We had a pretty slow week this time around, so not much to report.
One thing I have noticed it that since Mandy has grown up enough for Sam to play with, they really do play a lot together. In fact, they will often now elect to omit me and Geralyn from their playtime entirely, which at first was kind of cool (relief! dishes! e-mail!) but at the same time I can’t help feeling that this is kind of sad. I’ve had to actually go to the trouble of inserting myself into their play, and to be honest a lot of times I get distracted. Is this that “growing up” thing that everyone kept telling me would happen? Are they going to move out of the house soon?
How old where they when they really started playing with each other? My daughter is 4 1/2 (started reading your site at the same time you created it for Sam) and my son is now 20 months. They try to play together for a few minutes at a time but that is about it.
Probably when Mandy was 18 or so, with the physicality and complexity of their play steadily increasing to match Mandy’s capabilities. They get along really well now that Mandy can keep up in terms of imaginative play, running around, and making up stories. She’s also starting to grow a spine and standing up to Sam, who can be pretty dominating.
I think their both being girls may have something to do with it. My sister, who is 4 years my elder, and I didn’t play much together when I grew up. We have a great relationship as adults, but we just had different interests as kids.