Ten Months

Fridays I stay home with Joaquin. Fridays are my favorite. Full of simple joys. Like this simple recount of a happy friday when Joaquin turned 10 months old.
The day was a lovely one. The family woke and had breakfast and we had a quiet morning and then Joaquin went for his morning nap. I was getting antsy to head to San Francisco to see my friends Jolie and Chasin because after two hours he was still asleep. I packed his lunch, his ergo carrier, diapers, water and snacks and he snoozed for another thirty minutes. Finally I heard him stir. After nursing, I packed Joaquin into his infant bike seat and we rode down the street to the BART train station.
Joaquin surprised me by sitting calmly in his bike seat. These days is the constant explorer and sits for nothing. But that Friday, he sat in his bike seat while the trained rolled to San Francisco. The train was fuller than usual for a noon time Friday because the Bay Bridge was closed for construction. That meant there were many women aboard to smile and coo at him. Joaquin returned their affections and even offered his newly learned wave, fingers facing in, to two sisters one of whom was newly pregnant. The ride was a breeze.
From the Civic Center station, we rode to Jolie's house. Chasin, our 13 month old friend and pictured on the 4th of July in this blog, was in his high chair so Joaquin joined him in the extra high chair Jolie keeps in her kitchen. The boys ate some lunch. Chasin always likes to eat Joaquin's food. Then we turned the boys loose to play with toys in the living room. Joaquin was usually shy. He was quite ready to jump into the fray with ever-friendly Chasin yet.
Our plans had been to ride to the beach but a fog was visible to the west. So instead we rode to a park in Noe Valley. The ride was fun. Two mamas, two babies, two bikes. The boys were happy passengers. They crawled around the park.
Joaquin started to get sleepy and it was time for us to head back to Berkeley so we all rode to the 16th street BART station. Jolie helped put Joaquin into the Ergo backpack carrier. I knew he wanted and needed to sleep and that was the best place. So walking my bike, with baby on my back I entered the station. On board the train, Joaquin fell asleep and stayed asleep until we re-entered the sunlight in Berkeley. He was a wonderful companion.
In the early days I had some doubts that mothering was what I wanted to do. But these days are who I always envisioned a baby- leisurely days of easy fun in sunny parks with mama friends. Lets hope this happy phase lasts.