Playdate with Ava and Meeting Someone New

Zander had a playdate with his friend Ava this morning. My friend Amanda came over with her 2 daughters, Ava and Audrey. Ava is 2 months older than Zander. And Audrey is only 6 weeks old. This is the first time I met Audrey. The playdate was a little rough. Ava and Zander fought over a couple of toys. Zander has some push toys that he got from my mom that absolutely loves. Well, Ava loves them too. First, Ava wanted both of them, and every time Zander would try to take one of them Ava would cry. Ava wanted both of them even if they were just by her side and she wasn't using them. Kids at this age don't really understand sharing yet. We were able to distract them, but then they fought over a puppy dog. I had a solution for that. Zander has 2 of these toys that are similar, a puppy dog by Fisher Price and then "Scout" by Leap Frog. Apparently that did not completely take away the crying. Oh well. It was so nice to meet Audrey. After an hour or 2 we went and got some lunch and then ate at the park. It is soooooo hot and humid today.  We only lasted about 45 minutes at the park, and we all were drenched in sweat by the end of our park time. I didn't get many pictures of Zander and Ava because most of the playdate at our house either one or both of the kids were crying.

Little Audrey Emily

Both Zander and Ava wanted the puppy dog

And in the left of this picture are the other 2 toys they fought over earlier.

Zander gave up on the puppy dog, but Ava has tears in her eyes.

Oh, I forgot, they fought over the sprinkler too.  After a while all Amanda and I could do was laugh. 

I hope next time they get along better.  We did have fun at the park. 

Play date at the Park

My day started early. Zander woke up around 6 a.m., which he never wakes up this early. I guess he wanted to see his dad before he went to work. I fed him a bottle and then decided to try to see if he would go back to sleep. He did very easily and slept until 9:30 a.m. I couldn't believe it. I was unable to go back to sleep. I didn't even try because once I am up I am rarely able to go back to sleep. It was nice to have a few hours to myself this morning. It was eerily quite, but I was able to shower, do my devotions, and just relax by myself before Zander woke up.

After he woke up I fed him and then we got ready for his play date today. My friend Amanda and her daughter Ava came over today. We haven't seen them since Zander was 3 months old.

Amanda with Ava.  Amanda is pregnant with her second child and due at the beginning of July.

We had so much fun together. We went out to eat at Buffalo Wild Wings, then we headed to the park to play.   Zander and Ava loved the see saw and did not want to get off of it.

They also loved playing in the sand box.

Zander ate a little sand while playing.  And he loves to get dirty.  He is definitely a boy.

After a while, we went back to our house to play a little more inside.  Ava was getting too much sun.

Zander had fun pushing Ava.

 

They played so well together.

Until they got tired.

We had so much fun.  Thanks Ava for playing with us.   Zander hopes you can come over and play again really soon.

Lots of Play Time

Today Zander had a playdate with this little boy, Joseph, and his little brother Jonathan.

Jonathan slept most of the time, but that is because he is only 2 months old. Zander enjoyed playing with Joseph and his toys. And I enjoyed visiting with my friend Twilight.

After our playdate we headed home, where my nieces, Alyssa and Julia, were hanging out with my husband. Zander played with them before his nap. I just love these girls.

Later on we decided to give Zander his first ride in a sled to my parents house 1/2 a block away.

This picture was taken right before she threw that snowball at me. I didn't expect that.

On our walk we had a snowball fight, well really, the girls were throwing snowballs at me. I had my hands full so I couldn't throw any back. When we got to my parent's house we brought Zander in to spend time with his grandparents while the girls and I went back out for a fun snowball fight. The snow is beginning to melt, so it is perfect snowball snow.

And of course we went to Pipes and Pizza (Beggar's Pizza) for dinner because my nieces and nephew love it, and have to go there every time they are in. Tyler, my nephew, is not feeling well, so that why he wasn't playing with the girls and I. Poor guy. We had such a fun day. Too bad it is back to work tomorrow.

Here is a short video of the organ and lights at Pipes and Pizza.

Toy Thief

Zander had a playdate today with some of the kids in our small group at MOPs.  There were 11 kids there and 4 moms.  We had a fun time.  But I did catch Zander stealing a few toys from some of the other kids.  He even took a toy away from a 6 month old little girl.  I hope he stops stealing toys from others really soon.  I don't want it to become a habit.  I know he is only 9 months old, and he doesn't really get it yet.  I'm sure he will not be know as the toy thief, at least I hope not.

They had this really cute toy there.  It is a lot of fun to watch it being pulled.  I would love to get one for Zander, I'm just not sure where they got it from.  I love all things alligator since my name is Allie, and alligator is one of the nicknames my husband calls me. 

Play date with college friends

My good college friend, Sarah, moved to Arizona about 2 years ago. At the time they moved so her husband could go to school out there. They planned on moving back to the area. After her husband graduated as a nurse anesthetist, he found a job in Arizona that he really liked. We hope one day God will bring them back to this area, but we know wherever they live we will always be friends. Well, Sarah is in for a visit. Today Zander and I met her up at Cosley Animal Zoo in Wheaton, IL with other friends. We came a little late because we decided to visit a family friend who was recently diagnosed with liver cancer. We arrived around 11:45 a.m. and only Sarah and Molly were still there. Sarah has a son named Josiah and he is almost one month older than Zander. Josiah was born on February 26, 2009 and Zander was born on March 24, 2009. It was fun to see Sarah and Josiah again. He has gotten so big and he has so much hair. Even though Zander is younger than Josiah, I think Zander is longer than Josiah, but they probably weigh around the same. The Cosley Zoo is a small zoo with a petting zoo. I was surprised, but it was free. That was nice. Molly, who went to college with us, met us there too. Molly has 2 girls. The oldest, Kaylee, is 4 1/2 years old and her youngest, Brianna is 1 1/2 years old. It was so cute because when Kaylee wanted to pet the animals she would ask them, "Can I pet you?" At one point in time the gum Kaylee was chewing fell on the ground. She picked it up and brought it to her mom and said "Mom, get a wet wipe and wipe it off." She was hoping her mom would wipe it off and she could continue to chew it. Both girls are adorable. We had a good time.

Zander and Josiah

Brianna and Josiah


Molly and Sarah with Brianna and Josiah


Josiah, what a cute smile

Today was also nice because McDreamy got off work early tonight and was home by 7:45 p.m (he started earlier than usual at 1 p.m). I kept Zander up so he could put him to bed since he did not see much of him today. I enjoyed my 3 days off and bummed I have to go back to work. But I work tomorrow, and then I am off Sunday. Sunday we have another busy day planned.

Hugs, Hugs, and More Hugs

Yesterday Zander and I visited my cousin Melissa and her 2 kids, Joseph and Madeline. Joseph is 3 years old and Madeline is 14 months old. Madeline is in love with Zander. She hugged him about 20 or more times, and she kissed him a bunch too. After a while Zander was getting a little fussy about all the hugs. It was so cute!!!

Okay mom, a little help!
Helllllllppppp! Put down the camera and help me.
Okay, maybe if I bite her she'll stop hugging me. Oh, I don't have any teeth. Maybe I can just gum her and she will back off!