California has been awesome, but one thing I do miss is my network of mommy friends. I miss the luxury of being able to walk straight out the door to the playground (a playground at which there is almost always a familiar face or two to greet you). Luckily I've found a few little outlets around here to satisfy my need for "mom companionship." One thing I've started--thanks to a coupon I found--is a "Stroller Strides" class. There's an instructor who has us do simple exercises as we push our babies along a trail. This has been kind of nice. The instructor is a really delightful British woman who is very attentive to my pregnant state, and who is also very attentive to my whining Rose who does not like being confined in a stroller for such long periods of time. There's only one other woman that attends the class, and she's very nice, but it's kind of a bummer to have such sparse attendance.
Another thing I do is go to the playground with Rose (there are some beautiful ones around here). Unfortunately, the first few weeks of our playground experiences were kind of lonely. We would go pretty early, so I guess no one was up yet. I have to admit that the main reason I would go to the playground in Utah is so I would have someone to talk to. Rose also feeds off the energy of the other kids, so it was kind of sad to see her wander around the silent, barren play equipment. However, we've gone a bit later the past couple of times, and I've met some really nice moms (and dads). Sometimes I feel like a single person at a bar, except my end goal is just a good conversation and the pick-up lines I use are ones like, "so, how old is your daughter?" or "where'd you get your son's hat?" I hope I don't come across as too forward. :) The past couple of times I've had some really nice conversations with people, so I felt very productive and fulfilled. The only thing is, the median age of moms--I'm talking about moms with kids Rose's age--is quite a bit older than it is in Utah. Don't accuse me of being "ageist;" these women are great. It's just sometimes hard to relate because we're at different stages of our lives. I mean, these are settled and established women. Sometimes I feel kind of silly telling them that my husband and I are students on a summer internship living with my parents. Oh well--the fact that we all have kids puts us on common ground.
Speaking of kids, my other little kid--the one inside of me--seems to be doing fine. I had another ultrasound today, and it looks like his echogenic bowel has gone away. I don't think I ever mentioned the specific problems going on with this pregnancy, but the baby's echogenic bowel was one of them (google it). I still have high levels of amniotic fluid, so we'll keep an eye on that, but everything else seems to be fine. One thing's for sure--Simon's little boy parts are lookin' good! I say this facetiously, because every single time I get an ultrasound, they print out a pic of his nether-regions. It's not like I ask for it--they just assume I want to have another picture of Simon's wee wee to add to my ever-expanding collection. This phallocentrism starts at an early stage. ;)
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