Hi everybody
Just looking for some perspective here and please feel free to tell me if I am completely bonkers .
My little girl is 26 months , she can communicate by using 3 /4word sentences like “ I want more food please “ or what’s happened to elephant ? Etc she can answer questions and some open ended ones like “ what’s mom’s doing “ ? She replies “ cooking food “ what’s your name ? How old are you and how are you ? She asks some why questions and what’s /where’s / who’s questions . Socially , she enjoys one to one interactions with her peers like playing back and forth with a ball , going over to other kids and showing her familiar to another little kid . Overall , she is shy and feels comfortable with us and close family members . She parallel plays at playgroups but rarely , if ever , partakes into circle time and prefers to stay close to me or imitates what the teacher does from afar . She is not bothered by loud sounds , fabric or texture of any kind . So far , she eats well and has slept through since 12 months with a 2 hour nap . She self soothes for sleep . Emotionally , she is okay , no meltdowns and tantrums are few and far between ( 3/4 a months ) , we can say no to her that she goes along with it . She does tidy her books / toys if I ask her , and holds my hand outside on occasions . She understands emotions and if I feel hurt she rushes to give me a kiss .
What concerns me slightly is that she struggles a bit with sitting still at restaurants, she does eat by sitting down at home usually with a book and a bit of “Bing Bunny “ 😆.
She doesn’t enjoy big crowds or join in with other kids . In fact she runs away from them saying “ I don’t want to “ making a grimace . She would look for me in the crowd and hold really tight when I pick her up . She wouldn’t want to sit at the table with them and wanted to do her own thing .
At times she eats standing up or moving around and I know it is not entirely appropriate/ normal .
I am aware that nowadays playing on your own is not the norm anymore and nursery would pick up on that and ask the parent for a referral .
Does this sound like social anxiety