Still Enjoying All Of The Things

When I was pregnant, everyone I knew told me to enjoy doing things like going to the movies, going out to dinner with J, and traveling “while I can” because once the baby came, apparently my life as I knew it would end.

That’s bullshit.

Yes, we have had to make some adjustments. We can’t afford to have nice dinners out as often as we would like these days, and we are generally more tired more often, but we somehow have found ways to do the things we love.

Things we were told we’d never do again once the baby came:

• Go to the movies
• Go out to dinner, brunch, etc
• Have friends over/entertain
• Travel
• Have intimate alone time
• Sleep

Things that we are still doing, three months into parenthood:

• Going to the movies – with our baby!
  • Drive in movies are great — you can hold/feed the baby while watching a first-run movie, or let the baby sleep in their carseat. And if they get fussy, nobody outside your own car can hear! Outdoor movie screenings are another great option!
• Going out to eat.
  • Tonight, in fact, we went out for the third anniversary of our first date, to the same Japanese restaurant (we go back every year), and we took the baby. He did great. Slept a little, ate a little from a bottle, and only fussed a little (but after a quick diaper change and bottle fix, he was FINE). It was stress-free and we had a great time and made a lovely memory.
• Having friends over.
  • People love to come over and coo at our little one. And sometimes, they even bring food!
• Traveling.
  • We have two trips planned. We are taking our tiny human to Europe in August. He will be just shy of six months. Sure, there will be some tricky moments, and it’s a long flight, but IT WILL BE FINE. And in October we’ll be headed to the east coast to visit my family. We’re even going to have a couple days to ourselves. My parents will keep the little man while we head off for a weekend getaway to celebrate J’s 40th birthday.
• Having intimate alone time.
  • It’s none of your business, but yes, all things are possible when your baby is a good sleeper.
• Sleeping.
  • Okay, this one was a bit tricky at first. That first month is HARD. We didn’t sleep much. But now, baby boy is averaging 5-7 hours of uninterrupted sleep at night. And even after waking up, a quick feed and diaper change and he’s back down for another 3-4 hours.

Having a baby changes a lot of things, but as long as you’ve got the energy and an adventurous spirit (and a willing partner!) you can still live your life and make incredible memories with your teeny human. Any alarmist who tries to tell you differently can kindly bugger off.

We’ve got this. YOU’VE GOT THIS.