Gymboree!

With long Maryland winters come LOTS of time indoors. Anyone with a "busy" toddler knows this is not a best case scenario! So, after looking into a couple of "enrichment" programs (as the books call them)I decided on enrolling Evan into Gymboree classes. We started going weekly back in February and continued for two months until our last class at the beginning of April.

While there was no question Evan enjoyed the atmosphere; jumping, running, climbing and throwing balls, he definitely was not interested in the group activities - or "circle time". This is when all the mommies and kiddos head over to the center mat for bubbles, parachute time, and tap, tap, tapping on the giant "air log". I learned very quickly on day one that Evan was NOT INTERESTED. Let's just say I tried to push the idea on him and ended up with a very embarassing toddler tantrum!

So, from that point forward I decided he should play as he pleased. After all, I was paying for him to have fun, right? So, for eight weeks we went and he enjoyed playtime. Sometimes he joined in for bubbles with his friends but mostly he could be found running and climbing (usually with at least one other rowdy little boy!) . Rather than fret that maybe he's a B-R-A-T who doesn't want to follow instructions, I prefer to believe he's a natural-born leader and couldn't be bothered following the crowd. It helps me sleep better at night....

Here are a few pictures of our last day....and luckily my parents were here to tag along and see Evan in his element!

He loved checking out all the other Evans in the mirrored box - it was hilarious!

Climbing...and stopping for a quick pic!

Sliding with his ball - two of his favorite things!

Pushing the ball up the ramp...and getting a wee bit irritated when it rolled back toward him!