Playdate

Nikko's OT report: Sensory motor activities - then at table worked on coloring puzzles & starting/stopping marker to draw vertical & horizontal lines.

In Nikko's backpack were two worksheets of objects connected by lines. Nikko doesn't seem to like to draw at home, using crayons or markers, but seems to have more success with it at school. He seemed warm this morning and I thought about keeping him home but the thermometer didn't register past 98.6 so he was fine. I think my kids' temps trend on the higher side anyway. There was no therapy today. Instead, we were having a playdate with the Owsley kids. They arrived after 2pm and we stayed in the living room. Three little blond kids descended on the toys, specifically the wooden Henry train and tender, and Ronin ran to me declaring that he wanted it. Ooops; I had told Ronin we would have friends coming over today, but forgot to tell him that he would have to share all his toys. Not a happy camper at first, that one! Audrey didn't interact very much with the kids at first. She was content to sit next to me on the couch watching Team Umizoomi. Nikko didn't react wildly at all to the three additional kids in the living room. All the boys congregated around a wooden car ramp toy that I honestly had put behind some other ones thinking it would be the least played toy. I found a few of the little wooden cars designed to fit the ramp and observed them so that there wasn't too much pushing around of the toy. The Henry train was the star of the afternoon, for some reason. Ronin, Aidan and Elliot kept wanting it. Nikko kept to himself playing on the floor with a racing car, driving it along the tracks of a Thomas train track mat I dragged out from the bedroom. Nikko also spent time sitting on my other side watching TV. At snack time he was nodding off, but when we were back on the couch he fought sleep and didn't succumb to it. It was nice chitchatting with my girlfriend Rhonda and letting the kids do whatever, as long as they weren't fighting too much over toys and hurting each other. This playdate was more for me as opposed to having it specifically for the kids to play together, but it was nice to see that all six of them have seen each other a few times and can coexist together. Elliot and Vivian were patting Audrey on the head as she toddled past them in the kitchen during snack time. I think Elliot was even trying to feed her a veggie stick, which I think she took willingly, so maybe they were fascinated that she was like a puppy. Nikko got into a slight altercation with Aidan because Aidan had taken some trains away from Nikko, as well as put some train tracks in Nikko's path. I heard Nikko's whining start to escalate but didn't intervene right away so I could see how he was handling Aidan being in his space. I saw Nikko try to push Aidan, and later Elliot who also got in his space, using his whole body, or leg, or head. When Nikko started pulling at sleeves and sounding upset, I got up to intervene, and even coaxed Nikko into the kitchen for a drink. Aidan, who is four and very verbal, did not say anything mean or cruel to Nikko, thank God. I guess this playdate was a good thing to have for Nikko, just so he could keep having exposure to NT peers he doesn't see regularly. Aidan, Vivian and Elliot are 4, 3 and 2, so I didn't expect much interaction since mine are 3, 2 and 1.