Playing together

I was saying the other day that when Nathan is with other children, he does probably 90-95% parallel play; he doesn't play with them, he plays near them. He engages well with adults, especially favorite adults, but I've wondered when he might translate some of this interest, enthusiasm and energy into actually playing with his peers.
Yesterday, we visited his buddy Marcus. Nathan and Marcus are the same age and both have Down Syndrome. Unlike some kids, Marcus doesn't intimidate Nathan, even though Marcus can do some things Nathan can't do yet (Marcus has got some gross motor skills on him!). I would say it's reciprocal, Nathan just has different strengths, and they balance out. We went in the pool, and Nathan was much more afraid than Marcus, who can swim independently with his floaties. Nathan warmed up more with time and was able to float in his life vest and thrash around a bit, holding my hands. He was even able to let go of me with one hand. After swimming, the boys had a snack and went inside the house. They initiated a game of throwing a pillow back and forth and giggle hysterically. This was so amazing to see: they were playing together!





Nathan loves to play "catch", but in the past I have only ever experienced him throwing to adults, even if directed to throw to a peer. Yesterday, these guys initiated this game on their own and threw this pillow back and forth to each other, over each other, and onto the floor, giggling hysterically the entire time. I was pretty much superfluous, and was able to take pictures and talk to Marcus' mom. We probably could have left them to it, but of course we were so excited to see them play together we had to watch (and document), and giggle too-- their laughter was pretty contagious.