So as I had said, last night we went out for the very first time together without the baby.
And?
We had a great time!
My sister got to my house around 6 and we left around 7. I was very nervous trying to set out James' PJs and night-time diaper and swaddle blanket, and explain about heating up the milk and everything. He was fussing a little when we left and it was heartbreaking to just leave him and walk out the door. As I was waving to him from the doorway I swear he was looking at me forlornly.
I promised myself I wouldn't text my sister for at least a half hour, so I texted my Mom instead (so romantic, LOL): "He was fussing when we left!"
When I did talk to my sister though, she said he was fine and they were playing with his toys, so then I felt a little better. I swear, though, I nearly had an anxiety attack as we were driving--I knew he was fine but I just missed him so much and it's hard to trust someone else to be his sole caretaker when up until now it has only been me and (Big) James. I mean, I OBVIOUSLY trust my sister but clearly, no one knows James and how to comfort him and all of his signals better than us, his parents, you know?
Once I heard that he was fine, though, and especially after we got to the restaurant, it was fine, and fun, to be alone with James. It was strange to feel like I was relaxed in a way without having to take care of him for a few hours straight, but worried in another way from being apart from him!
Anyway, when my first glass of wine showed up it helped a lot, hehe.
I recalled to James that for the last 3 or 4 years, when we were out for our Valentine's dinner, I would say: "This might be our last Valentine's Day alone together before we have a baby/before I'm pregnant!" And depressingly, it was never true. Another year would come and go and I would still be saying that. So it seemed so significant and special that we'd finally done it! We had a baby at home waiting for us! It was like celebrating the accomplishment of finally reproducing!
Hehe. Okay, my entire date post probably shouldn't be about the baby. Here's what we had for dinner (I was on a gluten-free break):
Adrienne: Vegetable dumplings, beet/tofu/fresh basil ravioli with asparagus and garlic greens, and double chocolate "teasecake" (Cheesecake made of tofu).
James: Lentil Soup with bread and carrot/miso spread, Spicy Tempeh sandwich with sweet potato fries, and he shared my teasecake.
I also had TWO glasses of wine in a row for the first time in almost a year!! I just wish I'd dranken them faster so I would have gotten even more tipsy, hahahaha.
I feel like the names of the food does not do it justice. The beet raviolis especially were TO. DIE. FOR. They were handmade from pasta made from scratch and sweetened with beet juice (so they were pink, how romantic, LOL), and then the stuffing was tofu in a ricotta style with fresh basil. And there was some sauce, probably also made from beets--the flavors were just ridiculous. And the teasecake, too. When you think of a cheesecake made out of tofu you are not picturing the delicacy and deliciousness of this cake. It was almost the consistency/flavor of chocolate mousse, with a graham cracker crust . . . it was SO good.
So we left home around 7, got seated around 8, left around 9:45, and got home about 10:30 and thanked my sister and sent her on her way. James was asleep in his swing, so we left him there while we finished up our date upstairs. (Teehee)
As I had mentioned before, it was our first time "together" since James was born, and it was honestly fine! Even fun! I'm really glad I waited as long as I did, though, because I was definitely still nervous when THE moment came, hehe. It definitely felt different but it didn't hurt, so it was a relief to face my nervousness and "take the plunge", so to speak. ;-)
And then we retrieved James from downstairs, put him in his co-sleeper and cuddled up and fell asleep! So all-in-all, a great Valentine's day! :-)
