This afternoon Maria had her very first playdate. One of the moms at her gym class inveted us over to play. It was Maria, Kylie (the little girl whose house it is) and Alyssa and the 3 girls had so much fun. Kylie has a bouncie house, a giant hammock, a water table, and a slide in her yard! It was like being in an amusement park for Maria. They all bounced themselves silly in the house, got soaking wet in the water table and swung like maniacs in the hammock until we had lunch. Jeanette grilled hot dogs and made baked beans and served grapes. The little ones munched for a bit then went back to playing. After some time we decided it was time for dessert. Maria and I had brought funfetti cupcakes and frosting and sprinkles so the girls coud decorate their own. They had a good time eating the frosting and Maria LOVED shaking out the sprinkles! After dessert Alyssa was ready for a nap and she and her mom left. We stuck around for another 30 minutes or so and Kylie showed MAria the toys in her room and they ran about chasing and calling to each other. It was great to see her interacting so well.
But I gotta say, playdates are pretty upscale! LOL I wasn't expecting a full lunch! When I was leaving Jeanette and I talked about getting together again. And before Alyssa and her mom left I mentioned that perhaps I'd have the girls over for an art day. I love the idea of Maria having some friends of her own. She's getting so very big!
She's asserting herself again! LOL Now Maria needs to be in chage of the shoes she wears each day. Sometimes she will tell you a particular shoe she wants to wear (polka dot shoes, light up shoes etc) and some days she wants you to show her all of her options and she will tell you "no" or "yes."
Her new routine is to sit on the little step up to the house from the garage and await her footwear. Cinderella and the glass slipper have nothing on Maria!
Maria's quite the busy little bee, in gym class one day a week and art class another. We've also hit both the zoos in our area with plans to go back lots. She seems to prefer Lincoln Park where the penguins (pingus) can swim right past her giggling squealing face! She also likes the underwater viewing of the sea lions. When we were there last week a giant gorilla was sitting right in front of the window, Maria walked right up to him (her?) and they stared at each other for a long time. When the gorilla got up and started walking away Little Miss Bossy shouted out "Come back here, monkey!" 
Gym class is going well, though Maria's not too interested in sitting for circle time she loves the activities. This past week she was swinging from a trapeze bar and loving every minute of it. And she has really enjoyed getting into things at art class. She LOVES glue and glue sticks and painting can keep her interest for quite some time. It's so much fun to watch her interacting with the other kids in tboth classes and of course it's great to see the things she makes in art.
We've had another explosion of vocabulaty around here. Now our little chatterbox is talking pretty much non-stop frmo the moment she wakes up in the morning til she falls asleep at night. One of her newer phrases "guess what?" has us cracking up. And she tells knock knock jokes, sort of....she'll say "knock, knock.....banana whoooo?" She's been listening to Doug's jokes and since he gets a laugh she wants to tell them, too. We've also been introdiced to the toddler anthem of "mine, Mine, MINE!" Ah the joys. 
Today we're off to a (kinda) local Strawberry Festival where she should be in heaven since she loves strawberries. On the agenda: chocolate dipped strawberries, strawberry donuts, and strawberry smoothies while we listen to the music and watch the balloon animal makers and maybe, just maybe get a caricature (sp?) of our little lady.
Maria had her 2nd class at My Gom on Tuesday. She did so much better. Not only was she somewhat interested in circle time (she didn't sit the whole time but she participated some) so tried so many new things. By the end of the hour she was climbing like a pro to jump into the ball pit. She also did an assisted forward roll, swung on the rope ladder, and hung from the chin up bar and shouted out monkey noises. She did very well, I think. And this morning she was singing the hello song from My Gym and smiling. I think she's really going to enjoy those classes.
In a few minutes we are leaving for Maria's art class at Gymboree. This will be her first class. According to the online description "art" includes painting and drawing, dancing, music, and dress up. It should be pretty fun! I hope she likes this class as well. It's nice having 2 classes a week to get us up and out of the house a bit, where we can go regardless of the weather. I hope to have a fun filled report from this class, too!
