Sean ♥s Alyssa

My Sean boy is quite a social fellow. He loves to play with older kids and be tossed about and carried and such. He's also developing early friendships among his peers. His particular friends are Kaylin and Alyssa. I realize that this is a proximity-based friendship. We like to hang out with their parents, so Sean hangs out with them. Kaylin is turning four, Alyssa just turned two, so Sean is right in the middle. It seems like a happy place to be. Of the girls, he plays most with Kaylin, who is more dominant in getting his attention. Until just recently, when they were all together, Alyssa kind of did her own thing. And yet, Alyssa is Sean's favorite. For a while, he called the whole family Alyssa. Now it's just her, and no matter the occasion, if Alyssa will be there, she's the star in Sean's eyes. We're going to Monkey Joe's to bounce? We'll see Alyssa? Woohoo! We're going to see Alyssa! We're going to their house? Hooray, we're going to play with Alyssa! Church? I say, "We're going to church to worship God and learn more about Jesus. He loves us SO much." Sean says, "See Alyssa?" I say, "And Jesus." He says, "See Alyssa!"
Don't get me wrong, he's happy to see Kaylin and loves to play with her, too. I don't think any action on his part implies a slight to Kaylin, who is a marvelous little girl. For some reason I can't fathom, though, Sean focuses all of his enthusiasm on Alyssa when the kids aren't all together.
We went to play with the girls last week while their parents went to a revival meeting. I was excited for Sean. Alyssa finally played with him. I took a picture, because they are SO cute. Next time I'll have my camera ready when they hug goodbye, too. That's just beyond adorable.