Cuteness, Multiplied

One of the things I was saddest about leaving behind when we pulled EH out of day care is the socialization aspect.  Every day he would get to see 12 to 15 of his peers, many of whom would likely become his friends in the future.  He left day care right as he was really starting to become more social, and it made me sad to think that we weren't going to get to see so many of those super cute moments when EH started playing with the other babies. 

The challenge with trying to orchestrate some play dates for Evan is that it's just plain hard to find the time.  DH and I both work full-time.  When we get home I cook dinner while DH entertains EH.  Then while I'm putting EH to bed, DH washes dishes and then we do some picking up and get ready for bed ourselves.  On weekends we have to do all of the other things that don't get done during the week - laundry, trash, cleaning, picking up, grocery shopping, paying bills.. all that fun stuff.  Plus we want to still have a little quality time with our kid.  Once all of that is said and done, the weekend is not only over, it's already Monday evening.  

A week or so ago I took a random Friday off because A-care wasn't available, and we had a little "play date" for EH.  A friend had her baby - a little girl - in October, so she is only a few months younger than Evan.  They were remarkably similar though in many ways.  EH is on the smaller side and baby girl - we'll call her Stripes - is almost as big as he is even though she's younger.

EH excels in sitting up, whereas Stripes is a pro at tummy time.  She is all over the place on the floor, rolling over, squirming around, basically almost crawling.  And EH just sits there and watches her very intently, occasionally reaching out to touch her.  Although we are anxious for EH to become more mobile, it made us appreciate his calm, contented nature.  He's perfectly happy sitting on the floor playing.  No need to move around for him, and thus no need for us to worry about him rolling into things or getting into something if we walk away.  We know it's soon though, and we will be thrilled when it happens. 

Put two independently cute things together and the cutest multiplies exponetially

EH loves his crinkle blocks, and so did Stripes.  They're a little too young to understand sharing right now but as parents DH and I are going to have to remember to teach EH those things since he won't be learning them in day care, and since these days he doesn't have to share his toys with anyone.

EH's play date with Stripes made me realize that we need to get him together with other kids, especially other babies his age, more often.  The good news is that EH has two - that's right, TWO - little girl cousins on the way; one will be here in April and one in July.  Although they'll be quite a bit younger than EH, we're excited that he's going to have play mate cousins relatively close in age, and we can't wait to meet them.