First night away from baby

The last week of March, when Desmond was almost 8 months old, I spent my first night away from him.  It all started with a gift certificate we received a year ago from our friend at a baby shower (thank you, Ryan!).  In the certificate, he wrote how important it was that we, as new parents, have alone time.  We sort of forgot about the certificate until we were cleaning house for my mother's week-long visit from Florida.  It was tucked in the drawer with an expiration date of March 30, 2011.  We talked to my mother about it and she was all for it.  "Go and leave me alone with my baby!" she said and then added, "and make me another grandbaby..." and hung up the phone.

So, we made a reservation and decided to go out to a fancy dinner, sans wriggly, crying baby, and then out for drinks afterward.  We went to Cucina Toscana, a restaurant that we have always wanted to go (p.s. service outranked the food, by far).  We then decided to go to Urban Lounge, a local club, to listen to some local music.  We were surrounded by early-20-something hipsters dancing off rhythm to the music.  We ordered a beer, that was seriously like 24 oz, and people-watched.  By the time the band finished, I was on my 3rd beer and 8th trip to the restroom.  I was having a grand ol' time.  Long story short, we were out and about like a couple of college kids until 5 in the morning.  We walked into our beautiful hotel room exhausted and starting to get hungover.  I pumped and dumped and went to bed.

Typical room at Hotel Monaco

And then we woke up at 11 and checked out.  What a waste of a romantic evening.  I know better for next time not to squander away a golden opportunity like a stupid pair of unruly teenagers.  Most importantly, I realized that although I was slightly hungover and really had such a great time the night before, I missed being with and sleeping with Desmond.  Not in a thousand years would I have thought that I would have preferred staying in instead of having a romantic night out.  Maybe if the night had been romantic, I wouldn't have pined for Desmond as much as I did...even if it had been romantic, I still would have wanted to have him near me throughout the night.

We're not planning to have another romantic getaway until we get married (which is less than a year away!!!  05/12/12!) and at that point, I feel pretty confident (Desmond will be almost 2 years old then) that I could leave Desmond with my mother for a few days and have our wedding night to ourselves.  Hopefully, I won't miss him too terribly bad.  Now I know how those mothers feel when their facebook status says, "going grocery shopping...and I already miss baby X!"  I used to scoff, thinking how happy I would be to get away for a few hours without having to think about Desmond.  But these little creatures have a way of creeping and seeping their way into your every fiber, like mold.  And then you find that when you're apart from them, you crave smelling their sweet breath and holding their chubby little hand.  Even if it has just swatted the dog's butthole (true story).