Is it normal for a 2.3 year old to to behave like this?

[lou031205]

My DD is a wonderful little girl, but today I just got thinking about her ways, and wondered if it is normal.

She was with her cousin and two other children she knows really well. The children are 4.7, 3.4, 2.11 and my DD just coming up to 2.3.

All the children were playing together, but my DD was playing on her own separately. Is this normal for her age? I just thought it looked a bit sad that she was isolated (although she seemed happy - she seems like a bit of a 'free spirit' iyswim).

Also, she seems to be still very into 'exploring' every bit of a room, including sprinkling mud from a plant pot everywhere etc.

I suppose I just started to worry that she seems so much younger than even the youngest of the other three, that it occurred to me that I don't know what she should be like.

I love her dearly, and she is so amazing in so many ways, but I am just starting to wonder if her behaviour is 'normal' for a 2.3 year old?

[Maidamess]

Its perfectly normal for children to play apart from others at that age. Those that appeared to be playing together were probably just playing next to each other.
Try not to worry about her, she sounds happy enough!

[ChasingSquirrels]

my 24mo pretty much just plays on his own - when with his 5yo brother, or friends (ranging from 5yo's to slightly younger than ds2).
Its pretty normal I think.

[Maidamess]

In the nursery where I used to work, there were children ranging from 2 yrs 3 months up to nearly 5. It was really only the ones in the older bracket that played games 'together'. Your daughter is just investigating and learning without the added interruptions of everyone else. Good for her!

[quickdrawmcgraw]

It's funny because my niece is staying with us overnight and is the same age as your dd. There were 5 children in the house ranging from age 7 to 2.10 and my niece was playing on her own. I didn't think she looked sad though. I see it as a really big step for her to be able to play comfortably without needing an adult to be beside her.
ds(5.5) also prefers to play by himself sometimes. He doesn't much like the rough and tumble of more than one child at a time. He says being on his own doesn't make him sad, he just likes watching other people playing sometimes.

[MissyTheFlouncer]

i would say perfectly normal and sounds like my dd and her cousins she is a explorer bit like you dd from sounds of it

[colditz]

other kids are mere furniture until a child is about 3. If you are lucky, the child will learn that they are furniture that must not be hit or bitten - but that's all they've learned. It's not empathy.

[harpsichordcarrier]

it would be unusual to see it the other way round! she sounds very normal and quite delightful.
she isn't "isolated" - she is perfectly happy and will start to play differently as she develops and gets older

[lou031205]

Thank you all for replying.

I think deep down I know that it is normal, and one of the things I love about her is her independence. For example, we went to the forest yesterday, and whilst we were getting DD2 into the sling, DD1 was off rolling in leaves and generally getting away as fast as she could!

It's only when I see her next to these other 'sensible grown up children' that her behaviour suddenly seems less than grown up.

I think I am just a little exhausted at the moment because she is into everything, and I started to worry that maybe we have missed something.

I reckon she will be a scientist or a mechanic when she is older because she loves nothing better than to pull things apart & examine them!!

[lou031205]

lol Colditz - fortunately, so far she is very affectionate and is so placid that other children don't faze her at all. They can take her toys and she just goes and gets another one.

The man at the restaurant looked decidedly offended though, when she managed to take a swipe at his bread roll while we were waiting for a high chair though . I think she thought it was fair game. He did not!

[colditz]

her behavior is less than grown up! It's supposed to be! LOL

[lou031205]

I know. That's the trouble with the PFB, though, I don't really know what to expect of her, and her cousin who is 1 year older is such a different character, that there is no way he would have got up to the things DD does!