in car heaven...

nj was in car and toy heaven. we were impressed with how well he played, with the other kids and by himself. we went to my old childhood friend's house for her going-away party. i was worried because there were lots of kids and baba and nj have never met any of them. but before we even had our shoes off (we helped nj with his first), he had disappeared from under us! he was already on the ground in the middle of the living room playing with cars. and there were tons of them! little matchbox and hot wheels, lots of cars from the movie cars, and bigger trucks... dump trucks, loaders, and tow trucks. we were amazed because not only did he play nicely with the other kids, he never came to us the entire night. oh, except when he needed to go to the bathroom a couple of times. otherwise, not a peep from him. we both watched him from afar, baba was chatting with the guys/dads, me with the gals/moms. and it was cute that he'd look up at us once and a while, as if to kind of check in and make sure it was ok that he was still playing. we'd smile, he'd smile, and he'd go back to playing. now this is hanging out and relaxing! everyone else was just as on top of their kid(s) as we usually are. no one had to do any hovering or policing, which is impressive! nj was already talking our ear off about everything he did there and how much fun he had. i told him on the way there that he was meeting some new friends. he said, "i like new friends." how sweet. and baba and i talked about what a great time we had too. it's sad that they're moving away, but it was great to spend some time with them.