October 23- Going to playgroup

Ellabella all dressed and ready to go play with her friends!
Sterling…ready to go play with all the ladies. Poor thing, he still is the only boy around here, with the exception of baby Mason. Come on Mason, grow, grow! We need a playmate for Sterling!
While we were away in the states, our little friend Evie’s awesome mommy Sarah, started a new playgroup for all the babies, errr, scratch that, toddlers around here. The first playgroup after we returned was cancelled due to a sick child, so today was the first time we’ve been able to attend the playgroup. We were so excited to go to our little friend Emily’s apartment to play, make Halloween crafts, and eat snacks.
I know I sound like a broken record, but this age is so much fun! It’s interesting to see the boundaries of the parallel play of the second year come down as most of these toddlers near their second birthday. They’re actually starting to interact and play amongst themselves. They spent a lot of time playing in the little play hut and playing musical chairs with the little table and chairs set. In fact, all the moms were really surprised to have the time to actually sit down and enjoy each other’s company instead of chasing babies the whole time. From L-R, that’s Philomena (23 mo.), Ella, Emily (23 mo.), Sterling, and Audrey (18 mo.).
My kids the anti-socials. So they scored exceptionally well on the social development on their EIDS evaluation. Unfortunately, no one took into account that those outstanding social skills are only shared between the 2 of them. Actually, Sterling needed no time to warm up to all the other little kids. As soon as we walked through the door he just jumped right into the middle of what they were playing. The boy truly has never met a stranger. Ella on the other hand was a little more hesitant, and wanted to take a little time to observe the other children before she could decide if they were friends or not. During snack time, Ella and Sterling retreated to this little table and shared a cup of goldfish together, while the other little kids ran around the apartment with their snacks. Like I said, my kids the anti socials only want to hang out with each other.
Ella drinks here yummy Korean yogurt. This was one snack she wasn’t going to share with her brother.
Sterling and Philomena found a quiet place to play together in the play hut. Philomena just arrived in Korea while we were away. Welcome to our new little friend and her super nice mommy, Jen.
Part of our playtime included making Halloween ghost decorations. Okay, so they may be a little too young to care much about arts and crafts just yet, and perhaps the mommies ended up doing more of the craft than the babies, but we still had fun with this little project.