Social Interaction

The Little Bean just got her first dose of social interaction today. We went to a birthday party and there were tons of kids there, many of which were her age.

Initially, she was reluctant to be near the other children, but it didn't take long for the lure of all the toys to get her to ditch her parents and join in the fun. She still doesn't play with other children, but rather beside them and the only interaction is when they are fighting over a toy. She was rather upset when one of the kids (23 months) came up and took the toy stroller she was pushing away. She screamed in frustration and followed him around until his parents made him return her toy. Then she went back to srolling all over the place.

The stroller became such a hot item that we had to put it away so that no children could play with it. Later the Little Bean and a 16 month old girl who was the size of two Little Beans were picking up rocks together and putting them in a bucket. My little girl took the bucket, dumped out the rocks, scooped up water from a muddy puddle and drank it. She had mud all over her face and in her hair. Then...she did it again. We figure she has giardia or some other stomach bug now!
Kids are super interesting to watch and really funny. Some of them steal from the other children, some go off by themselves and play in the mud, others only want the toys that the other kids have. It is really interesting to watch how they interact. It was like having an ant farm, except different.