When kids are little, even when they are “playing” with other kids, they’re not really playing with other kids. They’re mostly just playing at the same time as the other kids, who happen to be in close proximity. However, some switch recently flipped over in Evie’s head, where she suddenly noticed other kids. She really just loves to make friends.
Whenever we go to the park now, she’s so excited to talk to the other kids. She runs up to them and says, “My name is Evie, what’s your name?” She also tries to entice them to play whatever game she is playing, such as driving in the little plastic car and announcing casually, in her loudest voice, “The back is open, if anybody wants to sit in it!”
At soccer practice, we’ve been going with the same kids for like 8 weeks now. Suddenly, last weekend, it’s like they noticed each other. Soon Evie and another girl were holding hands and stopping periodically to hug each other. It was the most adorable thing ever. It was hilarious too, as each of them would kick a soccer ball in opposite directions, and then almost pull their arms out of their sockets as they both tried to run after. Eventually another boy joined in with the hand holding, and they almost threatened to destroy the entire practice with their peace, love, and happiness.
The other aspect of this is that she is now learning adult social skills, such as making conversation segues and small talk in order to keep conversation flowing. For example, seeing Nathan’s pop bottle: “I got a water bottle for Christmas from Santa. Have you seen the big girl bed that Santa got me?” which of course leads to her showing him around her room.
The other day she met a random girl at the library and Sara was watching her make small talk with the girl:
Evie: “So, where’s your mommy?”
Random Little Girl: “She’s at work.”
Evie: “My mommy never leaves me. Sometimes my daddy goes to Detroit.”
::General arguing about the moon for quite some time::
Random Little Girl: “The moon doesn’t look like this picture.”
Evie, finally getting fed up: “Sometimes the moon is a circle, and sometimes it is a crescent!”
I love watching her interact with other kids!
Shane Halbach 
When we went to the park she wasn’t so outgoing, she just kept trying to take the little plastic cars from other kids…
Love the post though. She’s amazing!
LikeLike
Anna is right. She is an amazing little girl.
LikeLike
Let the friendliness begin! Doesn’t it feel surreal to be watching Evie make friends? These will be kids that she remembers as maybe the most sweet and natural relationships she’ll ever know!
Ayla & Jackson love to sit on our porch and yell “HELLO!” to anyone they see, even if that person is all the way down the block or flying by in their cars. But now Ayla gets mad if someone doesn’t respond – especially the teenage boys who are too cool to talk to toddlers. She stomps her feet and gets the most disgusted look on her face.
LikeLike
Pingback: Bad Influence « Is this thing on?