Little Buddies

I just started watching our neighbor's little girl, Annalie, on Tuesday mornings. It really just covers her brothers' school day, from 8:30 am - 3:00 pm, when their afternoon babysitter picks her up.

This is a GREAT thing for both of them. Annalie (Annie), is about 9-10 months older than Piper. It's fabulous for Piper to have this regular one-on-one time with a slightly older child who is developing typically. She actually extremely verbal, so this is a great example for Piper too. This is also great for Annie as she'll get good playing time with another girl as well as a child younger than her. 

The first day Annie was just excited to play with all of our "things," the little kitchen, play-doh and the outside sandbox and swings. She went from one the other so quickly it made my head spin. Piper also tried to play with her as she does with Morgan. Annie did not like how Piper wanted to tickle her and wrestle with her. That's what Piper does with Morgan since their interaction is more physical than verbal at this point.

The second Tuesday we got into a better "groove" and I was able to keep them focused longer on tasks and they really played better together. It was so nice to see them both in the play kitchen with the dolls, food, shopping carts...nice pretend play!! These are things Morgan does not do a lot of and Piper doesn't always like to do it alone. Thus she ends up playing Morgan's "way" more than hers. Not to be so negative about Morgan, they have a nice connection of their own, but seeing an neuro-typical (NT) child play is very different. Piper was very sad when she woke up from her nap that afternoon and Annie had gone home. She woke up and pointed to Morgan's room (where Annie napped), saying "An, An!" When I told her Annie wasn't there, she plopped back down in her crib and cried a little. I was sad for her...but secretly thrilled that she felt emotionally connected to Annie. It was so sweet.

Overall I think we're going to have a lot of fun with this arrangement! It's good for all of us!

The loved sitting in this little car together. The door doesn't quite close. Can you see that they're almost the same size. Piper is not big for her age, Annie is just little, but it makes Piper look enormous!

Piper's goofy "smile"

Annie had their car's cup holders all loaded up!