After our most recent time spent with grandparents, uncles, aunts, and other close familiy members our son got used to being around other people. Luckily for him there was also a healthy dose of time he was able to spend with his cousin who is less than one year older than him. This close proximity in age was great. There is something different about seeing other kids. When we were vacationing with his grandparents we noticed a remarkable change in him towards wanting to do what the big kids were doing. If they were playing then he wanted to play. If they had motorized cars that sped down the street then he wanted to be inside of it. That’s why we were quite happy upon returning to our home. We discovered that we had new neighbors.
It’s not that we had anything against our old neighbors but our new neighbors have young children. These children are a little bit older than our son but are very excited to play in their front yard. This had our son very excited. He’d hear them through the walls and windows of our home screaming in delight. He’d head over to the door (something he has discovered opens up into new worlds) to listen. He’d indicate (sometimes strongly) that he wanted to go outside to play with them. So we met the neighbors at the same time our son met his new friends.
They had trucks and umbrellas and all sorts of toys he doesn’t have. Since our son is an only child at the moment he was able to witness siblings at play and he liked what he saw. The kids next door are sweet and they do try to be gentle with our little one. He just enjoys the excitement. Sometimes he doesn’t even want to participate (sometimes he really can’t) because watching is enough to get him ecstatic. His new friends next door are a great treat.