Travels with Throckmorton: BBFFs (baby best friends forever)

I knew that once Finley got older, my social calendar would basically shadow his: hanging with the other parents at the birthday parties, the pool, the park, the pump track at Alice Lake... but I didn't expect it to start so soon! Don't get me wrong, I love that Finley has provided me with a social life, because I was starting to get cabin fever this summer. In the early weeks as a new mom, I felt like I was in the movie "Groundhog Day" with Bill Murray: wake up, breast feed, change diaper, go for walk... repeat x several. We still have to do all the above, but now we get out for lots more adventures.

Walking with the other moms & babies at HPOP

We live in a pretty small town, but there is a TON of stuff for new parents and babies to do. Here is a sample of what we have available to us in Squamish on any given week:

Monday:
10-11 Mom and Baby Yoga
11:30-12 Babes and Books Story-time at the Library
12-2 Cooking class for pregnant and new moms

Tuesdays
9:30-10:30 Swim lessons

Wednesday:
11:30-12 Babes and Books again
12-2: HPOP (Healthy Pregnancy Outreach Program) - for expectant and new parents

Thursday:
11-12 Parent & Infant Drop-in at the library

There is nothing official on Fridays, but we made a point of getting out of the house at least once every day. We've made so many new friends from the activities above, that there is always someone who is up for hanging out or going for a walk.

HPOP was one of my best discoveries and a highlight in our week. It's a group that meets every Wednesday and is open to all new and expectant parents (and grandparents, or any care-provider for that matter!) We meet at noon, enjoy a free lunch and socializing and then we listen to a speaker and have a group discussion about a variety of parenting topics. When Finley was really little I found it somewhat daunting to go out as I was worried that I'd have to go home if Finley started to cry or needed to be fed. So I was pretty excited to discover HPOP - when I walked into the room and saw babies crying and moms breastfeeding, and everyone having a good time and eating free food, I thought: "These are my people!" We've met some really great people at HPOP.

Finley as a few other new friends around town. Here he is hanging out with our friend Miss K, who was quite keen to carry him. She is three years old, but Finley is already about half her weight, so we thought she should probably just "carry" him on the couch!

Finley and Miss K

I'm not sure who is working at the hospital this summer, because at least 3 of my nursing friends and two other doctors were on mat leave with babies the same age as Finley. This summer we attended a joint baby shower for myself, Dr. H, and the three nurses; we all delivered between May 13 and June 6. Unfortunately Dr. H and her little guy could not come up, but here's a shot of the other four cuties:

These four babies were all born within 11 days of each other. Finley is the oldest, but the not-so-little dude on the far left was born the very next day is a good 2 lbs heavier! Big boy!

Two of my closest friends from university were also pregnant at the same time as me. In our second year of school, we lived together in the same house, so it was pretty special to learn that we would have kids the same age. T-mashi and her daughters live in Vancouver, and Mme J and her sons live in Victoria, so we don't get to see them all the time, but we make a point of visiting them as often as we can.