Friendship

We have been incredibly lucky in making some terrific friends while we've been in Connecticut. I really wasn't expecting to, or even trying really, given the temporary nature of our time here. But two years is a long time! And thank goodness for the friends I have made because they have definitely helped keep me sane. Oliver made some great friends too, and that is probably the saddest part (the only sad part) about us leaving here, is leaving friends. I wish we could wrap them all up and take them with us to Iowa. So today's post is dedicated to Oliver's friends, and their (less photographed) moms, who are my friends.

Annabelle
Oh, sweet Annabelle. She was Oliver's first friend in Connecticut, because she and her parents were our neighbors in the apartment complex. She is 10 months younger than Oliver, and so when we first met, she was only about 5 months old. Sort of too little to play with yet, but she and Oliver enjoyed many walks in the park or the mall, while their mommies gabbed. Then eventually, going to music class and having play dates, playing (and fighting) with toys.

From the beginning, they loved sharing gifts

October 2009

(Oliver 18 months, Annabelle 8 months)

and holding hands.

December 2009

 Late January 2010

He loved giving her flowers.

Late February 2010

April 2010

 They loved sharing sweet hugs.

Late January 2011

 Sure, sometimes they fought,

April 2011

but they always loved each other.

June 2011

I know, one big awwwwwwwwwwww, right? They are just too cute together. Maybe in about 25 years, we'll be showing those photos and playing this video at their wedding. I just hope that we can stay in touch so they'll be friends forever.

Not to be forgotten, Annabelle's mom, Linsey:

I made a promise to myself when we moved, and I was newly a stay-at-home-mom, that Oliver and I would leave the house once each day. Sure, we soon got busy with classes, but some of my favorite times were the hours and hours we all spent in the park together, taking the kids for long walks (back when they'd let us) to get some exercise, and have grown up conversations. I can't imagine how lonely and bored I would have been if we hadn't met, and I will always believe that fate made us neighbors so that we could become friends.

Brody and Lilly

It's hard to say exactly when Oliver met Brody and Lilly. We've been going to My Gym since soon after we moved here in the summer of 2009, and at some point, they were in classes there together. But they really became friends this past year when they all three also attended the Mother's Day Out program one day a week, and then also spent another day a week together at My Gym. Brody and Oliver became buddies in an instant, running around, singing and dancing, and Lilly was their back up singer. Nothing but pure fun together, you can see it in their faces.

The trio, at Brody's birthday party at My Gym. Their moms and my friends, Renee and Shana, are in the background (sorry, it's the only photo of them I have!).

Dancing, to "All the Single Ladies," Brody's favorite.

In the ball pit, I believe they were doing lines from Blues Clues.

Circle time.

Something was hilarious.

Puppet show with Igor and Steve.

Dancing

 At the park

When it was the last day of Mother's Day Out, Brody's mom was talking to him about what that meant. She told him he wouldn't go to school with Lilly anymore (they're attending different preschools), and he said, "I guess I'll have to find a new girlfriend."  And she told him that because we were moving away, he wouldn't go to school with Oliver anymore. He replied, "I guess I'll have to find another Oliver." I'm sorry, Brody! I really wish you guys could grow up to be best friends. Maybe your paths will cross again in the future.

~~~
There's something that all these friends have in common. You look at them together, and you just know they are the kind of friends that would be best friends forever. That's why this is the hardest part of leaving Connecticut, because I know that I have to take Oliver away from something so sweet and true and pure, his first real friends, and that breaks my heart because I'm afraid it will break his. I know, kids are resilient, and he will find new friends, and he has some waiting for him back home in Iowa. Still, we are going to miss these friends, very very much.

As always, I've made this about Oliver. But I made some great friends too, the moms of these amazing kids: Linsey, Shana, and Renee. I think what makes their kids such great friends for Oliver is that they are all great mothers. We all shared attitudes about parenting in a way that made friendship easy. I'm so glad I met them. Girls, I won't forget you!!