Who's child is this?

Raymond is a social butterfly.

Disclaimer: he can be very slow to warm up sometimes, especially in new places or situations, right after taking a nap, or around people he doesn't know. He will be a little introvert until he's comfortable... and then watch out!

Seriously though, this boy loves to be around kids his age. We were first to arrive at play group at the park today, so we just sort of did our thing for a while. Raymond wasn't too excited about the swings, the slide, or the dandelions (which he usually loves to find and pick). It was a little windy and chilly and overall blah.

And then Micah showed up. And WOW Mr. Social Butterfly came out of his cocoon. He was talking and running and ecstatic to do any and everything the park had to offer.

And the more kids that showed up, the more animated Raymond got. No one was more excited to go down that slide, more eager to run across the grass, more ready to dig in the dirt than Raymond.

I didn't think kids this age really "got" the whole friend thing. I thought they were still pretty independent players. And maybe so, but Raymond is much happier about it all when a few little guys his age are around.

Really and truly he thrives off social interaction.

And to be honest I can't for the life of me figure out where  it came from. I was super shy as a child. Jeremy claims to have suffered from mega anxiety as a child when left to play at other kids houses. Nope, this is all 100% Raymond personality shining through. He has been this way from just about the time he could look over my shoulder and makes faces at people in church.

It makes me excited for a year from now when Ginny will be much more of a little playmate for him. I have high hopes that the two of them will love playing and being together. And maybe Ginny will meet some of his social needs... either that or I am going to have to be much more proactive about setting up play dates for the boy!