Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Dancing In The New Year

This is my Perfect Moment Monday post. I know. It's Tuesday, but I have been noticing perfect moments and then not finding the time to post them. I need to get back in the habit even if it means I am a day late.

New Years Eve:

We got together with friends. The same friends we have gotten together with on New Years for I don't know how long. Less than 10 years, I suspect, but more than 5. Maybe more than 10. At any rate, it is a wonderful group of people and it is our typical New Year's celebration - the group, not the location.

This year we got together at my friends dance studio. It was an adult party, but LB was the exception. It is fun to pretend it is because she is such a happy, easy baby (she is) but the real reason is that she is young enough to a) be a lap kid while we played cards and 2) too young to understand / repeat some of the language.

It was a perfectly delightful evening. We ate good food and drank good wine. Friends took turns holding LB so I got some time holding nothing but a glass of wine and a smoked turkey sandwich. We played several rounds of 10 handed Hearts. LB was shared among many. While an adult played their hand, LB chewed on the joker. Everyone seemed to enjoy her and she seemed to enjoy everyone - even if the person holding her sometimes made critical errors in the game and got the Queen of Spades.

We took a break to dance. LB, currently in a splint, sat it out but enjoyed watching. She already seems to love to dance and I dance with her often. That night I held her facing out and her eyes stayed glued on the dancers - sometimes excitedly flailing all her limbs, sometimes staring slack-jawed like it was the most amazing thing she has ever seen.

We played a couple more rounds and then it was time to head home. It was only 10:30, but already 2 hours past LB's bedtime. Unfortunately, she has a chronic case of FOMS (fear of missing something) and doesn't sleep if their is stuff going on. We didn't mind, of course. We missed the fire works, but we had a baby. It's all good.

As we packed up and headed out the door, it hit me. This was a perfect moment. How many years had we headed home after spending New Year's with this group and thought (although we enjoyed the evening), "God, what an awful year. I hope next year is better." December 31, 2008, we headed home with a spring in our step and a lightness in our hearts. What a happy year.

It's not too late to check out other perfect moments over at Lori's blog.

For those of you still trying . . . I hope 2009 will be a great year for you.

7 comments:

Lori Lavender Luz said...

I didn't know FOMS had a name!

Sounds like a lovely evening.

And your sentiments are beautiful.

Wishing you a blessed 2009, Kami.

MrsSpock said...

You truly have come through to The Other Side...

Leah Maya Benjamin said...

Isn't it freakin great! Just like riding the carousel horse, so nice to finally have our kids and not have that crappy feeling inside. The answer to your question is yes of course you can have a tutu, I'm sure Brad would get a kick out of it, since we have 2 Maya says "mommy put on tutu too" now that I am getting girlier I might have to make a red one for valentines day, why not, maybe green for St patricks, and red,white and blue for the 4th, I could go on and on.

singletracey said...

That sounds like a FABULOUS evening :-)

Have a great 2009 Kami and family!

Tracy said...

What a touching post. It made me well up a bit, remembering my own past wishes for a better year in the one to come. I'm glad you had a perfect moment and a lovely evening with LB.

Peeveme said...

I love this post. It is such an amazing moment when you think, "I can't believe this is my life" and it's in a good way.

Smiling said...

what a lovely post. I really enjoyed reading this. I love the bit about her chewing on the joker. A perfect detail in a perfect moment.