Play Group

Today I played gracious hostess and willingly invited my first-time moms group from the JCC over to have a play group. We've been meeting up for play groups outside the JCC since the beginning of October, and now it was my turn to host. I didn't mind having everyone over; it was just stressful to get my house clean and set everything up for several people and their babies. The play group itself was a big success! Everyone from the group showed up, including my friend O and her son, who aren't in our moms group, but I invited her anyway because she needs to get out of the house more. I'm sure she would come to the JCC if she didn't have to work every Wednesday. I was glad to see that she was finally letting her son down on the floor to play and explore. The boy is almost 7 months old, and until recently, she's been super-protective of him and would always hold him in her arms. Granted, that's her right as his mother, but my child-rearing philosophy just happens to be very different from hers. I was letting Smash explore his surroundings on his own at about 4 months, right around when he started holding his upper body and scooting around on his tummy. I attribute that early independence and self-reliance to his ability to sit unassisted at 5 months and to crawl and pull himself to standing in his crib at 6 months. Now he's almost 8 months and ready to walk. He pulls himself up on everything he can and holds on with only one hand without much wobbling. When I hold his hands, he tries to take steps. I swear, he's almost there! I will be ecstatic if I have an early walker; it'll make daily life so much easier. Imagine not having to carry dead weight in a carseat all over the place all the time!

Shifting gears.

Once Smash goes down for the night, I will lay in bed and get started on The Vampire Diaries: The Return - Nightfall. It's not the greatest series in the world--or the best written--but I've recently read the original four books from 1991, and found out that Smith had decided to write three sequels to the original series, starting with this one, which was published last year. I'm curious to see where the story goes now.

Once I'm done with this book and the next one (the third in this sequel trilogy won't be out until next year) I'll finish up the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series (I'm currently on The Titan's Curse, the third in the series). I believe there are five total? They're pretty entertaining, and if you have a 10-year-old in search of a good adventure story with well-developed characters and a healthy dose of Greek mythology, then these books are for you. Once I'm done with those, I will be checking out The Hunger Games. I've heard a lot about this series recently, and want to see what all the hype is about.

I am such a bookworm!

EDIT: I thought I should share that my cousin and his wife welcomed their first baby into the world this afternoon, a daughter! I can't wait to meet my new niece and Smash's new cousin! SO exciting.