Thanks for your kind words Giftodd. I think I have confused you about her age - by "DD2" I meant that she is my second DD, her age is 4.75 years. I would say that she is quite socially competent, or I would have up until recently.
All of her friends went up to school without her at the beginning of this year, leaving her as one of the eldest in preschool, and not wanting to be in preschool anyway this was a bit of a double whammy. Unsurprisingly she's not really managed to find anyone to bond with. Having always loved company but been equally happy to self entertain, if children don't play nicely or she can't fit in she will just go do her own thing. It seems like she has gotten so into the habit of being alone that she no longer seems to notice that she has options at the times when there are children there she does connect with who would want to play with her. Sometimes our play dates go really well, but other times she will just go straight off to do whatever interests her without thinking to try to engage other children in her interest, or trying to join what they are doing.
