When Annika was little, for a brief time after she became aware of the world around her, I was one of her favorite people. This was also during the time when she was terrified of Joel and would scream bloody murder every time he walked into a room. I knew that I should enjoy it while it lasted because it would eventually come to a screeching halt and she would love Joel more than she loved me. This happens with all children.
As predicted, Annika went through her stage of loving Joel, then Riley, then Joel, then Sophie and Joel about the same, then pretty much all Sophie all the time. I mean, she is still obviously quite fond of me. I know she loves me because of the squeal and big smile and running and hugging and kissing that happens every time she sees me. However, if Sophie is around then that is where it stops and pup pup and Ani Girl follow each other around the house for the rest of the day.
It had been kind of difficult for me to connect with Annika since she was diagnosed with autism. She likes to focus on one thing at a time, it is almost always the dog and the dog almost always overstimulates her since they have such a good time. Once their wild rumpus is finally over, she doesn't have a lot of emotional energy left to give Auntie Sassy.
I missed hanging out with my Ani and I wanted to have a special connection with her, so that's when we started doing stickers. I bought a scrap book, a box of crayons and a buttload of stickers. Now, every time I see Annika (and I mean EVERY. SINGLE. TIME.), she and I sit down and do stickers. We talk about the stickers. I've learned that there are some she is more interested in discussing. For the others, she puts herself to task and moves all of them from the sticky sheet to the paper as quickly as possible. I also got a special set of stickers that were pink sparkly tiaras and every time we do our stickers she gets to pick ONE princess sticker. I forgot these on Saturday, so of course the first thing she said to me was "Princess sticker?"
AUNTIE FAIL!
Anyway, I love doing stickers with her. It's our special Ani/Auntie time.
I found this crazy Tinkerbell decal (and Tink is one of her favorite things). My first thought was THE ULTIMATE IN STICKER FUN WITH ANNIKA! Then, once I got it home I realized that it came in pieces. I envisioned Annika and I trying to put it on the wall, having a random wing coming out of Tink's leg and not being able to stop my OCD from taking over and saying "Um, that isn't were that wing goes." SO, mama and I put it up after she went to bed. Apparently Annika was ecstatic when she saw it in the morning, but Auntie was still sleeping and missed the whole thing.
Exhibit A:
Kai helps me prove what a bad idea it would have been trying to bond over this by showing the impossible outlines on the sticker sheet. Why didn't they make the fairy in one piece? Were the production costs really that much less? I guess we'll never know.
Exhibit B:
Cute girl loves her Tink. And her crazy monster hat from Auntie Em. And not wearing pants.
As predicted, Annika went through her stage of loving Joel, then Riley, then Joel, then Sophie and Joel about the same, then pretty much all Sophie all the time. I mean, she is still obviously quite fond of me. I know she loves me because of the squeal and big smile and running and hugging and kissing that happens every time she sees me. However, if Sophie is around then that is where it stops and pup pup and Ani Girl follow each other around the house for the rest of the day.
It had been kind of difficult for me to connect with Annika since she was diagnosed with autism. She likes to focus on one thing at a time, it is almost always the dog and the dog almost always overstimulates her since they have such a good time. Once their wild rumpus is finally over, she doesn't have a lot of emotional energy left to give Auntie Sassy.
I missed hanging out with my Ani and I wanted to have a special connection with her, so that's when we started doing stickers. I bought a scrap book, a box of crayons and a buttload of stickers. Now, every time I see Annika (and I mean EVERY. SINGLE. TIME.), she and I sit down and do stickers. We talk about the stickers. I've learned that there are some she is more interested in discussing. For the others, she puts herself to task and moves all of them from the sticky sheet to the paper as quickly as possible. I also got a special set of stickers that were pink sparkly tiaras and every time we do our stickers she gets to pick ONE princess sticker. I forgot these on Saturday, so of course the first thing she said to me was "Princess sticker?"
AUNTIE FAIL!
Anyway, I love doing stickers with her. It's our special Ani/Auntie time.
I found this crazy Tinkerbell decal (and Tink is one of her favorite things). My first thought was THE ULTIMATE IN STICKER FUN WITH ANNIKA! Then, once I got it home I realized that it came in pieces. I envisioned Annika and I trying to put it on the wall, having a random wing coming out of Tink's leg and not being able to stop my OCD from taking over and saying "Um, that isn't were that wing goes." SO, mama and I put it up after she went to bed. Apparently Annika was ecstatic when she saw it in the morning, but Auntie was still sleeping and missed the whole thing.
Exhibit A:
Kai helps me prove what a bad idea it would have been trying to bond over this by showing the impossible outlines on the sticker sheet. Why didn't they make the fairy in one piece? Were the production costs really that much less? I guess we'll never know.
Exhibit B:
Cute girl loves her Tink. And her crazy monster hat from Auntie Em. And not wearing pants.
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