gymboree!

the one thing i couldn't wait to do with devin was a gymboree type class! i wished i could have brought him the whole time we were stuck inside but we were very patient and the time has finally come that i feel ok about starting him in some classes to let him socialize and have some fun. there is a place very close to the house called the little gym. i called and they offered me a free intro. class to see how we like it so we went on wednesday last week. the place seemed nice enough, the class would be 45 minutes long and there were about 8 other babies in attendance. the teacher was ok, but the actual activities ended up being pretty crappy! devin started out happy. he loved looking at the other babies. there was only 1 baby who was younger than him and one who was the same age adjusted. the rest were months older and crawling and cruising already. him and the little girl who was the same age as him were right on track with each other developmentally which is always nice for me to see :) anyway, this is why it was crap... the teacher had a remote in her hand the whole time and this really obnoxious recoding of a man singing and giving instructions was playing really loud! she would rush through activities trying to blow bubbles and have the babies dance with mom at record speeds before mr. recording told us all to move on to the next activity. it was so lame. the worst activity by far was when the parachute came out. it was ok at first. all the babies seemed to like watching us lift it up and down. then mr. recording told us to sit the babies on it and "lets go for a RIDE!!!" she hurriedly explained that we should sit them in the middle facing out towards us, lift the edges and spin them slowly around without lifting them off the ground. we started slowly and after a short moment the first baby went down, then the next, then the next and so on. crying, started, arms were flailing. it got very loud and the the a baby next to devin had landed very heavily on the baby next to her and was just so sad and screaming. her mom wanted to grab her, but the instructor kept up the pace. we had to wait until the all knowing mr. recording told us to stop to pick up our parachute traumatized babies. devin has a scratch in his ear from the flailing baby nest to him. it was pretty bad. i left super quick afterwards so i didn't awkwardly have to say, "no i wont be forking over $225 for a 2 month once a week membership".

the next day we had a trial with gymboree. it was HEAVEN! as soon as i walked in and met the teacher and saw the playroom it just gave off great vibes. parents and babies were hanging out calmly playing and waiting for the fun to begin. the teacher was bubbly and caring. she remembered talking to me on the phone a few days back and had name tags made up for us already. she remembered that devin was born early and proudly showed off her many bottles of hand sanitizer placed on different surfaces and told me about the "drool basket" where the chewed on toys go to be sanitized after class. i hadn't even told her anything about quarantine or my worries about germs. she was educated enough to know that this is a preemie mama concern. she did all the singing and games herself, with her own voice! the activities were fun and kept devin smiling the whole time. there were babies closer to his adjusted age and nothing was overwhelming or rushed. the play stuff they have there was just perfect for encouraging babies of all ages to learn so many things. it was really great. devin laughed at so many things and played with babies and had a great time. she explained how each activity helped with different milestones and i really feel like we got more out of that one session than we have with our monthly early intervention in home visits to date. we will definitely be enrolling! i cant wait! they have a deal where you can enroll for 6 months of classes instead of 1 month and you get an extra class every week and an "open gym"session. so that means devin can go three times a week! twice for classes and once when no classes are in session, just to play with the equipment. that is a waaaay better deal than the first place we went and its so much more fun! im so happy we found this place. i feel like its really going to help in so many areas, socialization for devin (and me), something to do a few times a week just to get out of the house on boring days, it will definitely help with hitting milestones. yay! for the atlanta area mamas, this is the sandy springs gymboree location:) here are just a few pictures of after we got home.

and some from bath time last night just because he's so cute!