Moving Up to the Bigs

We had our first Parent-Teacher Conference for Michael yesterday, and it went rather well!  As he is only 3, we completely focused on his social/emotional development.  (Because, seriously, we could care less if he can count to 10 or recognize a letter at this point.)  Anyway, the teacher assured us that he is blending nicely into the class, participating in circle time, following rules, etc.  She did note that he doesn't make as much eye contact as some of the kids and that he often goes off on his own for activities.  We're actually not surprised with any of that assessment, and we are certain that all of that will improve with time and experience.

With all of that being said, Traci wanted to make a point to get Michael more play dates (sans Katie) this school year.  The trouble is, most of our friends' kids that are Michael-age are girls, and Michael is all about BOYS and boy stuff.  (We remember Katie accepting friends of the opposite gender for far longer than this??)  Today, we were fortunate to secure a play date with our good friend Karen, who is home on maternity leave.  Her kindergarten-age daughter Libby gets along smashingly with Katie, but her son Charlie and Michael had always ignored each other in the past.  Well, today, the boys were AWESOME together!  They not only played together, but they shared well and were brave enough to go upstairs by themselves.  Hooray!  Instead of the dolls and pretend play of Katie's play dates, this one involved a whole lot more cars, trucks, tools, and Legos. 

Not to be outdone, we also paired up our youngest kiddos, Neve and Bridget (1 month-old).  Of course, they did well just laying next to each other.  We can't wait for their play dates someday!