Robot Doggie

Here's is our Piper and her friend "Robot Doggie." This is a cheap little pull toy I bought for Morgan ages ago when she began to walk. Morgan liked playing with it, but it went by the wayside with a bunch of other toys a while ago. In fact I tried to sell it to a consignment store and they rejected it on the basis that they had too many baby toys. I put the doggie and some other rejected toys in Morgan's closet with the thought in mind that if a friend with a baby comes over we'd have something for the baby to play with. I forgot about these toys until Piper found them. About a two weeks ago she appeared at bedtime with the doggie and said "Look, it's Robot Doggie!" Though, the way she pronounces it, it sounds more like "Robodoggie". So, that is it's name. We're not sure where this name comes from, but it makes sense as all the dog does is make a mechanical "arf" sound when you pull him by his leash (no batteries required either).


She loves to pull him around the house, feed him at meals and brush his teeth before bed. Even the first night we "met" him he had an unfortunate incident. Piper took him in the bathroom while Morgan was finishing her bath with David. She said "Uh oh, Robot Doggie's sick" and proceeded to lean him over the edge of the toilet, complete with barfing sounds. Morgan was so amused by this that she asks if Robot Doggie is sick almost every night. Most of the time Piper obliges and makes Robot Doggie "get sick" in the potty...and we all laugh. Hilarious.

Honestly Robot Doggie is currently getting a lot more love than any of the dolls/babies in our house. He sleeps in Piper's bed at night as well. We'll see how long the Robot Doggie obsession lasts, but in the meantime it's very entertaining.

Character

We have lots of names for our Piper girl... Biscuit, Miss Mess-a-mess, Baby, Pipie, the Piper Pooper...but lately she's just blossomed into what we can only call "a character."

She's basically confirming that she's definitely (so far) a "typical" child, known as "neuro-typical" or NT in the special needs world. But, for us she seems like she's just brilliant! We are amazed everyday at how she learns something new completely on her own or busts out with something amazing verbally.

As for the verbal dynamics, on Sunday we arrived at church and I took her to her Adventureland classroom. As we were getting close to our turn to check in she wanted me to put her down. As soon as I did this, she did a cute little "jig" and said "I so excited!!" Huh?! Cutest thing ever! Also, this coming from a kid who three months ago would cling to me terrified that I was leaving her in that class. I'd say she's adjusted well.

That night I was making dinner and accidentally splashed a bit of boiling water on my arm. I let out a yelp of some kind and a few seconds later she shows up in the doorway and says "What's wrong, Mama?!" I was able to explain that I was okay and she went back to playing.

We've also had several instances of times she will get a bmp or bruise, then she'll cry for a bit. Then, once she calms down some she says "I feel better."

Today I got her out of the car and set her down in the garage just as a FedEx truck was pulling out across the street. She kind of freaked out and as soon as I picked her up she said "I too little, I so scared!" The fact that she can express her feelings this way is invaluable! We are constantly amazed, and a lot relieved, that she is showing these skills.

Our girl is also a character because she is so creative. She has a sense of humor too! She was so proud of herself with these two pairs of sunglasses on. She laughed and laughed and I had to pull over the car to take a picture.

She has also blossomed with her imaginative play. She found this binky in a cabinet in her room and brought it and a blanket downstairs. She plopped herself down on the kitchen floor and said something like, "Look, I a baby! Waaaah Waaaah!" Incredible.

And, the best for last...this morning I was doing Morgan's hair and as soon as I was done Piper gave her a big hug and said "I love you Morgan!" So sweet!

But, don't be deceived, this character has her sassy, defiant side. More soon...

Rigidity

It just breaks my heart that Morgan goes through such anxiety from day to day. It is so hard for us to manage, and so many times there is nothing we can do about it.


We took the girls to the local "Jump and Bounce" today. They always have a great time there. Because of the holiday it was packed today and I'm sure both girls were completely over stimulated by the time we left.

When we got home for lunch, Morgan refused to eat any of the mac and cheese I made. She then choose to go right to "quiet time"...but once she was there she got upset again and wanted to come back to the kitchen to eat. By that time we had let Piper sit in Morgan's usual spot, which completely threw Morgan into a tizzy. Can we say "rigid"?! We finally got Piper to switch back to her own spot/seat (I know, so not fair), but once they were seated in the appropriate places they both melted down. Morgan could not calm herself, so we decided to just put her upstairs again for quiet time. Piper calmed down pretty easily and ate a little...then went down for her nap. Morgan is still upset and crying in her room. At this point we just have to leave her there. There is no reasoning with a child with autism. Either she'll finally calm down or cry herself to sleep.

There are a lot of things we are doing with/for Morgan to help reduce her anxiety/rigidity and make her more flexible, but as with all therapies, they take time. We are barely at the beginning of our marathon.

Let me give you another example of what we see often. The other day Piper wanted to play with the cookies and cakes in our little kitchen play set. Morgan came to join us. We had a fun little game with the cookies, but when Piper went to get the cake all hell broke loose. When we usually play this game we sing Happy Birthday together and blow out the candles, then remove the candles from the cake and cut pieces for us to pretend to eat. This time Piper, being the flexible kid she is, decided to just bring the cake over to us, leaving behind the plate and wooden box we keep it in. Morgan became upset, so I grabbed the plate as I thought that would help. Apparently that wasn't good enough, we needed the box too. I kept telling her it was okay if the cake was on the plate without the box, but that did no good. With Morgan, we have to play the game exactly the same way each time, or she loses it.

There is no flexibility for our girl in her play, no creativity, no real "pretend." Same means "good" to Morgan. If she knows how it goes, she likes it. Anything new or different thrown in can cause total meltdown. Occasionally I throw something in that goes over OK, but I find I have to build it up before I actually do it, so she has some warning. This is good, but then the next time we play if I don't do the "new" thing the same way she freaks out. She locks in on anything she likes and can't venture outside it. When I play with her alone we can sometimes manage these issues so we can still have fun. When she plays with Piper it is more difficult because Piper has no clue what Morgans needs or what her issues are in this area. Unfortunately she is starting to learn this and either will accommodate her or just not want to play with her. Truthfully, it's not a lot of fun to play with Morgan. Piper is taking a jump forward in her creative play and I'm really enjoying it, but when Morgan wants to jump in...total buzzkill.

Last example of rigidity. This one is food related. I'm sure I've mentioned Morgan's beloved "dinosaur" sandwich. If not, it is a peanut butter and honey sandwich cut into two dinosaur shapes with a special bread cutter. She has a particular technique to eat this. She pulls the bread apart, eating the honey side first. While she eats the honey side, she holds the PB side in the other hand. I know...so odd. Lately we have had a few bread issues, such as one time the head just fell off the dinosuar and another time the bread was had some odd creases in it. Wouldn't most kids think that he head falling off was just hilarious?! When this happens Morgan demands it be fixed, which generally is impossible. Or, she asks for a new one. We accommodated this for a while, but lately have just told her if there's something wrong with it, don't eat it, and we're not making a new one. Depending on how hungry she is determines whether she'll have a meltdown or just not eat the offending sandwich.

This is exhausting.

Piper's Tea Party

This afternoon Piper decided she wanted to have a Tea Party. She didn't use these words yet, but she grabbed my hand, took me over to the little kitchen and pulled me to sit down. When I sat she put a saucer and tea cup in front of me, saying "There go Mama." They she took one over to Morgan, who was playing across the room. She put the saucer and cup in front of her and said "There go Morgan!" (BTW, she now calls Morgan by her name, not Boo Boo. She's figured out how to pronounce it and is very proud of herself!)

Then she came back to me, sat down and gave herself an saucer and cup. They she grabbed the tea pot and "poured" us all some tea. Happily slurped our tea with some "cheers" thrown in.

This was very simple, but HUGE for me. Piper initiated this on her own. She did not follow any particular "way" she had seen this done before. She included her sister, though Morgan didn't really participate, and lead the whole process. This was REAL pretend play happening on it's own. Though we'd done Tea Parties in the past, it was not recent. I didn't  have to initiate it or "teach" her how.

Amazing. I know this is not a big deal for most parents, but it is monumental to us!