Last night was our second book club meeting. After our busy day, we were running a few minutes late, but we eventually made it. Connor couldn't wait, he talked about it all afternoon and all the way there in the truck.
And, per usual, Connor was shy at first. He always hides behind my back and wants to sit on my lap to start the meeting. It must be something about the small group setting, because that definitely was not an issue yesterday morning at the birthday party. Or maybe being inside in a quieter, more controlled environment is more intimidating. Regardless, he eventually found himself and started moving around with ease.
This week was about the five senses (how appropriate, since a recent post mentioned how Sawyer very much processes the world this way). Connor participated in the story time, answering questions the host asked of the boys about things that they can see, hear, taste, touch and smell. He even talked so much I had to ask him to let the others have a turn, which is what we see at home but not often what others see away from home. He went through the activity with minimal redirection (the new and unfamiliar toys were calling to him). He liked sticking his hands into a covered box and trying to identify the objects by touch, especially the Hot Wheels car. He also liked tasting foods with a blindfold (a cleverly covered pair of children's sunglasses). It was a fun and interesting concept, which means one of the other mothers and I have big shoes to fill as our turn to host comes around!
And after the scheduled part of the meeting was over (the story and the following activity), the boys just spent an hour or so playing together. Connor and the other kids were especially fond of the GeoTrax train set. Luckily, there were four remote controlled trains to go around. And the moms, and the host dad, sat around the dining room table just talking. We threw out a few suggestions for future meetings, some options for meet-ups in between the actual book club meetings, and also just talked about some parenting issues in general. It was a fun way for the kids (and the parents) to spend the evening.
For me, it was especially nice to have some of that Connor and Mommy time again. We haven't had much of that since school ended in early June, so it was nice to just have one child out on an adventure for a change. We even took advantage of the moment and stopped at the local library on our way home (very appropriate, I thought, on our way home from the book club meeting). Poor Connor has been rereading his collection this summer, because that's another place we haven't visited much. I have yet to be brave enough to take all three boys there. Mostly because the little guys are still rough even on the board books we own, so I can't imagine how they would do with library books as far as the eye could see. Nope, not yet.
And that was the end of our very fun, but also very long, day.