I honestly can’t believe the difference a year makes. Last summer, as I was typing a We’re Moms Too post, my feet were elevated, my hands were swollen and my stomach barely cleared the keyboard. As I write this now, body just about back to “normal,” I think about what fun activity I’ll get to do with my 10 month old daughter after getting home from work.
It’s only July and my daughter has already experienced a handful of summer firsts (she was born in early August last year, but was too little to really enjoy the outdoors). She has become a swing addict, although her first experience was a little shaky at first. My husband is a stay-at-home dad like Tena’s hubby, so I gratefully get to spend an hour with her here and there over lunch. There is a park about 5 minutes from my work with bucket swings. One workday, my husband packed us a picnic and we went to the park over my lunch break. After lunch, we placed her in the bucket swing and pushed it a bit. She sat in that swing like a limp dog – it was partially that we had no idea how to sit a baby in a bucket swing (“put a blanket behind her so she sits up further”) and partially that this was a completely new experience for her and she had no idea what was going on. But once we removed the blanket (and the over-sized floppy hat), she started smiling and giggling. Fifteen minutes later we had to leave so I could return to work, but I knew we’d be back to the bucket swings soon. On that day, we created a bucket swing monster.
We’ve also had the chance to frequent a few ballgames. My husband is a die-hard Cleveland Indians fan, so it’s no surprise that he would want to share the excitement of the game with his daughter. Progressive Field has an awesome kid’s play area, which I’ve always wanted to check out, but couldn’t without a child (it makes sense that they won’t let you in without a kid). So when we took our daughter to the game a few weeks ago, I finally got the chance to check it out (I may have been more excited than her!). Most of the toys are still a bit too big for her, but she loved to crawl around on the mats and found a toy just her size – the Up & Down Elephant. She poked, pulled and climbed on the mini slide with confidence.
One of my favorite firsts happened just last week. The weather has been fickle here in northeast Ohio so it’s been less than great pool weather. The other night it was HOT, like 90+ degree hot. So I thought it would be a good idea to bring out the pool and see if she liked dipping her feet in the cool water. Again, she was hesitant at first, but after mommy and daddy showed her it was okay, she looked like a seasoned pro. She was so proud walking around the pool holding onto mine and my husband’s hands. It was a proud moment for us too.
Do you remember your first summer with baby? What was your favorite “first” that summer?
About Ashley
Ashley is a self-proclaimed fashionista, social media maven, and proud new mama. Together with her husband, they welcomed their first child last August. They also have a fur-baby named Peak, an 80-lb. yellow lab whom they adopted during a ski trip in Denver. She is the Social Media Manager at Step2 and you may have recently communicated with her if you’ve chatted with Step2 on Facebook or Twitter.
