Yeah for Play-Away!

Jacob and I ventured to our first toddler play date on Monday! Jacob had a blast! Now that I'm back at home with Jacob I knew I needed to find a way to keep him socializing with kids his age. He had done so well at daycare and we got nothing but great reports on how well he interacted with the other children. I was a little concerned with Jacob losing some of his "people skills" while spending all of his day with just mommy. So I hit the web and started searching!! Low and behold I found something that is held at the community center only two blocks down our street! It's called Play-Away and is geared for 1 to 3 year olds. The class has a "teacher" that leads a loosely structured play time. The first 20 minutes is free play time and when we first got there Jacob didn't want to let go of his mommy. He was definitely uneasy with this new environment. I lead him to a corner full of toys that included a kitchen with play food. When I sat on the floor with him it wasn't long before he was cooking something up!! After free play time, the teacher leads the kids in circle time. Each week will have a different theme but with this being our first gathering she had us singing some familiar songs. All of the children were sitting in their moms laps with we sang a hello song, which included all the kids names and the popular song The Wheels on the Bus Go Round & Round. Next she started the well known ditty The Itsy Bitsy Spider. This definitely excited Jacob, he sprang from my lap and proudly stood to do all of the movements while everyone sang! It was the cutest thing! So much for his being shy! At the end of his performance everyone clapped and Jacob loved being in the spotlight and laughed and clapped along! He was a hit! (and mommy was so proud). After circle time the group sits and does a craft. Jacob sat at the table like such a big boy and happily worked on a name plate full of stickers. It was a masterpiece! Then it's more free time to just play, Jacob's favorite, besides the kitchen area was the slide. The teacher wraps up with a parachute goodbye activity. Jacob didn't take to that so much but it was the first time he had experienced such a thing so we'll see if he warms up to it. Overall Jacob really enjoyed himself and I was pleased to see how well he got along with and enjoyed being with the other kids in this class. On a side note, it was also really nice for mommy to meet some other local mommys and make some of her own friends!! This class meets every monday so it will be a really nice routine for me and Jacob to go and meet with our friends and socialize. They also have "Drop-In" play time available at the center and Jacob and I joined that as well. I plan to take advantage of that 2 times a week. The Play-Away and Drop In are each one and 1/2 hours long. I am very pleased because I know that this will be an excellent way for Jacob to continue developing his socialization skills, burn energy and have a blast! If his first time is any indication he is REALLY gonna love it! And if Jacob is happy...mommy is happy!!!