playdates and parties

After recovering from her cold / virus, Anna has re-entered her play circles with a vengence. Because we have had to post-pone many playdates and offers to stop by and meet Emmett until now, our days as of late have been very busy! Last week we were able to meet Allison and Tyler at Open Gym and share a lovely lunch at McDonalds with the kids...they had a great time!

Then, after naps that same day Anna headed to a neighbor's house to attend the birthday party of her friend Charlie who turned 2. It was the 2nd birthday party Anna has ever attended (the first being Charlie's older brother Jack's party last fall) and she was ready! She told me she had to wear her party dress, and do her hair special. As the only girl there, she was quite the princess. While the boys were busy playing trucks and trains, Anna was fascinated with her party hat and couldn't wait to share cake and ice cream with everyone. It was a fantastic time!

Over the weekend Grandma & Uncle Patrick stopped by to play, and our friends the Fillas and the Amelottes also came over. Anna had a great time playing with all of the kids! I don't know if we have finally turned the corner from 2 and a half heading into the "3's", but Anna is just now starting to play very well with other children. In the past she would play, but most often she would want to spend the majority of her time with the adults. I have noticed over the past week that this is shifting and if her playmates can talk, and are interested in playing together - she will leave the adults and head for her toys with the other children. Anna and Elise had a great time playing together on Saturday night - it was quite fun to watch!

When we aren't having playdates or attending parties, Anna is often pretending to have parties at home. Yesterday afternoon Anna and I organized a "puppy party" in our living room where we gathered all of her stuffed puppies from her room and around the house and had them show us their tricks. Later we put them on their leashes and took them for walks. Anna even set up bowls of water for them to drink from. Quite the imagination!

And while Anna is living life to its fullest, her little brother continues to eat and sleep. He and I have both picked up Anna's cold, but fortunately it hasn't been too bad so far. I think we are on the tail end of it having both enjoyed some extra sleep this weekend. Emmett dazzles us with his smiles and loves all of the attention that is showered on him.