One of our few married friends, Jacquie and Jason, were married 11 months before us. They had a beautiful daughter, Jasmine, 11 months before us. Ben and Jasmine were both born in 2009, but as you can see from the photo above, Jasmine looks like such a big girl compared to little Ben. Jasmine can hold her head up, can sit up, has a reaction to situations, can walk with guidance, and can crawl really, really fast. Ben can't do any of these things yet (and that's okay). Thing is...I just can't believe they're the same age! When I look at the students in my class, I view them as all being 9 and 10 year olds. I've never thought about how different they are developmentally and in terms of their maturity based on their birthdays. Malcolm Gladwell knew what he was talking about in his book "Outliers".
To celebrate Jasmine's first birthday, we gathered together at Jacquie's parents' house in Long Island and had so much fun. It was the first time that Joon, Ben, and I have gone out together for a family outing. This was not only our first outing, but was also Ben's 2nd car ride.
Being the worry-wart that I am, of course, I had a long list of concerns. What if Ben needs to be changed while we're driving? What if he doesn't stop crying? What if he gets hungry in the car? These were just a few of my worries just for things that could happen while we were en route to LI. Then, some of my other concerns were: Where would I put him down when he falls asleep? Where would I feed him? Since I'm exclusively breastfeeding him, I always worry about this. Some bf-ing moms feel comfortable feeding in public, but I still haven't tried it nor do I think I could do it. Joon even bought me something called a "Hooter Hider" which is basically just a piece of beautiful fabric that's used to give you some privacy from the world while feeding, but I still haven't used it. I'll eventually try it sometime when it gets warmer, but I'm dreading that day.
Ben slept through most of the drive there and when he started getting fussy, his binky came to the rescue. When we got there, Jacquie told me that I could use one of the bedrooms to feed him, so that's what I did. I fed him and changed him there. He did so well that day. Just a few cries here and there, but other than that, it was a good outing. I worried for no reason.
I'm sure things will get easier and I'll be less anxious as we do this more often. I'm hoping to be a pro by the time the weather gets better since we'll be able to go out more. I'll get lots of practice. I can't wait!
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