Nicholas is a very friendly kid.

Yesterday we met some friends at the park. Of course, after the initial thrill of recognition, none of the kids wanted anything to do with each other, and they each headed off towards a different corner of the very huge playground, where Nicholas found the man of his dreams.

He was wearing a yellow T shirt, sunglasses, and was either a very young father or an uncle. He and two girls (years older than Nick) were playing on the slide and the bridge Nick was attempting to scale. From the moment he saw the man, Nick knew he was special. He pointed and said "Dada?"

I nodded. "Yes, he's their father," I said. Best to keep things upbeat and simple. But Nick wouldn't let it drop, He followed the man around the slide asking "Dada? Dada? Dada?" and pointing. I laughed and took his hand, leading him away. But he would always return to the man. I explained to Nicholas that this man wasn't HIS dada. I also explained that he had a perfectly good dada at home. But Nick didn't seem to care.

I should also let you know that Nicholas also fell in love with two older girls at the park. One of them was jumping on the bridge - Nick immediately began to jump on the bridge, which was only a problem because he had enough trouble walking on it. When she and her mother left Nicholas ran after them into the parking lot shouting "Bye bye! Bye bye!" The thing was, the girl had hardly given him a glance. Thsy didn't know this little boy was trying to go home with them.

On one hand it breaks my heart. Nicholas is trying to find someone to play with, and I am not very good at finding people for him. I see him reaching out for attention and wonder if I am giving him enough - after chasing him into the parking lot while holding my 3 month old in one arm and trying not to bounce too hard so his little head won't fall off... But on the OTHER hand, we came there to see two people willing to play with him, and he wouldn't have anything to do with them...