Last weekend we got together with Matt, Jenny, and Ava Parker. Dan and I grew up with Jenny, and we have continued the close relationship after Matt and Jenny married. (I even sang at their wedding!) We couldn’t have been more thrilled when we found out she was pregnant just a few months after I became pregnant. We knew that our children would be friends. Since Ava was born, they have lived in Macon so it was difficult to get together as much as we would have liked. It goes without saying that we were thrilled when we found out that were moving back to Griffin. It has taken us a couple of months to plan a get-together, but we finally did it. This would be only the third time that Ava and Brittain would be around each other. The other times had been at birthday parties and such, so not such a great place for them to really get to know each other and play together. Jenny and I were excited to watch the beginning of their relationship.

I’ve been intrigued as I’ve watched other children’s personalities who are around Brittain’s age. I figured that Ava would probably be a lot like Brittain. Like Brittain, Ava hasn’t gone to daycare. Since she was born she’s been in the care of her parents, Jenny’s mother, or Jenny’s grandmother. So, I have to admit that I was a little surprised when the Parkers arrived and I saw Ava’s confidence and invincible attitude. When Ava walked into the house you could see Brittain giving her the “once over.” She was taking her time, looking her over, checking her out, making sure she wasn’t a serial killer. Ava, on the other hand, ran straight up to Brittain to greet her with a huge hug. You could tell that Brittain was a little uncomfortable with this straightforwardness (is this a word?), but she allowed it. The unfortunate part of this moment happened when both girls lost their footing and fell to the floor. Neither of them were hurt in the least. In fact, Ava immediately jumped back up and went onto something else. Brittain, however, acted as if she had broken a limb on the way down and she would never recover. I did what any mother would do. I picked her up and comforted her, but I found myself in an awkward situation. While I wanted to say, “Baby. It’s okay. Mommy’s here. Let me hold you and comfort you and make it all better,” I also found myself attempting to have the nonchalant mother attitude like, “ha ha ha. what in the world? you’re okay. nothing’s wrong with you. you NEVER do this!” Let me tell you, it’s difficult to do both of these at the same time. After about a half hour of consoling, Brittain seemed to be okay and was ready to get back in the game. The funny part is that Ava continued to be affectionate and was determined to let Brittain know how much she cared. After the first hug that resulted in the tumble to the floor, we saw that Brittain was apparently NOT into this. The rest of the evening was spent with Ava having the time of her life (while showing her adoration to Brittain) and Brittain keeping a safe distance from Ava while watching her out of the corner of her eye to make sure she didn’t get too close.

I believe that the night ended well. I finally realized that we were among friends and there was no way Jenny was judging my child or my mothering skills. The real relief came in the days following. Since last Friday, Brittain frequently talks about “Matt, Aunt Jenny, and Ava.”   She obviously has fond memories as well.

Jenny emailed me a couple days later and told me that her mom had a good laugh as she told her that she had the “town bully.” I laughed as I realized that Ava was the first “hugging bully” I had ever met. After this night, Jenny and I vowed to get the girls together often.  Perhaps this will serve to “toughen” Brittain up.  You know, the “Tough Love” approach : )

Ava arrived dressed to the nines and ready to play:

The first hug that didn’t end well:

“I’m okay. You’re okay.”:

A hug attempt:

and the result:

You can’t see me, of course, but I’m the one behind the camera continuing to take pictures hoping that would make me seem like I was easily able to laugh this off. (All the while I was DYING on the inside as Brittain was screaming, “MOMMY!!!! HOLDYOU!!!!”):

Ava took a few minutes to relax:

then do a few lunges:

then put on her game face. She was ready to go in again:

And she did:

“Hee hee. Hee hee. Hee hee. Yes, I’m having fun. Why do you ask? Do I look nervous or something? Hee hee. Hee hee.”:

A sweet moment as Brittain and Ava shared in the joy of stickers:

“Yeah, we’re sharing. We’re fine. See?”:

I ALMOST caught a cute picture. Ava and Brittain were both sitting in these chairs, reclined. Of course I waited a half of a second, which is like 30 minutes in toddler time:

“I’m good now. It’s 2 hours past my bedtime. I’m so delirious I don’t even realize I’m here.”:

Since Jenny and I had been watching after the kids all evening, the boys offered to give us a break. This is one of the pictures I found on the camera the next day:

Brittain finally gave in at about 10:30 and passed out on Daddy. Ava, however, hung in there until the bitter end. When they left at midnight, she was still going strong.

We’ve been trying to plan a trip to Charleston for a while now. With Doug, Michelle and Madison having moved back there from Denver, Brittain has been beside herself wanting to see her cousin. Dan and Doug started talking about us making a trip there for New Year’s weekend and we knew we were going at first mention to Brittain. It was really going to be a perfect trip because Dan’s parents were also going so we would have built-in babysitters if we chose to live it up on New Year’s Eve. And from what I heard it was going to be some kind of party.

As it got closer to the day we were supposed to leave, we started having second thoughts about making the trip there. Both the kids had gotten sick and although Brittain was feeling a bit better, Coleman had gotten some kind of stomach bug. We finally had to make the decision that it wouldn’t be in ANYONE’S best interest to load us all up for a 5 hour trip in the car. Brittain was crushed, to say the least. Turns out it was meant to be…Connie and Roger had to cancel their plans to go just a day before they were supposed to leave because Michelle got sick, too.

So here we were now with no plans for New Year’s. It’s funny to me that we ever wonder what we’re SUPPOSED to be doing on New Year’s Eve now because it’s SO OBVIOUS! We are SUPPOSED to be with the Parkers! We carried on the tradition, but this year we added a couple more to the mix with Coleman and Livi.

Brittain and Ava were only children for so long I wondered how having the new siblings in the picture was going to affect them. I don’t want to say that they’ve been spoiled, but as far as attention goes, they’ve gotten ALL of it. But, it just goes to show you that they are just as wonderful as I knew they were because having their siblings in the picture now has only made them sweeter. They LOVE them and actually choose for them to be around.

When the Parkers’ arrived I got these few shots of all the kids greeting each other:

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I’m sitting here laughing tonight as I’m writing this blog post. I’m thinking back to a previous post I made in 2008 called The Hugging Bully. First, I just can’t believe how little Brittain and Ava are. And second, I laugh thinking back to what they were like back then. Brittain was so afraid of everything. And Ava, while having good intentions, just came on a little too strong for Brittain’s taste and as you will in those photos, Brittain was NOT all about it. So here we are on children #2 and from what I see now, it looks as if the roles are reversed. This time, though, I have no worries about how this friendship will be. They may not see eye to eye right now, but I have no doubts they will become the best of friends in just a few short years.

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I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned this yet, but Coleman LOVES to eat. It’s been an adjustment for me since Brittain has been a picky eater from the very beginning. This kid will eat whatever you put in front of him…and also WHENEVER you put it in front of him. These pictures cracked me up. It didn’t matter that Coleman had just finished eating a large amount of food, when he saw that Livi was eating (it didn’t matter what it was) he wanted in on it.

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My favorite set of pictures. My kid loves him some food and you will tell that he was quite confused at what was going on here:

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The evening wouldn’t have been complete without Coleman spitting up all over himself.

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The party pictures. You will notice that there’s someone missing. Coleman wasn’t ready this year to party with the rest of us. He stayed with his regular 7:30 bedtime knowing there would be plenty more years to stay up way past his bedtime.

Also, once you get to the full group pictures, note that I have stared at these pictures and I still haven’t figured out where my legs are. I look like I am merely just a torso.

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We found, that after having a child, we were no longer able to “hang” with those without children. We could try, but we found out very quickly that we were the dorks we thought of others who had children before we had Brittain. The realization was sad, but we were quickly able to switch gears and start looking for friends who might better relate to us (and us to them), so we went on the search for couples WITH children.

We hit the jackpot with Matt, Jenny and Ava. We’ve been friends with them for years, but after the arrival of Ava and Brittain, our bond strengthened immediately. They understand us, we understand them. Dan and Matt spend hours playing with the Wii, drinking beer and not speaking a single word. Jenny and I spend hours doing nothing but talking and saying things like, “I wonder who I am these days”. It works for all involved, so when I finally decide that I want to do something else besides sit on my booty at home, it’s the Parkers who we seem to always think of first.

We’ve gotten together a lot lately, but I opted not to take pictures most of those times. This particular night I brought it out to get a few shots. Ava and Brittain are playing MUCH better together now. I’m not sure if Brittain has gotten used to Ava’s hugs (see the hugging bully post from last April), or if Ava’s picked up on the fact that Brittain isn’t all about the love. But whatever it is, their friendship is just too cute.