goodfountain

I’m a bit wary of the next two weeks. There are many happenings.

We have family visiting for two weeks. My sister and her niece, M, who is four. They will be staying with us part of the time and with my Mom part of the time.

We will have other family visiting during that time, including a 2nd cousin who is 5. They will be staying with us.

M loves Chee. And Chee loves M. M is good for Chee. She prods her into playing games and forces her to engage. I will have to pay attention the next few days to make sure Chee gets the space she needs. She loves to play with M, but she needs space now again. M, not so much. M is a social butterfly. A party girl at heart. And also the life of the party. Chee, not so much.

Although, I have to say, Chee held her own very well today at a (hot and crowded) butterfly show. And for two hours playing in the backyard. Lots of great language, playing, pretending, and she took breaks when she needed it. And it may have helped that I led us in a fabulous game of Simon Says, where Simon made everyone do lots of heavy work like bear walks and wheelbarrow walks.

After talking with Chee’s OT on Monday, I’m stepping up the proprioceptive input during the day and going to try for every 2 hours to get a little heavy work of some sort in. Chee’s new love of the game Simon Says helps this endeavor quite a bit. Monday she pushed the grocery cart, full of groceries and Ess, all around the store. Now that was seriously heavy work if ever there was any.

I truly love having M visit. I often wish she lived in town as she’s the perfect playmate for Chee. So while I’m a bit wary of how things will go, and I’m perhaps a little too conscientious that Chee doesn’t get overwhelmed by it all, I’m happy to have a safe playmate for Chee. A close-in-age cousin who loves Chee and wants to be her best friend. I have no real worries about them playing together, and I don’t feel like I need to monitor them.

These two cousins make great pals.