First day

Dom and I had our first session of Stay & Play this morning. We got there at 9:30 and met Miss Jeanne, who gave us our name tags and showed us the different play areas. Dom headed into the gross-motor room, which was full of things like slides, rocking horses, and tunnel leading into a huge box (formerly for watermelons). He loved playing in there, though he stopped several times to point out the ceiling fan. Then he went back out to the main room, where he played with plastic food, push toys, a puzzle, and various other toys. There was no shortage of toys, despite the number of kids in the room.

At 10:15, it was time for songs, so everybody got into a circle. This is where Dom became considerably less happy. When the first song started, he got upset, flailing his arms and saying "stop!" over and over. (He had behaved similarly on Sunday at a birthday party when "Happy Birthday" was sung, hitting at a two-year-old who happened to be standing in front of him. Mike picked him up and was rewarded with some hits in the face.) Then Dom took a push toy and went through the circle to the other side, where he got upset again. He ended up getting through the songs by sitting on my lap and sucking my finger, holding my hand tightly with both his fists. He should have been happy, considering they did several verses of "Wheels on the Bus," his favorite song in the world.

Next was snacktime, followed by messy play for those who were interested. Dom got to paint for the first time and made a beautiful work of art, which I will post on here next week. (It was too wet to bring home today.) He also played with homemade playdough and a variety of cookie cutters.

Overall, Dom had a good time. We met some nice people and even saw a little boy and his mom we knew from Kangaroo Kids.* The only problem was during the singing, but I'm hoping that each week Dom will be able to handle that better. If not, we're free to do whatever he needs to do, like go into the gross-motor room. The atmosphere is relaxed, and even though there's some structure to the morning, it's not rigid. It's just playtime, after all.

*For anyone who doesn't know, Kangaroo Kids is a resale store and maternity support center that holds a weekly nursing moms group. Dom and I started going, sporadically at first, when he was about 5 months old. The playgroups we go to now are sort of an offshoot of those gatherings.