Taylor’s got a boyfriend

Since I am lucky enough to be able to stay at home with Taylor fulltime, the only structured social-time T gets, other than play dates and visits to the park, is when we go to the Y and I work-out and she goes to Child Watch. And because she does so well with all the other kids and ladies that work there – and not to mention swimsuit season is just around the corner – the two of us hit-up the Y at least five or six times a week, for roughly an hour each time. So we’re there a lot. And because we’re there so much, we’ve naturally become friends with other stay-at-home-moms who frequently workout and their kids.

And one of our new friends that we made at the Y is Kelley and her two sons, Josiah and Oliver. Taylor is one month older than Josiah, and Oliver just turned seven months old. And since Kelley shares in my strong belief of healthy body/healthy mind, not to mention the importance of taking a daily, one-hour break from 24/7-mothering, we have synched our workouts, causing Taylor and Josiah and Oliver to see quite a bit of each other throughout the week. And I’m not gonna say it was love at first sight for our little girl and Kelley’s oldest – in fact, for a good month she favored baby Oliver, and would chirp out his name, Oly-burr! Oly-burr! whenever she saw him. But lately she’s been all about Josiah, or as she calls him, Jo-Jo-SIAH! She squeals when she sees him, tries to hold his hand and just basically looses her marbles when she’s around him. And he does the same. And Kelley and her husband and Chris and I all joke that they’re boyfriend and girlfriend. That their a teeny-tiny toddler couple. And it’s pretty adorable.

And while it is just a sweet joke we all laugh about, inside I know that Chris’s chest muscles are flinching at the thought of his baby girl actually growing up and dating someday. Just ask him about it – He gets all jumpy and serious-faced. He’s scared to death of it. Chris doesn’t have a sister, so he has no idea of the torture that is going to come with living with a teenage girl. No idea. I almost feel sorry for him, and I’m pretty sure he’s going to make the same fumbles my own Dad did when I started getting interested in boys and say things like, So, you say that you and so-and-so are GOING out? What does that mean? WHERE are you going?

Well. The fact that one day Chris will practice speeches and flex his muscles in front of teenage boys trying to date his daughter is not even applicable here, as Josiah is only 22-months old and super-good kid. We love him. And a couple weeks ago at Child Watch, another kid was bugging Taylor and trying to take a toy from her, and Josiah totally jumped in and took the toy from the other kid and gave it back to T. He basically defended her honor. And not only is he a sweetheart, but he’s got the best, most-infection laugh you have ever heard.

And as far as going places together, Kelley was nice enough to let Taylor and I use one of her Biltmore Estate guest passes yesterday for a day of fanciness on the grounds. The weather was absolutely perfect out – 65-degrees and clear, Carolina blue skies – and to make the adventure even more fun, we dressed our little-ones up like catalog models.

And if you’re from the Southeast you may be familiar with the Biltmore Estate housing George Vanderbilt’s gigantic vacation mansion, which is touted as America’s largest home, and it’s surrounding gardens, vineyards and stables. It’s gigantic and a huge deal around here, as it attracts lots of tourists and provides a great resource to locals. And even though I’ve been through the house twice, I had never spent much time at the farm section until yesterday. And it was a perfect place for two, love-sick, rowdy toddlers to spend the morning.

First thing they did, of course, was jump around in the mud and get dirty. Typical.

The actual farm consisted of different old-time tractors and farm equipment, and classic toys and games. When I was younger, we took a field-trip to Living History Farms in Des Moines, and this was a lot like that. But watching it through Taylor and Josiah’s eyes was WAY more fun than any memories I had from the fifth-grade.

Taylor’s first phone-call with a boy:

And next to the farm was an actual petting zoo, complete with horses, goats, sheep and chickens. All of which Taylor wanted absolutely nothing to do with. Sorry, Papa Don! She’s a city girl at heart.

And after exploring the farm, we treated ourselves to a fancy lunch at a new restaurant in the village. And I can’t even believe how good all of our kids were, which might have had something to do with Kelley’s endless supply of treats. We finished lunch, enjoyed the spring weather and watched the happy couple frolic through the village, bellies full and enjoying their pre-nap energy surge.

I mean, Seriously, Y’all. Is that not one of the cutest thing you have ever seen? It even made Chris go, Awe. THAT’s adorable.

I wonder if he’ll think that when she’s fifteen?