Sunny days, Sweeping the clouds away

We had a great spring weekend! Fortunately Anthony still fits in some of his summer clothes from last year. Since he has slimmed down so much some of his old favorites have a new lease on life.

Bob and Anthony spent a lot of time at the park, checking out all four swings and all the slides. Then in the afternoon his pal Ciaran came over for a playdate. After C left, we went outside and played some more!

Our front yard is getting pretty full of plastic c***. I'm really truly not a big fan, but Anthony LOVES his slide. His favorite toy of all is probably his new Cozy Coupe police car. I'll get pictures soon.

PS A note to Great Grandma Ella in North Dakota. We've been thinking of you and are glad to hear that you haven't floated away.

New Shoes

Yesterday we went to REI and Anthony got his first pair of big-boy sandals. They are his first pair of shoes that are sized by size, rather than age. He is currently wearing a size 6. He was a little unsure of them at first and then decided they were a lot of fun. I decided on Keen's, even though I think they are atrociously ugly in grown-up shoes. They're pretty cute in mineature, though.

This morning Anthony woke up and wanted to wear his new sandals. He probably thought he'd be able to go outside and play.

Visiting Anthony's Birthfamily

We had a nice visit with Anthony's birthfamily last weekend. Unfortunately, we didn't get any great group pictures. Someone who shall remain nameless was less than cooperative.

Basically, Anthony's stranger anxiety got the best of him. He REALLY doesn't like being approached. If you come on to him too strong he just plain won't warm up to you. He needs to approach you, and then he'll be great.

He and Yesenia had a great time together. Anthony really admired her pretty pink bike and she took him for rides on it. (Bob and I took turns holding the other side.) He looks EXACTLY like her. From the beginning everyone commented on it, but I'd never seen pictures of her as a baby. Now I really see the resemblance.
Everyone has the big eyes. Victoria, her mother, her grandmother and all the kids. When we're out in public its a toss-up whether people comment on Anthony's hair or eyes.

Fun with Bubbles

Anthony LOVES bubbles. He likes dipping his bubble wand in the bottle (and then slurping off the bubble liquid). He likes watching me blow bubbles. He likes popping the ones that land in the grass. He even likes sticking his tongue through the hole in the bubble wand.

I think he's part giraffe!

We've got the best mown sidewalk in the neighborhood!

Anthony can probably spend hours mowing the sidewalk with his mulching mower. When he'd done Claire and Robert will happily take over. Hopefully Anthony will have as much interest in using the real mower when's he a teenager!

Something I've realized lately--he understands that he is supposed to stay on the sidewalk. I don't trust him, of course.

Our "Playborhood"

My neighbor Sarah (Robert's Mom) introduced me to the concept of a Playborhood awhile back. Basically, you want to encourage interaction with your neighbors and free-play. Kids running around and playing together, inventing their own games, that sort of thing. It appeals to me, BIG time.

The Playborhood blog has some great articles discussing how to get back to that era of free-play, rather than adult sponsored interaction. (Use the pulldown menu entitled "Show all categories". I was reading them (instead of working) the other day and realized that we have that in our neighborhood! In fact, its one of the things I love about our neighborhood.

We go to the park pretty regularly and we always run into other families we know. Three days this week when I got home from work we played with our neighbors Claire and Robert. When we came home on Thursday they were actually in our yard. Robert was playing on the slide while Claire pushed the doorbell a few hundred times in the belief that we'd finally come out and play. Meanwhile other families were coming home from work or walking home from the park and they'd stop by for a visit. When we bought the slide I purposefully put it in the front yard, hoping that it would encourage play amongst all the kids. And it worked!

One of my favorite things right now is watching Anthony play with the other kids. He has so much fun. At the park Wednesday he played with Emma, who was 3. He followed her up the jungle-gym and they rode the side-by-side down together, giggling hysterically.

PS Sorry I don't have a great picture of the kids playing. I was too busy supervising the Cozy-Coupe and blowing bubbles to handle a camera, too. The Cozy-Coupe is Robert's. Anthony loves it, though. I'll have to keep an eye out on the garage sales for one of our own.

How's this for a look??

Did I mention he likes shoes??

They don't even havt to match!
Or be on the correct feet?