She’s had playdates before, sure. Good playdates, even — sweet little kids with well-meaning mothers. Kids who like Sophie, I know that.

But true friends? Real play? I haven’t been sure. Until Sarah.

Early in kindergarten — almost a year ago now — Ms. X started telling me about Sophie’s relationships. Several names came up, but none as often as Sarah’s. Sarah’s the youngest of several siblings, and towers over Sophie; Ms. X thought she liked playing caregiver. But Ms. X was always quick to point out that Sarah and Sophie really seemed to be striking up a friendship, too.

I guess so. At Sophie’s birthday party, I watched my kid settle into Sarah’s lap for a good hunk of time, and take her around to show her her toys. Sarah’s gift — Foofah, from Yo Gabba Gabba — was Sophie’s favorite.

And my favorite gift came toward the end of the party, when Sarah’s mom asked me if we could trade phone numbers. Sarah would love to have some play dates with Sophie over the summer, she said.

I practically swooned. I put the note with Sarah’s mom’s number up on the side of the fridge and stared at it for days. When I finally got up the nerve to call, I realized it was mid-June — and at the bottom of the note her mom had written, “We’ll be gone mid Juneish.”

So we waited. Every day, Sophie asked, “You call Sarah’s mom?” And every day I told her, “Soon! I promise.” Then it was time to go to the beach.

“When we get back, I promise!” I told Sophie. My phone rang as we were getting on the plane to come home. It was Ms. X calling to say she’d just run into Sarah and her mom. “Sarah’s mom lost your number, but she found it. She’s going to call for a playdate!” Ms. X promised.

I beat her to it. Friday morning I called. She called back almost immediately. We tried unsuccesfully to find a time over the weekend, and Sarah’s mom wound up inviting  Sophie to come over Monday afternoon (today). I had to explain that Sophie had never been to a playdate by herself. Could Sarah come over instead?

It was another sad working-mom-moment. Courtney oversaw the playdate. I texted her this afternoon.

How was playdate???

Good! she’s still here…got here around 230 and they were having so much fun I called to see if she could stay till 5 5:50

That makes my day!

They are pretty cute! And I talked to her mom about wed and we are going to go to pump it up in the morning

(Pump It Up is one of those bouncy places.) Sarah’s mom also agreed that the playdate was a big success. As for Sophie? She’s thrilled. She, Annabelle and Ray just got back from frozen yogurt (it’s quickly become a summer habit) and I couldn’t wait to ask her what she and Sarah did on their playdate.

She couldn’t wait to tell me.

“Me and Sarah sat on the Whoopee Cushion and I farted! And she farted!”

They also played hide and seek, she told me. Sophie hid in the bathtub.

Sounds like a great date to me.

“Hey, she’s 5 and I’m 4 and I’m bigger than her!” Neve commented, not at all unkindly.

Yes, I thought to myself, and in every way: Neve is an adorable, precocious little girl (little, though she probably DOES stand a head taller than Annabelle, as well) and Sophie’s blind date for the morning, yesterday, during the Great Play Date Experiment.

Although I’m surrounded with little girls on many days, someone I manage to forget how advanced a typical 4 or 5 year old girl can be. Neve could hold her own at happy hour, any day.

“You ARE bigger!” I said to Neve. “Sophie’s pretty short.”

That was the only difference Neve noted about Sophie, at least, the only one l I heard. They did have different likes and dislikes: Neve wanted to play Wii, while Sophie — though glad to try bowling — was still more interested in an old Elmo puzzle she found in Erin’s den.

I don’t know how to spell Neve, so I’m guessing — and I chose this spelling since it echoes “Eve”. Sophie got all excited when I told her we were going to Neve’s house. “Eve! Eve! WALL-E!” she said.

WALL-E (and his girlfriend, or girl ‘bot, Eve) made a big impression on Sophie. Me too. Definitely my favorite movie of the summer. Okay the only one I’ve seen, but still.

I’d love to tell you that like WALL-E and Eve, Neve took Sophie by the hand, into her world, and showed her around, fascinating her, rendering the two inseparable.

Not quite. I’m not sure Sophie would follow Neve into outer space — or vice versa – but have you ever seen a first play date like that? I would have been creeped out.

This date was darn good: The girls did disappear into the back of the house for a good five minutes at a time. Erin made them a tea party with petit fours and strawberries (she even cut the tops off, something I have to admit I almost never do, bad mom) and juice boxes.

We grown ups sat on the couch and drank coffee and talked grown up talk in between fielding the many requests that come from two little girls playing a room away from their moms, and Erin explained that her favorite friend’s family, growing up, included a little girl with Down syndrome.

“We loved Becky,” Erin said. “That was just normal for us.”

We agreed the next play date will be at my house (I hope the therapists forgive me, that’s not part of the “rules” here) and I knew the morning was a success when I couldn’t drag Sophie out the door with the true news that we were headed next to a birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese.

(And if you don’t believe me about Sophie and CEC, read this:

http://www.austinmama.com/badmomsix.htm

and this:

http://www.austinmama.com/badmomeight.htm)

Last night I made the girls an extra bubbly bath, and forced them both to endure the worst possible torture: hair combing. Sophie negotiated some extra TV time, and grabbed a book she insisted I read after the brush was relinquished and her hair braided.

She was obsessed with one book, called “Countdown to the First Day of School”.

“New school, new school!” she told me, offering her own special pronounciation of her new teacher’s name, Ms. X for these purposes. (Actually, I can’t bet on that — the teacher cards are supposed to be in the mail Monday, I hear. Gulp. We could end up with Ms. Y or Ms. Z.)

It IS the countdown to school, but that wasn’t why I was spit shining her. It’s taken most of the summer, but Sophie has her first official, therapy-inspired play date this morning.

After I placed my “ad” on the blog, the friend of a friend emailed to offer her four year old daughter’s services. I’ve admired this woman from afar but never had the chance to really sit down and talk with her (and I’m not just saying that because she’ll likely read this!) and we both decided this would be a nice opportunity.

Plus she admitted that her younger daughter gets short shrift in the play date department. It was an incredibly kind thing to say, even if it’s not true. Actually, other moms who’ve offered up their kids for the Great Sophie Play Date Experiment have said the same thing.

So maybe it’s a second kid thing, not a kid with Down syndrome thing?

Nah, with Sophie it’s the latter. I know it is. And I know that at this late date, I’ve already blown my mandate from Sally-Ann and Dorcas, the taskmaster therapists, to socialize Sophie before kindergarten starts August 4.

Hey, I blew puppy school, too.

But in a little while I’ll get Sophie up and find us both cute outfits and we’ll head to our play date. Wish us luck.