Small Steps, Amazing Achievements: Playing!

S has always been a fairly quiet child; when she met new people she would do her best to make her head disappear between her shoulders, and resolutely looked at the floor until they stopped speaking to her and went away. Sometimes, if the person was visiting and stayed for a while, she would eventually start to interact with them a little, but for the most part she stayed away from new people.

Just recently though, she’s started interacting with people more. When she meets a new person now, she’ll start by showing them her shoes or welly boots. She does this even with people making polite conversation in a shop – if she sees me speaking to them and they look in her direction, she’ll show them her footwear. When we stopped to speak to a friend in the street the other day, she showed the lady her shoes and went on to tell her “look, lights over there!”

S has always enjoyed playing with my sister, but these days when Auntie Af comes to play, S will chat to her and instruct her on what to do. They chat and play and it’s lovely to wander past S’s bedroom door and her S telling “Auntie Af, read this book please!”

Doing a puzzle with Auntie Af

Last week, our friend L came to visit. She’s one of those people I’ve known for a long time and love to bits, but don’t see very often. S hadn’t seen her since New Year and I was worried she would just hide in the corner… but L turned up with a Fireman Sam book for her. Also, L is the sort of person whose brain is significantly younger than their body, and she thinks nothing of joining in with games and fun. S had a great time playing with her, and it was lovely to see her interacting with a friend. That evening, my friend Sam came round, and S instantly took a liking to her – possibly because of her name. They read lots of books together and did a puzzle together. At one point, Sam was even allowed to hold the balloon S had been clutching tightly since she was given it at lunch time (she hadn’t even let go of it to eat tea or have her nappy changed, up to that point).

S & Sam, making friends.

This morning, my friend C came to visit, with her son H. We’d not seen them for a while, and I was worried about how well they would play together, since both is an only child and although they both play with other children at nursery, it’s a different matter when another child comes into your home and picks up your toys! H is a few months older than S, and they are both very chatty. It was lovely to see them playing together, chatting and even sharing toys, taking turns with the toys. There were a couple of moments that required adult intervention but on the whole, both children had a lovely time and it was great to see them playing together.

H & S looking out her bedroom window

It’s so lovely to see my happy little pickle playing nicely with other people, interacting with her peers and with adults. She was so shy for a while, she wouldn’t even speak to my mum for the first hour or so of a visit! I think she’s enjoying being able to chatter to people, and I’m definitely enjoying watching!

Jeannette’s Small Steps Amazing Achievements Highlights From Last Week