Philip's "New" Friends

A newborn obviously doesn't have friends, but as Philip has come to full toddlerhood he has become quite the social butterfly. We have lived across the street from Tracy and Jeff for at least 5 years, maybe longer but I just don't know exactly when they moved in. Over the last two years, Tracy, Jessie (who just moved 10 minutes away last weekend!) and I have been the kind of friends who stand out in the driveway talking until our husbands come home from work. Tracy has two daughters, Emily and Anna Grace with whom Philip has recently become fast friends. He did attend Anna Grace's birthday party last summer, but being 18 months old, he didn't really know what was happening.

Well, Tracy is the one who invited Philip to attend her church's Vacation Bible School last week. He became the little son she's always wanted and a loved surrogate brother to the girls. Update on VBS, he loved each night so much and was actually ready to go right after lunch. I had to remind him that it didn't start until after naptime.
It was a great experience as he was able to participate in recreation, music, crafts and storytime. The kids were asked to bring a pair of flip flops to decorate which Tracy graciously picked up for me at the store. Needless to say, her daugthers' shoes were really cute, but Matthew says he likes the flip flops but the "decorations" have to go. Hey, at least they trimmed the boys' "ribbons" short, right? :)

Friday night was family night and as I said before, I was so excited to see Philip's first stage premier. Not sure if it was the crowd in general or seeing us at VBS ("What are Mommy and Daddy doing here?"), but Philip started crying when the children were lining up in the hallway so he came back and sat with us during the "performance". I'm just grateful that his first week in VBS was such a success. There will be plenty of other stage opportunites in his life.

Emily and Anna Grace were also the first friends to join him in our new pool. It was a tad chilly but the girls didn't mind. Philip really loved being in the water other that the four times he choked and I stuck him at the edge of the pool fearing throw up was soon to follow. He didn't thankfully and just kept on playing after catching his breath.