Zoe the Social Butterfly

Zoe is really blossoming into a talkative, adventurous, social and fun loving girl.  She has lost the shy and quiet traits and is no longer afraid of being around new people.  She leaves Mommy's side and ventures on her own easily in almost any setting.  So much so that it seems hard to believe that she suffered from severe separation anxiety for the first two years of her life.  That baby girl is long gone now and has turned into a very social, confident and independent toddler.

I'm learning that Zoe loves to be around people and one of her favorite things to do is play with "my friends."  So I've been making a conscious effort to try to reach out and engage some other moms and thier kids in play dates with us while Dylan is in preschool.  Having some fun things for she and I to do together and getting some socialization for her while Dylan is in school is very important to me. 

So this week I reached out to a neighbor, Nicole, and we planned a park play date.  Walker is 3 months younger than Zoe and the youngest of three kids.  The kids played so well together and interacted very well for their age.  Zoe was so happy and had so much fun.  She just kept squealing with excitement.  Walker would be on another part of the playground and she'd call him out saying "Walker, come here!"  I guess she's used to having Dylan calling all the shots and giving direction so she seemed to be enjoying being the leader.  Thankfully Walker happily obliged. 

When we picked up Dylan at school, she was very excited to tell him "Dylan, I played at the playground with my friend!" 

Meet Walker!  He is a cutie pie with that blonde, blonde hair.

Zoe coming down the big slide.  WHEE!

Zoe called Walker over to come "look at this thing,"

 Swinging together

Dare Devil Zoe finally convinced Walker to get on this thing with her.  She was just a squealing as you can tell from her expression.

It's fun to get outside and play with friends!