First TPG!

You're probably wondering, what is TPG? It stands for Toddler Play Group and we had our first one today! (Friday 5/2/08) My friend Nicole Heid was the mastermind behind it and I'm so happy she took charge and organized it. She wanted to start a playgroup that would be structured and theme-based so that our kids would get more out of it, vs. just going to someone's house and letting the kids play with toys, while the moms chit-chat. For now, we'll meet every Friday morning and each mom will take turns being in charge of the activities. If the weather is nice, the hosting mom can choose to meet at a park instead of her home.

Today's first meeting was hosted by Sandy who lives in Northvale. She wanted to host early, since she's pregnant and only has a few weeks left. Sandy definitely impressed us all with the fun activities she planned! Her theme was COLORS and BALLS, so she assigned each mom a color to wear. Each child was also asked to bring his/her favorite ball. It was fun to see the rainbow of colors in the room.
Here we are, wearing PURPLE. When I was assigned purple, I complained to Nicole that I didn't have anything purple. She happened to be at K-Mart that day and saw these purple shirts on clearance, so she bought them for me ... THANKS Nicole - they were perfect!! She also let me borrow her purple shirt, since I discovered that I don't own even one piece of purple clothing!

Nicole brought a parachute and most of the kids loved playing with it. Unfortunately, Reagan was in rare form this morning and did not participate in this part of the playdate. She bumped her head while getting out of the car (because she is SO independent these days and won't let me help her do anything, which means she has to get in and out of the car and carseat all by herself). I realize it's a good thing for her to be independent, but sometimes it requires a lot of patience on my part!

Anyway, the parachute was a lot of fun, especially when Sandy brought out the balls and we "Popped Popcorn."

Sandy spread the balls all around the room and the kids had to pick them up ... this was when Reagan finally decided to join in and participate.

Nicole read them a book about colors, and then Sandy blew some bubbles!

Here are all the kids, having fun catching bubbles

Here's our wonderful hostess, Sandy and her son Jack (16 months) - ORANGE

Here is Corin and her two children, Abigail (3) and Jonathan (1)- BLUE

Here is Mary and her son William (almost 2). I'm not sure if Sandy assigned her RED on purpose, but it worked out well for her, since she's a huge Red Sox fan! We can't hold it against her, since she recently moved here from the Boston area :)

I invited John's cousin Maribel and her son Joaquin (15 months) to join the TPG, because I thought they would be the perfect addition. Maribel works full time, so she rarely has any opportunities to attend playdates and get Joaquin interacting with other children. She recently started working Monday thru Thursday, so she has Fridays off to spend with her son. We were happy she could join us!

Here's Nicole with Bennett (13 months) and Mia (2 1/2), wearing YELLOW.

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Here's Meredith and her 4 month old Quinn (I never got a picture of Timmy, except for group shots) wearing GREEN. Julie and Taylor (8 months old) were both pretty in pink!

Reagan loved this purple balloon! She even took it with her to the pediatrician's office after TPG and put it in her mouth while I was undressing Avery. It was Dr. Czernizer who told her how dangerous it is to chew on balloons ~ thanks for making me look like a bad parent in front of the doctor, Reagan!

So, believe it or not, the colored shirts were a huge success ... after we left Sandy's and then again after the doctor's, I quizzed Reagan about who wore what color ("who was wearing green?"). Reagan named each and every person who was there and the color shirt he/she was wearing!