THE USUAL SUSPECTS


This week there was a break in my Thursday volunteer schedule, so I got a chance to bring Vanessa to the petting farm to play with her oldest friends. Well, by oldest I mean longest-known. Most of us moms and babies met in birthing class, back in the fall of 2006.





Our birthing class instructor also offered a weekly follow-up class, called Mothers & Babies. It was really a New Mother Support Group. These are the classes where you can show up an exhausted, disorganized wreck with your newborn, and cry, breastfeed, and otherwise let it all hang out with other new moms.





The very wise instructor encouraged us to spin off into small groups once we completed her classes. Our little pod started a walking group. Then we had to start meeting at the playground when our babies became too wriggly for their strollers. We also occasionally go to the petting farm, as we did this week.

It's great fun getting together with these moms and tots. We've been through a few key stages together. It feels like we are all cousins or something. There are babies missing from these pics - we can't all make it every week - but maybe Vanny fans recognize some of the usual suspects; Baby Thomas (who is actually 6 months the elder), Baby Kennedy (who is one month younger than Van), and Baby Grant of birthday party fame.

All four were studying us intently as I ran the camera and moms Kim, Andrea and Liz stood behind me shouting Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star and waving their arms wildly. We think our kiddies were slightly concerned we'd flipped our lids right there at the farm.

We moms were comparing notes about how language is beginning to spew forth from the mouths of our babes. We love it. Not that you'd know it when they're all together - they're mutes whilst at play.

Here is a clip of VanNanners enunciating like the little genius she is.

And here is an example of our daily vocabulary lesson. My word, she's ready for A & P.