Play Date with Leela

This week I offered Leela's mommy to watch Leela for a couple hours so that she could have some uninterpreted study time. I wanted to help plus I thought it would be fun for Meo to spend some time with Leela since they hadn't seen each other in a while and Meo hasn't been having a lot of one-on-one time with friends lately.

We started off by playing upstairs in Meo's room while Leela's mom studied downstairs at the table. I put on the CD from our Music Together class, which Meo was singing along with a bit and Leela smiled about; it's fun music. Then they got right into playing toys. Meo watched Leela for a bit from his chair before he couldn't help but join in. They played trains, with his toy animals, with LEGOs and stuffed animals. They also read lots of books. Leela kept handing Meo books to read after she went through them and he ended up with a huge stack.

Leela reading to Meo

Smiling at Leela

Glancing at the grinning Meo

One of the highlights for me was when Leela noticed I was trying to pick up some of the toys and started to help by putting away the books. Meo never does this, but noticed what Leela was doing and helped her to collect books then handed them to her so she could stack them up. What great little helpers (and what a good influence Leela!).

Leela taught Meo how to put his books away after they were done

 
They even found enjoyment in running on and off Meo's bed together. Meo was pretty much giggling the entire time they were upstairs because he thought Leela was hilarious for some reason.

Running of the bed

At one point they stopped to take a break. Meo had LEGO flowers on his little fingers and lounged on his bed while Leela relaxed beside him on the floor. It was pretty cute.

Also, to my amazement, Theta pawed at the door to come in. Leela and Meo then enthusiastically ran over to him to pat him, which surprisingly he allowed. He's such a good kitty.

After an hour I decided it was time for us to go outside. I carried them down the stairs one at a time, and quickly got Meo dressed in his outdoor clothes. Leela found her mom at the table and got a little sidetracked and wanted to sit beside her and have a snack. So we had a quick snack time and then headed out to the great outdoors. There we played with the forest sensory bags Meo and I made for the Earth Day play date we had that weekend. That was fun for a few minutes.

Then we hopped into the wagon and went for a walk. They were both very excited about this. Leela couldn't stop talking about the wagon the whole way to the trail, and Meo continuously reminded my that I was pulling a heavy load uphill by saying "up up up!".

Once we reached the trail, I set the toddlers free. I am so glad they are both such great listeners. They never went off the trail, and never ran ahead. Meo kept himself busy with his latest favorite thing: picking up rocks, leaves and other treasures and giving them to me as gifts. Leela was concerned we left the wagon behind and kept asking me about the wagon so I had to reassure her that it would be there when it got back. She helped Meo collect rocks. They also chased each other around a little and Leela gave Meo a couple big bear hugs, which he loved.

Playing chase

Meo got tired mid-walk, so I ended up carrying him home while Leela trotted along beside us. We had a fun wagon ride home, then I set them free in the yard where we played a little ball and I got them to chase me around the house a couple times which they thought was so funny. I could tell they were both getting really tired though, and as it was just after 11, I brought them inside.

chasing me around the yard

chasing me around the yard

 
I am very happy with how things went that day. They did a great job of sharing and being gentle to one another and had lots of fun. They were both completely exhausted by the end of it all, and Meo fell asleep immediately for three hours. We will have to do it again sometime.

Here are a couple videos I took of them playing together: