People gotta realise that once or twice is a coincidence but there's just a flat pattern

If the friend really is always one upping him I would be very concerned that he will do the same thing with their kids. OP buys a nice present for their kid, friend turns around and buys his kid a similar thing only nicer. If this becomes a pattern then it will be time to end the friendship

That baby friend one, do a test to see if that friend is truly copying. One story I remember, was the SIL trying so hard to ensure their kids had the exact same name. As in the whole dang lot. OP hid an "order receipt" for a custom named blanket, sure enough SIL snooped through their house to find it & sure enough named their kid that

Wait... did his friend just win the lottery? Young people can be foolish, so maybe it's not as much money to get him through the rest of his life - and dead rich relatives and huge inheritances for their poor surviving relatives happen more in fiction than in real life... sounds like a good guy, wanting to show kindness to someone who was kind to him for nothing in return.

16 is old enough to know not to act like that. She owes OP an apology

My bestie and I fell pregnant at the same time with our first baby and our seconds are looking to be the same. We love it. But it’s not a “one up” situation

Comparison is the death of joy. You don't live in his daily emotional life, and often, people who show the most often feel the least. Your life quality is probably better than his window dressed one.

My baby is in good shape!
An oval?

I had a dream in January that my best friend and I were pregnant at the same time. I was a month away from doing my first embryo transfer and I had no idea she was even trying for a baby, so it was a huge surprise to find out in April that she was having a little girl two weeks before my little girl was due. I know in the past I would have felt jealous that I wasn't "special" and the only one having a kid, but I'm ecstatic about it because I am the only one who doesn't have kids and the next youngest is almost 5 so my kid will actually have someone close in age. The fact that my friend and I are also 6 days apart in age has me hoping we'll have our girls 6 days apart as well.

33:34 OP, you need to sit down and budget. Volunteering is a part of the budget. Don't suffer to help others. The quality of your help won't be as great as it can be if you keep self sacrificing to do it.
Charging clients who are used to your service for free is hard, but if they're real friends, they'll get it. You can also make it fun. "Hey guys, I'm actually financially struggling but I can still do X free parties per year. It'll be decided by raffle!"

Yeah..... The richer friend apparently has  a pattern .

The ppl telling OP to focus on being a dad are not wrong.  However those comments also reek of "just bow down to keep the peace " or "omg, what do YOU want,  your feelings don't matter".... Things I suspect, OP has heard quite often or this might have escalated ealier instead of now reducing the poor kids to something to compare.

Now, unless OP has told this "friend" all about wanting a child for months prior, the timing suggests that this could be the single thing that really is a coincidence.
I fully believe, that in general OP isn't imagining things though.
It's at least pronounced enough for him to joke about it with his wife, so at least a few other ppl are under the same impression.
So where is this going to go? OP gets the 1-year -cake - friend flies everyone to Disneyland?

OP needs to talk to his friend so the obv pattern of one upping him won’t continue w/their kids, which it inevitably will, and that’s something any parent won’t tolerate

Party planner could have said at some point that she can't find the specific item teenager wants, and because its a favour,  gratis, she can't spwnd any more time scouring her suppliers for the things. Teen should look in these various places, and find what she wants, and planner will source them from there if possible.  
Like that, the teen would find out how hard it is to get exactly what she wants and may be willing to compromise.

Co-op is an international program where companies partner with universities, and certain semesters will be spent working/interning instead of taking classes. Because of that, it usually turns 4 year degrees into 5 year ones

I call that and ask hole, someone who asks for advice, but won't take it.

me and my best friend have actually discussed what would happen if either of us won a big chunk of money from the lotttery lol. there are lists involved. im also really glad it sounds like the friend actually seems to have gone about winning the lottery corectly with lawyers and financial advisors, its so important to do that escpecially for that amount of winning.

Ok, but where in Sweden did Angie go? 🤓

200k for 3 years. That sounds about right. University can be ridiculously expensive even for in state tuition

17:03 it depends on what you inherit and how it was left to you.  Money left in 401K is taxed as income and must be taken within 10 years, life insurance is always giving tax free, trusts helps things move without worry about taxes.

Sophia, OP doesn't need therapy, there are literally people who thinks they are being followed or copied and yeeted themselved. Only to be justified coz actual people/groups who surveilled them actually confirmed the actual! WTF????

THIS THING HAPPENED TO ME AND IT'S REAL. WE ARE NOT PARANOID!!!! 💀