Henry seems to be really coming into his own as far as socializing and enjoying other children. Typically they tell you that kids this age engage in "parallel play" where children are playing in close proximity to each other but not really interacting. Henry does some of this but mostly does what i call "observational play." He loves to watch what other kids (especially more active ones or older ones are doing) and then react or imitate them.
Friday a friend of mine and her 21 month old son came over for a playdate. Henry had so much fun watching Thomas hop up and down and explore all of our new toys that he couldn't take his eyes off him and tried to copy everything Thomas did. Henry can't hop yet but he did get down a pretty fun running in place motion that seemed to make him happy. Henry has been having some real sharing difficulties but he was wonderful at sharing his toys with Thomas.
Then last night we had a girls night out that Henry tagged along with to celebrate our friend Tiffany's birthday. After dinner we went back to Tabitha's house for dessert and Henry got to play with 16-month old Helen. Helen is more physically outgoing than Henry and when she was trying to offer him a toy she accidentally bonked Henry on the head. Henry reacted the rest of the evening by guarding his "personal space bubble" with outstretched hands. But as long as Helen isn't too close Henry is grinning from ear to ear at her antics and so excited to explore her toys and play blocks or look at books together. It was a fun night to watch them and after the kiddos went to bed we had a great time catching up until way too late.
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