Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Rain, Rain, Go Away....

Rain, Rain, go away.
Come again another day.

We had a brief let up in the rain over the 4th of July weekend. Just long enough to cut the grass that has grown 5 feet tall because of the rain. But you guessed it. It's raining again. I need to go ahead and build that Ark now.

Friday, July 2, 2010

Little Miss OCD.

Little Apple and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.

Well, she hasn't had an official diagnosis, nor will I be seeking a diagnosis and it's not something that I am worried about at all. It's something quirky that I thought was blogworthy that I want to remember when the Little Apple gets older. Her little quirks bring a smile to my face some days, and leave me shaking my head on others.

The Little Apple has always had some issues. Tactile Defensiveness is a discription that one of her therapists has used. As a newborn, she didn't want anyone to hold her or rock her to fall asleep...she always fell asleep on her own. Alone in her crib, or in a swing. At her first birthday party, she didn't want to touch her birthday cake. She doesn't like having any toys in her bathwater. EVER.....she will screech, and one at the time, dump every single toy out of the bathtub and throw it on the floor. Then, when you get her out of the bathtub, she screeches because the floor is wet.....from the toys that SHE dumped there.
A couple of weeks ago, we were invited to a friend's house to play in their kiddie pool. The Little Apple finally got in the water, but spent the entire time picking blades of grass and leaves that were floating around on the top of the water, and throwing them out of the pool. I was slight embarrassed.
Yeah. She's got some OCD issues. She found a long blonde hair on her carseat yesterday, and threw such a frightened fit about it, I had to pull over to find out what the problem was. I belly laughed when she pointed to the hair and said "OUT!" Maybe she thought it was a spider web or something? Who knows what goes on in that little brain of hers.
I'm not concerned about these things...her therapist mentioned that the issues don't seem to hinder her from everyday activities. After a couple of weeks of working with her, she now will touch(and squash!) playdough, eat cereal and milk and not freak out when she dribbles milk on herself, and not freak out when I do her hair in pigtails and then show her her reflection in the mirror. (yes, she had a meltdown the first time she saw herself with 2 pigtails in her head!)

Instead of being concerned about her OCD tendencies, I plan on using them to my advantage. For instance.....the Little Apple doesn't like to see shoes on the floor. When my kids enter the house...the immediately remove their shoes. I am teaching the Little Apple to pick up the shoes and dump them in a basket by the door. She loves to do it. She enjoys throwing away diapers.

And then there is the vacuum cleaner. The Little Apple loves this little vacuum.
I do believe she would vacuum 50 times a day if she wanted to. Pretty much every square inch of the floor in the house has been "cleaned" by the the Little Apple. She adores it. When it is time for me to do our carpets, she runs and grabs her's and does the floors behind me and "gets" all the spots that I missed. I do believe that I will have to upgrade her machine to one that actually "sucks" dirt. She's my little helper and I love her. I hope her love for housework continues through life