uh oh, what do we do now?

First of all, is anyone still checking this site to see if I'm ever going to write again? I hope so. I'm determined to get back to it.

Maya is 8 weeks old this weekend. And it marks a new era because for the first time, Anil and I are on our own up here. Both of my parents were in Boston for the first month, then my mom stayed with us in our apartment for this past month. That wasn't the original plan, but we were so overwhelmed with the labor and c-section aftermath and general insanity of a new baby that we looked at Anil's work schedule for March and thought it would really help to have my mom here to help me out some more. It was a huge help; not only did I get to avoid going to the grocery store or Target for another month, but she stayed up with me when Maya was struck with reflux all night and bounced her on the yoga ball for endless hours. She also babysat so that Anil and I could go out to dinner a few times, which was a huge treat.

She flew back to Florida today, though, and while it was not only helpful but also just a really nice, unique experience to have my mom here with me, with my new daughter, Anil and I are ready to jump into this on our own now. We inaugurated this next step by driving out to Marblehead, on the north shore of Boston, this afternoon. Anil wanted to see the ocean, and we'd gone there almost a year ago, on our anniversary, so we sought out the same park with the lighthouse, overlooking the rocky shoreline. Anil packed up a cooler with a Belgium beer to split and cheese and crackers that we had around the house, and even though it was in the 40's and windy, we had a picnic and toasted to our crazy new life together. We had Maya bundled up in her down-insulated Patagonia bunting and the Baby Bjorn (two items I've gotten endless use out of lately). Even though at one point we looked at each other and asked, "Who does this? Who takes their 8 week old baby outside when it's this cold and has a picnic by the water?" Well, we do. And we like it. And Maya liked it too (trust me, she makes it very clear when she isn't happy).