OCD Baby

We are starting to notice some OCD type behavior in Jenna... we're hoping it's just a phase, but perhaps she got more of Uncle Greg's DNA than we realized :-) First, she has long had an obsession with the bathroom door on the main floor. The bathroom is in the hallway, right off the kitchen, and she has to walk by it to go from the kitchen to the rest of the house. often, the door will be open just a crack. Jenna CANNOT walk by the door without closing it. She just pushes it closed, and moves on. Doesn't do this with any other door.

Her latest obsession is washing her hands. At home, when her hands are dirty, or it's time to eat, etc, we pull a kitchen chair up to the sink, she stands on it, asks for soap, and washes and dries her hands like a big girl. Apparently, at daycare, she has taken this obsession to a new level. I recently learned that she basically spends all day dragging a little blue chair across the room, standing on it to reach the sink, and washing her hands. Repeatedly. All day. Every day.

When I got to daycare last night, it was really late, right at 6pm when they close. I saw Jenna dragging the blue chair, and I thought maybe she was just helping her teacher clean up. No, she was sneaking the chair when she thought her teacher wasn't looking, and dragging it back across the room to wash her hands. From the teacher's reaction, I surmised that this is a constant battle. I got Jenna to put the chair back, but as soon as I turned around to get her things together, she ran off, got the chair, and had it at the sink before I knew it.

Jenna's wonderful teachers always take lots of pictures of the students during the day. Usually they are playing, reading, eating, etc. The most recent round of pictures is mainly of Jenna washing her hands. I'm guessing she didn't leave them much choice, it was either photograph what she does all day, or not photograph at all!!