The Good Doctor.

Today Leia had an appointment with a "good doctor." As opposed to a "bad doctor" that has needles and gives icky medicine. :) Leia had her appointment today with the child psychologist. And we think that it went really well!

We sat in a room and Leia behaved well while we talked to the doctor. Leia was very timid but opened up better near the end. :) The doctor assessed her mentally and physically. Most importantly for us, we had answered one of the questions that we had about Leia. Which was about autism.

The doctor said that while she has autistic characteristics and tendencies, she is too active to be fully autistic. She said that since she is not autistic, her determination, stubbornness and desire to do everything herself will be very healthy for her in the end.

It has been Leia's lack of affection and the way she holds herself away from others that has been bothering us. The doctor wasn't a bit surprised when we confirmed how alert she has been her entire life, even the same day she was born - eyes wide open, and I said, "She hasn't closed them since." :D

She said that however she reacts to our affection, to not stop what we are doing and hopefully she'll get a bit better. :)

Finally, for the last 2 weeks, Leia's sleep has been better. And it goes back to the autism question of Leia having to decide for herself what and when things happen. So from June until September, we've fought with her sleeping, and now we are hoping that we've figured out what to do. We say goodnight and leave her alone upstairs. And she goes and gets in bed herself and falls asleep alone and by herself. Sounds a bit morbid, I think. :P But she has to have that reassurance that she is making the decision to go to bed. It has worked very, very well for the last 2 weeks and she is even sleeping in longer in the mornings.

So it was nice to have someone else, especially a professional, not tell us that we were silly to think autism might be an issue. Unlike other children, Leia doesn't come and sit in our laps, she doesn't come and sit beside us, she doesn't offer us hugs or put her arms around us when we actually get a hug. Her hugs, the few times we get them, are her laying her head on our shoulder for a few seconds.

The doctor said that Leia is sorta living vicariously through her cat. :) That if we want a hug, to hug the cat first, if we want to cut her nails, cut the cat's nails first, etc.. Which makes sense. Leia doesn't hug us, but she comes up to me often and places the cat against my neck and has me hug the cat like she, herself, hugs the cat.

She gave us some good tips and it was really nice to talk to someone. :)
And since we have no one in the area, friends or family, to give us a helping hand or a break, even a meal out by ourselves some time - the doctor suggested we put an ad in the paper for an adopted grandma. :) She said that it is common, and easy to find very willing, older women that are lonely and would love to help out with a child. For me, that was a very tempting offer. So we'll see if we do that.

But soon Leia's real grandparents will be here! We're anxious, that's for sure! It will be interesting to see how Leia reacts to new people living in her home. :) She's been great with the fireplace-guy. She is very friendly with him.

So yay! for a good day! :)
Now back to school work! :P