I’ve been wondering and wondering when my daughter would be able to truly play with another child, rather than just share an orbit around the same toys. Apparently the answer is now. šŸ™‚

This past week during our vacation at Deep Creek Lake with our friends J, Erin, and Nora, Zoe and Nora became friends! Nora is nine months older than Zoe and they have interacted many times before, and acknowledged each other, eaten together, and definitely shared toys. But this week they shared a room! And they liked it!

Every night after we put the girls to bed we would go upstairs and turn on the monitor. Every night a few minutes would pass and we would hear them talking. About their stuffed animals, their dolls, their mommies and daddies, the lullabies their mommies and daddies know or don’t know, what sounds various animals make, and so on. They would sing together. Sometimes Nora, who seemed ready to be a big sister, would grow tired and say “Zoe, quiet. You need to lie down! It’s time to sleep!” Or “Zoe what are you doing?” to which Zoe would oddly reply “I don’t know!”

Upstairs the grown-ups laughed at our girls giggling, until eventually we would send down an emissary to remind the girls that it was time to sleep. Usually we had to do this two or three times.

Then every morning we would all wake up, sometime between 6:30 and 8, to similar cute conversations and giggling coming from the room downstairs. It amazes me that neither Zoe nor Nora ever got out of bed or yelled or cried for us to come downstairs. They just woke up and resumed their conversation or sing-along from the night before. It’s a much cuter sound to wake up to than an alarm or NPR.