Play date: Evie learns how (not) to make friends

My co-worker, B, came over on Saturday to help resuscitate our burned-out backyard. Duties included garden weasling the yard to break-up/loosen the soil, pulling out some creeping ivy & monkey grass, and filling in the various potholes Betty (part lab, part gopher) left everywhere. B's wife, A, and son Tyler (who is exactly 3 months younger than Evie, which, makes him 5 months) also came over so we could have a playdate while the men drank beer. I mean worked.
Evie has only very recently flipped from being fussy around new surroundings to now being a bit more intrigued. I think before she saw newness as potential chaos and now she sees the pleasure in discovering new things. Then again, maybe its all me - who knows.
We still cannot leave her side—any distance over 2-3 feet can result in welled up eyes and tears rolling down the cheeks. This separation anxiety thing is really intense. But, she is becoming more bold in her movements and aggressively grabbing things around her. Her newfound confidence in sitting up (very well!) has her freely leaning forward to grab baskets filled with toys or even slightly scooting on her butt to get closer to objects of desire. Tyler, was one of these said objects.

Evie leans forward with arms raised to happily greet Tyler in a chimp-like squeal,"arrrhhhh!!" Tyler instantly responds in tears.
That's my girl.

What? Was it something I said?

All in all, this was a very successful play date for us. I think Evie is getting older and like I was mentioning before, becoming more intrigued in her surroundings (like exploring Tyler and the toys he brought). We were also within our own home. I plan to push play dates a bit more as the weather gets nicer and see if we can't keep Evie from getting sick of just the two of us all the time. This kid needs stimulation (and friends)!

Tyler's owners