Somewhere Fun

We love having Gosia as our nanny, however one thing that we wish we could get Huelan more of is social interaction with other kids.  She has an activity almost everyday, whether it's storytime at the library or the fabulous Rockin' Kids Sing Along hosted by Ms. Stephanie, so she gets out, but we don't really get to see it because we're at work.  So on the weekends, we like to take her somewhere and let her run around.

When we're getting ready, we ask her variations of the question, "Where do Mom and Ba take you?"  She answers, "Somewhere fun!"

This past Sunday, we went to the playgound at Little Farm in Tilden.  Watching her interact is basically the cutest thing in the world.  She's not quite big enough to run around with the 5-8 year olds who are playing tag and climbing the jungle gym really quickly.  But she tries.  Eventually, she'll find a few girls (it's always girls) who are a little chiller and played with them.  

One girl Huelan just walked up to slowly and timidly held her hand.  They silently agreed to play with each other,  and soon were running around together like best buds.  

The girls in this pic were super nice. All older than Huelan, they helper her climb up this rock formation, giving her a little boost on the bottom.  Huelan was so proud that she had made some friends.

It's amazing how kids this age all share one priority- playing.  You won't be surprised to hear that at this park in Berkeley, there were no less than five languages being spoken. Doesn't matter.  

We try to hang back while she plays; we're anti-hover.  I try to not even let her know we're watching her all the time, keeping just enough of our eyes on her to intervene when absolutely necessary.  It's extremely difficult to do, but it's getting easier as she gains more confidence on the playground and we get a tiny bit more comfortable that she can take care of herself.