Look out, Victoria. BabyGirl has a secret of her own.

Thank the Lord, Spring is here. I was beginning to think we'd be trapped in the house until the kids graduate from college. And now that BabyGirl will willingly go outside to play, I'd really hate that. Three months ago, if the weather was decent, she would spend all her time in her room instead of going out with Husband and the boys. She spent a good deal of time looking out the window & crying that it wasn't fair that the boys got to ride the four wheeler & she didn't. Now she's the first one dressed & out the door.

Last night I decided I'd had enough of washing the same 3 pairs of underpants because she would only wear "the white ones." The white ones came in packages with printed underpants that were otherwise identical. This has been going of for more than a month, and although a vast improvement on refusing to wear them all together, it still gets a bit wearing.

At one point there was only one pair of the white ones she'd wear. A few weeks ago I started switching out the underpants (unbeknownst to my daughter). Middle of last week I finally told her what was going on. At first she didn't believe me, but eventually she accepted it as fact.

Bed time last night found her in a rather good mood, so I told her we were going to do an experiment. I blindfolded her (which she LOVED) and tried every pair of underpants she owns on her. If she liked them, I put them on her bed. If she didn't I put them on her bed. When we got through the entire pile, there were only 2 on the floor, so I tried them on her a second time. The second time they passed the test.

When I took the blindfold off her face she was thrilled to see the pile on her bed. "I liked all those, Mom?! That's ALL MY UNDERPANTS! They all feel good now!!" She ran out in the living room & told her dad & showed him the underpants she'd picked out to wear to school today.

This morning she even wore a pair of Capri jeans & a t-shirt that hasn't seen the light of day in months.

And bedtime drama is down by about 8,000 % since we introduced the weighted blanket. She's been sleeping under it all night & I really think it's feeding her nervous system as much if not more than the brushing. We've cut back on the brushing quite a bit, but I think I'm going to start setting the timer & doing it every 2 hours again.

I do wonder if this is something she'll grow out of since her SPD is fairly mild by comparison & treatment is working so very well for her. It would be wonderful if this ended up being something we could look back on and say, "Hey, do you remember when BabyGirl was a nudist?"

OT Tuesday II

Today at therapy BabyGirl got to swing sitting in her bottom, her knees, laying on her belly, & standing like on a surf board. Then they bounced on the therapy ball, played with putty, and dug in buckets of beans, dried peas, and rice for fidgets.

As our session was winding down, Emily said BabyGirl is doing so well, and we have all the tools we need to keep her diet rich in sensory experiences, so there's really no need to keep going back for therapy. Emily said if we keep everything up at home, we can just see her periodically unless something comes up.

So as things stand now, we won't be going back until August just before school starts.

It really is amazing the changes we've seen in the month an a half we've been working with Emily. I'd never in a million years believed BabyGirl would be wearing new jeans & happily dressing for school each morning just because of some bouncing & brushing.

Thank the Lord!!

God bless you, Miss Emily!

The new OT from the local hospital called me today. I can tell you right now, I love Miss Emily.

She called to set up BabyGirl's eval. but seemed a bit confused with the order. "It says here she needs to be evaluated because of hand problems & a possible sensory disorder. Do her sensory problems have to do with her hands?" I said no & began explaining BabyGirl's poblems to her. She completely understood & was so supportive about it. I told her we thought we were loosing our minds. "No, you aren't, honey. She's miserable & you had no idea why. Don't worry. We'll help her."

She listened to me for about 15 minutes & gave some advice. She said she really looks forward to meeting us on Friday. I am thrilled.

We had been 4 full days without a major melt down & I was beginning to think the come aparts had all been in my imagination. BabyGirl assured me today that they were not. She wanted to make coffee filter sun catchers this morning. For some reason she wanted to stand in the corner by #1 Son's chair to color. This caused major drama & she fell apart. She spent 30 minutes screaming in her bedroom floor. She writhed around on the floor screeching that her hair was itching her & clawing at her self. I finally got her calmed down enough to put her in an oatmeal bath. Things have been better since then.

I'm trying to adapt the attitude of giving thanks in all things. So today I am thankful that we're having a snow day & she could stay in her room during the melt down instead of having it in the van on the way to school. That has gotten dangerous lately.

So now I have to be careful that I'm not hanging my hopes on Friday & Miss Emily. She's going to help, but this will not be a quick fix.