang songs), he got pretty excited, smiling and clapping. I wasn't really able to relax, following his every move as I tried to do the yoga poses. Eventually I totally abandoned any pretense of doing yoga and got up and followed him around. After the class, the instructor complimented me on my son's adorable personality and intellect, advised me to try the Parent & Child class which caters to walkers (I guess my son is a "child" now), and was really just a warm person, I was glad to meet her. And it was a good Mom & Baby yoga class, all things considered. The baby was totally smitten with one of the mothers who was also super-nice, playing peek-a-boo with her after the class and hiding behind her back and then sneaking around to surprise her. It was really cute. Vocal, center of attention, flirt? My son's gonna be a Congressman!