friends

top left: beautiful l amazed by john's cornsilk hair bottom left: cousins playing foosball (GOAL!!!) right: friends at the zoo

so many times when i think about the development of my son, i focus on the obvious milestones - walking, talking, the potty, turning two. it is easy to forget about some of the less concrete things. the things that can't be measured.

there is no way to measure friendship, for example, but john is clearly learning what it means to bond with other kiddos. from friends of the family (like l, who we visited in maryland) to cousins (like nathan, who is only three months older than john) to friends from school (like hope, who celebrated john's birthday at the zoo with him), it's amazing to watch john bond with these other amazing little fellows and gals.

i think about how important my friends are to me - to all of us, really. our friendships help shape who we are, who we become, what our interests will be. friends are, as they say, the family you choose. 

it's impossible to predict right now who will be john's most impactful friends in his life. but i know one of mine - we'll call her r, since i haven't asked her if i can talk about her - i met when i was about john's age. a couple years younger than me, we have pictures of me helping change r's diaper. she is as close as i have to a sister. she was a bridesmaid in my wedding. she drove to my dad's house from virginia when we were there for memorial day, in part so she could see me and meet john. that's a lifelong friend.

and that process of friendship is building in john even today. he is a generous, sharing boy. he loves. he helps. he holds hands and plays. maybe one or two of his current friends will be those lifelong ones - and surely nathan will be around, since he's both blood family and chosen family - or maybe they won't. but either way,  i watch, a happy mommy who loves her friends, and cherish the early versions of these powerful relationships that will help john be just who he should be.