Playground patrol

Yesterday we went into Manhattan & met up with Mark, Emily & little Alison for a playdate. Alison is almost a year old and loves to crawl so she has those same knee calluses that you had for months. As you can see, you were thrilled to get out and walk! Right around this time, Alison wanted to crawl home, but had to be carried. You told her to just be patient, it won't be long before she's burning up the pavement too!



We even got a pretty good picture of our family, taken by Mark. It is not so easy to take your picture these days, since you don't stop moving long. Many times by the time I snap the camera, you've already moved out of the frame.



What's challenging these days is figuring out how to handle the complex interpersonal dynamics of the playground. As we ran around the Madison Square Park playground, a slightly younger girl eyed your rice cracker, grabbed it out of your hands, and put it in her mouth while her mother looked on with interest. :-) What we've been thinking about is how to teach you to be more assertive. Possibly because you do a babysitter share with an older, bigger girl, you generally are willing to let other kids take stuff away.
Second, what seems challenging is figuring out how to intervene in a way that keeps everyone's dignity. On Friday, we brought your toy stroller to the playground. All of the toddlers wanted to push it around, but you're pretty attached to your stroller at this point also. So a little thirteen- month-old grabbed and didn't want to give it back...meanwhile you were getting very upset (even though you had been happily playing on the slide a moment before.) How can we teach you (and ourselves) not to worry too much about our stuff, but to build relationships in a ways that's respectful? Very challenging, we're learning as much as you are.