Spike making friends

We have been having glorious weather here in Chi-town. I'm even enjoying the rainy days because they turn everything so green when they're done. We live one short block from an amazing park that the boys and I visit multiple times per day. Check out the flowering trees that we breathe in on our walks.

The warmer weather is also a chance to reconnect with all of our neighbors after we've hibernated for the winter. Everybody's outside playing and gardening. It's so different this year because Isaac is old enough to remember peoples' names and talk to them. I'm trying to help Isaac to learn to be friendly, so we say, "Hi" or "Good morning," to everyone we pass. It's a good exercise for me too, because I don't want Isaac to discriminate, so I am sure to say hi to everyone. I've really learned that even if a person looks mean or creepy or like they might not speak English, everyone appreciates a smile and a greeting, especially if it's from a cute little boy. Isaac often says hi as we walk by and then tells me, "Izey say hi!"

Isaac has begun to really become friends with our neighbors. In fact, you might even say he is head-over-heels for our 6 year old neighbor, Natalie. Since we are in the garden unit of our condo building (that's the ground floor for all you non-city folk), we easily see all the action outside. When Natalie comes and goes with her family, Spike immediately climbs the toy box to sit on the windowsill and is glued to the glass, "HI ATLIE! HI ATLIE!" and then when she leaves, he will sit there for twenty minutes (if I let him) and yell, "ATLIE, ARE YOU? ATLIE, ARE YOU?" Last night we came home from a walk and Natalie was outside playing with her brother and grandma. Isaac was clawing his way out of the stroller as soon as he saw her and saying HI! with gusto, over and over again. Natalie said to her grandma, "That's him." She loves it, though, and plays so sweetly with him.

We also meet kids in the park, where Isaac often gets a little territorial. Sometimes we have to leave because he won't stop screaming at the other kids. He thinks it's his slide or his playlot. Sometimes he makes friends, though. The other day we met a tiny 3 year old named Holly. When she and her daddy left, Isaac asked me, "Halloween go?" He also met some two year old twins named Billy and Jonny who he became instant friends with when they insisted on sharing their snack with him. They were having way too much fun shoving Cheetos in Isaac's mouth for him, and Spike, as we all know, is not one to say no to food.

I love this new dynamic of Isaac and of being his momma!