It does take a village

We made it back from the beach today. After a minor freak out at the start of our trip, Violet was great for the remainder of the journey- even through stop and go traffic in the big dig. It definitely makes me anxious driving with a newborn that I can't see in the back who could start screaming at any moment. Luckily it was only a 1.5 hour drive.

We really had a nice time in Westport. My dear friends who invited me are so wonderfully generous. They rented a house in Westport, Ma which is only 67 miles from Boston with me and my newborn daughter in mind and said that we were welcome to join them (or not) for however long we wanted. They each had 2 very young kids (4,3,2 and 8 mos.) there, but they still found the time to hold Violet, teach me new methods of soothing her, make me breakfast, lunch and dinner and make sure I always had cool water to drink and time to grab a shower every day. It was very frustrating for me to not be able to do more. I really wanted to help much more with the cooking and clean up, but little V and her propensity to want to nurse and/or demand holding much of the time, really made that tough. I think also that part of me thinks that because I chose to enter into parenthood solo, I should be able to do everything on my own...well I can see already that that isn't really going to be possible. V and I are so incredibly blessed to have such wonderful family and friends who honestly want to help. Letting them do so is going to be very important.

This is a picture of Violet in the dunes. Horseneck beach in Westport has a great paved trail that runs along the beach and goes through some beautiful dunes. Perfect for a stroller!