I'm really warming up to SuperFranks. I think this is Katherine and Chloe's favorite place to go, and each time we come back I like it more and more.
The first time we went Holly was so interested in the strollers and tables and purses that I didn't get to sit for five minutes and have a conversation.
But now that we have come a few times and she is familiar with the place she doesn't get into stuff as much and spends more time playing with the toys and structures.
She loves the little car, though she doesn't know how to propel herself yet. She likes this little slide too, and she has learned how to climb up the front and then go back down.
We had a lot of fun at the train table. Thought Holly is more interested in chewing on the train cars then she is in pushing them along the track. But soon she will get older and know what the trains do.
Holly also really enjoys playing with this little kitchen. She takes the drawers in and out and she open and closes the cabinets. She plays in the sink and turns the stove knobs.
Unfortunately at a place like this you can't really keep a collection of toy food and play pots and pans, so Holly was playing with all of the openings instead.
Here is little Simone. She is about 2 and 1/2. She is such a sweetie and we have so much fun chatting with her mom Gigi. It was amazing at this play date I actually had a chance to talk with the other grown ups.
Here is little Chloe riding on a cute Giraffe. its pretty amazing, but she is fearless climbing up on everything these days.
SuperFranks has several play rooms. We don't spend a lot of time in this one because it is mostly for throwing and kicking balls and riding "tricycles" around and around in circles.
But there is an area for tumbling, and Holly likes playing in there. She also loves watching the other kids ride around the room.
This is what Kat calls Holly's Duck face. I didn't realize I had caught it on camera. It is so sweet. I am not sure what she is doing, she puffs up her cheeks and puckers her lips. Its adorable.
This is the upstairs room. Holly is playing with Gabriel and they are building blocks. I love these super sized lego's they are so much fun.
They also have these adorable stacking blocks that Simone is playing with. Holly is just starting to learn about blocks and putting them on top of each other. On a lucky day she can do three or so.
Here is a little xylophone. We call the stick's her "Bam bam's" and she has several sets of these at home. I am convinced that she is going to become a drummer when she is a teenager.
Though at this rate, it might be well before then.. Hmmm how many 5
year old drummers do I know. She loves them, bangs on her drum, her piano, this toy. Its one of her favorite things to do.
We recently got her these very sophisticated electronic drum sticks that you can bang on anything and they make a drumming sound, like for practicing, and then on different settings you can have a backing track.
Obviously she doesn't use all the advance features, but she sure likes the sounds they make as she drums the carpet and the bolster and the ottoman.
The girls here are playing in one of the mini themed rooms, they have a classroom, firehouse, kitchen, and even a stage. Its pretty cool. They have Holly sized furniture inside and doors and roofs just her height.
This is the little kitchen, I think the fridge is really cute. There is more play food and kitchen items up hear as it is much easier to keep it all organized in this room.
This is Kendall and his mom. They are in one of our groups but live out here so rarely come to events, but Superfranks is right around the corner for them, so it was nice to see them again.
Here Holly is in the bouncy house. She gets more used to it every time. She doesn't jump or bounce on her own yet, but she isn't scared to be inside anymore, or of getting jostled around by others.
When the big kids jump she gets bounced around and she is starting to like it, and of course learning how to walk and balance on such an uneven surface.
Here the girls are eating lunch. Emi the organizer of one of my groups is here with her son Parker and another little girl she is watching for the day. They ordered pizza and shared with us which was nice.
Because of course Holly didn't feel like eating the food I ordered which was chicken tenders. She likes them on some days and on others not, its like that with everything though. She ate the sausage off the pizza and some of the cheese and bread.
This is the base of the big blow up bouncy slide. I am trying to teach Holly to jump, so it is fun to sit her up hear and play the bouncy game.
Here Katherine was able to put Chloe on the slide in hopes she would come down, but she dug her heels in, instead and tried to stay perched up high. She did of course eventually slide down.
Here Holly is trying to gain her balance and walk across the bouncy surface, its a fun game and very good PT for her. I tried to get her to go down the slide, but it was hard to climb up holding her, and when I handed her up to Chloe's mom, she wasn't thrilled about it.
Maybe next time. Holly will find fun in anything, these little cones make the perfect nesting toy. She loved stacking them and of course taking them apart. We had a wonderful afternoon, and on the way home she fell fast asleep.
A few weeks ago we attended a "Fruit and Veggie" play date where each guest was supposed to bring a kids meal that had fruit or veggies in it, that the kids actually liked. Joel found this cool recipe on 
Here is Eliana and Parker enjoying there snacks. Melanie Eliana's mom made some yummy cookies that had Apple Sauce and Chick Peas in them. The Cheese Sticks that Joel Made were also a hit, they were full of herbs, sage, basil, garlic, and other yummy stuff.
Emi, Parker's Mom brought some Cantaloupe, which is definitely a fruit, and the kids did truly like it. Robin, Maura's mom brought a veggie pasta toss which was also pretty popular. Holly was definitely the little one of the group, the other tots were several months older. Maura is about 21 months, Eliana 2.5 and Parker 3ish but they played really nice with her and she sat at the table with the group and ate some snacks.
She couldn't be contained for long though and wanted to follow the big kids out into the back yard. There was a fun swing set and she of course headed right over to the swings. I joked today that she is addicted to them, she finds them wherever we go and if she had her way she might swing for hours.
This is Eliana's amazing playroom. Her dad is in the coast Guard and they are stationed here for 3 years. This house is on the navy Base in Alameda and has something like 6 rooms. it is so huge, I don;t know what I would do with so much space, but they do have quiet a few puppies, and Melanie is an amazing host and has a number of Mom's Night's and Play dates at her place.
Here Holly is exploring around. She is always finding something to put in her mouth, but one day I know the teething will end. Actually I'm not so much in a rush, as I am enjoying every moment of everything she does. Isn't that little pencil table and chair set the cutest thing you have ever seen. Melanie got it on auction and it was certainly a steal.
Here is Parker playing with Holly, he was being so well behaved. As an older toddler he sometimes doesn't like to share or appreciate a little baby following him around, but today he was being so good and even showing some of the toys to Holly.
Here is Holly saying hello to Maura and her little sister. She is only a few months old. I was in love, I can hardly remember holly ever being that small. She looks like a Giant in Comparison, but it was just about a year ago that she was and little itsy bitsy little infant, you forget how much they change when you are in the middle of it.
The play room was a lot of fun. Holly really liked being able to tear through someone elses things. She certainly isn't as fast as the older ones when it comes to tearing though things, but they are also much more intentional when it comes to playing also. She enjoyed the stacking blocks and the push toys.
We had such a good time, we ate all kinds of yummy food, and played with lots of cool new toys. The play date started at 4:30 which is a perfect time for us, post nap and we stayed long enough to pick up Daddy from work on the way home. it was a fun afternoon.
A little while back we attended a play date at Tilden Park's Little Farm in Berkeley. We had been hearing about it for a long time but didn't get around to going until just recently. There is a lot of cool stuff to do in Tilden, Little Farm is just one of them.
On this particular Day we were running a little late. Holly had therapy that morning, and I tried to get her to take a nap, but she wasn't having it, so we headed to the play date. We were meeting a number of Mom's from my meet-up group, about 30 were in attendance, but most I didn't know. Gigi and Simone, Melanie and Eliana, and Cynthia and Erik were in attendance and I ran into them and was able to say hello. Emi and Parker were there too but we never saw them, our stay was pretty short.
We started off saying hello to some sheep. When we first went up to them holly seemed to be OK. She looked at them with Curiosity. Mommy pet them but she didn't want to. So I fed the little guy a piece of Lettuce. he chomped it down and as it disappeared Holly lost it.
I immediately took a step back and walked away from them. We decided to explore for a bit and headed over to the Little Garden. I think they actually have sessions where kids can come and work in the garden and help grow the veggies. It was pretty cool and gave Holly a chance to relax and calm down.
After she was calm, I decided to let her explore a little. She had been in the car, then the stroller, and then my arms, so I thought maybe she would be in a better mood if she had some freedom. She was hesitant to do much, but was happy to walk around. There wasn't a changing table anywhere to be seen, and I ended up having to change her on the ground in this little "classroom" but it was quick and easy and she seemed to be in much better spirits.
She pushed around the stroller, and explored. After a bit I decided it was time to try and visit the animals again. This time we went to a different area where there were some Goats. She was ok Upon Approach, but as soon as I fed the goat and he gobbled up the cabbage Holly lost it again.We walked around some more to wait out her tears and let her calm down.
She found a new area to play in away from the big animals. By this time I was perplexed. She seemed ok at first with the animals, but didn't like them eating. Was she overwhelmed, was she tired, was she scared. And this is where I start to talk about Fragile X, and Why it is so hard sometimes to raise a Special Needs Child. At times like these I never know if this is a normal toddler behavior, or something related to her Fragile X.
The other kids loved the Farm, and the Animals, they weren't scared or confused or frightened. I hate to compare her to other children, but I don't know how toddlers are supposed to act, so its hard not to wonder if every little quirk is temperament, normal, Fragile X, or who knows what.
I think when she gets overwhelmed she starts to become sensory seeking. But then that is even hard to confirm, is she teething, is she seeking input to help regulate her senses and help calm herself. She chews on everything. The other thing is anxiety, I know its an issue for some Fragile X girls, but is it something you need meds to get over, is it something you can learn to get over. I have this theory that if I continue to push her she will learn to accept new situations, but what if that's not the case and i only make her more anxious.
So of course, three times isn't always a charm and I tried again with a Cow. This time I simply had to walk towards the cow and she started to cry. So instead we went into a little barn that had little ducks and rabbits and chicken, and she wasn't scared of them. They of course were little and not eating the Cabbage I brought. Just when I thought things were looking up, the Rooster crowed and she freaked out again. meltdown four. This time it was just about more then Mommy could take and I decided to leave. On our way out, I let her take her time, walk, wander around and explore, a little to cheer up, but that darn rooster kept a crowing, and she would cry each time. 
Near the parking lot there was a fun little playground. Some of the Mom's I was meeting were hanging out and eating there lunch and there kids were playing. It was piping hot. I couldn't touch the slide, and Holly was so ready for her nap by then. So I said hello and we took off. It was too hot for me to let her play, but I am about persistent as Holly is and we will be going back again, hopefully next time she can play at the structure, and maybe the animals will be less scary. Being a parent is like playing Russian Roulette, you never know what thing you might do to totally screw up your kid, and you never know what is up next.
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