Obsessive - Compulsive & Other Disorders

So it is a wild ride watching your kid develop into their own little person right before your very eyes. But watching them develop weird traits while you sit hopelessly by - I never prepared myself for that.

About two weeks ago, we ATTEMPTED to put Addie into an outfit that had fit a mere week prior. Much to our chagrin, she had already grown out it and we had to drag out the bag of hand-me-downs of the next size up to begin the clothing "shuffle." So Eric and I begin the sort of clothing - shirts, pants, shorts, dresses and make immaculate piles as we move through the bag. That is, until Addie woke up from her nap. This is when we realized that our kid might have started developing some strange behaviors seemingly overnight.

Addie started with one small pile of dresses and shirts. She sat on the floor taking one piece of clothing at a time, lift it up talking quite sternly to the item, and then immediately threw it behind her with fervor. The poor article of clothing would literally go FLYING across the room while she proceeded to take the next item of clothing and repeat the process. Now one would think that after destroying the pile of clothes, this 13 month old would get bored and move onto another activity. OH NO! Not Addie. She simply turned around and started the whole process over again - but this time, the talking got louder, more intense, and the tosses got even more vehement, and all the while, she had no idea we were even in the room. Eric and I kept laughing - too afraid to move for fear that we would disturb her and she would stop. But oh what we wouldn't have given to have a video camera on her during this episode!

So in essence, we think Addie has some sort of Obessive/Compulsive disorder in her blood. This is due to the fact that she didn't stop this course of action with the clothes until 30 minutes into the activity at which time, I got a little nervous about her state of mind and started picking up the clothes to get rid or her amunition.

However, we could be wrong - Addie is far from neat an tidy like a true obessive/compulsive. Usually she plows through her toys with such intensity that at the end of the day, the poor living room looks like a nuclear bomb went off. It takes both of us parents at least 20 minutes to clear a path for the next day. So the diagnosis could more aptly be attributed to multiple personality disorder? schizophrenia? Or perhaps, just a very curious and very animated little girl...if only we could climb into her head and hear her thoughts...any day now I am sure.