The little things

We were at a friend's house tonight and I had pulled one of their son's puzzles out of the closet for Michael to play with. It had two pieces missing which I did worry about when I first pulled it out but thought maybe since they were not there when he first saw it, he'd be okay. Well he was fine at first but then he started to get really anxious and upset about the missing pieces. He kept saying "Two more pieces. They disappeared. Mama they play hide seek, go find them" and he'd try to pull me off the couch to go find them. This wasn't like a NT child just throwing a fit that they didn't get their way or that they wanted the puzzle, this was actually causing him serious stress and anxiety. It's the little things like this that make me have to be hyper aware of the situation at all times.