Fun with Friends

At lunch recently with a new mom of a boy 2 weeks older than Ethan, the mom asks me, "Do you have a lot of friends who are moms?" I paused for a second as I realized I moved to Austin last year with ZERO friends here and am so grateful for the wonderful community of fellow Stay At Home Moms that I have made! These friends of mine and friends of Gabi's have been an incredible social group and most importantly a great support system.  Though them, Gabi is learning to share, take turns, play nicely, and so many other skills and experiences that she wouldn't get otherwise. She tries new foods that her friends eat; she wants to do activities that her friends are able to do; and she gets to play with different toys when we go to friends' houses. As her language has developed, it's been fun to watch Gabi express friends' names and get excited in anticipation of a get-together as she recognizes and understands who we're going to see. To misquote the Wonder Years, we get by with a LOT of help from our friends.

Mommy takes a whole lot of pictures but doesn't take so many with Gabi's friends as much as we'd like. Thankfully, the other mommies do and are kind enough to share them! Here are just a few special moments for you to enjoy.  (I've been collecting these for many many months, so you may notice some cute pre-toddler Gabi pictures.) 

We love Lo and Kemper (or as Gabi says, "Kempuh!") and spend a lot of extra time with them since Kemper's Daddy also works on 'normal' people's weekends.

that time they showed up wearing the same outfit

dress-up fun

Then, there's the lovely group of neighborhood moms that we've been fortunate enough to get to know. We are so lucky to have met such nice families who all live within walking distance to us (and our THREE neighborhood playgrounds)! We can get together at a moment's notice and arrange park playdates when it's too lovely to stay in the house. Not only are there sweet friends within a few months of Gabi's age, but many of them now have new babies like us, so Ethan will have a whole set of friends as well!

water table fun

Gabi and Allison

that time RIGHT before 5 toddlers jumped on Gabi's bed

The gang's all here! We love when we can get so many together at the same time. top row: Mom Jessica holding Allison and Will, Andrew, Graham, Gabi, Allison bottom row: Ethan, Wesley, Annabelle (Baby Will is only 4 days old in this picture!)

hanging out with Gen II

Other great moments with friends:

that time we had a TON of dressed-up toddlers at our house for a pre-Halloween playdate...

As Becca said, Gabi doesn't look like she has the superhero sense of urgency. (with Sabrina and Kemper)

Kemper doesn't seem to get the joke.

refusing-to-smile Gabi with Maggie, Kemper, Lyanna, and Alice