Picnic Fun and Back When She's One

Yesterday the Prenatal Mamas met at Anna's and then headed to Dufferin Grove Park for a picnic. I posted earlier about how much I was looking forward to this and I have to say that I was not disappointed. Anna brought sheets to lay on the ground and we found a nice shady spot with a picnic table to set up our spread. She brought pitas, tahini, babaganoush, a tomato-basil-and-feta salad, fresh pineapple and a gingerbread loaf. I contributed some coconut macaroons. When we got there I laid Istra down on the sheet after letting her pee on a tree (hey, if dogs can, babies can!). I didn't put her diaper back on but let her "air out" a bit and I know she thought that was tons of fun. Amy followed my lead and let Tessa have a little naked time as well and pretty soon all the babies were lying on the sheet with no pants on. Istra hung out like this for the duration of the picnic with no complaints. I got to have a nice leisurely lunch and chat with everyone.

The farmer's market was awesome. At one end there was and old guy with dreadlocks down to his waist playing an electric guitar. At the other end there was a young guy in a straw hat playing a banjo. In between there was seeming endless heaps of organic goodies--piles of leafy green chard, kale and lettuce, tomatoes, berries, mushroom pesto, honey and beeswax products, olives, gorgeous homemade bread and goat's and sheep's cheese. I went in search of the strangest thing I could bring home to Tim and came away with a pink loaf of bread made out of beets. I also got some organic cheese and swiss chard.

Besides all the great food and other natural products to be found there, there was also an amazing sense of community in that park which was really refreshing. There were also tons of other moms there with their babies in so many different kinds of carriers (and nearly no popular-only-in-North-America Baby Bjorn carriers) and no one batted an eye at the moms who, having finished their shopping, dropped everything on the grassy hill beside the market to feed their babies and watch everyone bustle about below.

Perhaps I over-romanticize, but all this really made me yearn for a place near Dufferin Grove Park, or a similar community elsewhere. I suggested to Tim that we should make time during the week to hang out at a park somewhere and picnic; we could read books to each other like we did during our courtship.

After such a lovely day yesterday, I suppose some small disappointment was in order. Today Istra had her follow-up appointment with the cardiologist and apparently her murmur--which Elizabeth maybe-couldn't hear at our last appointent--is still "loud and clear". The doctor wants to see her again when she's one year old.