Yes, it freaked me out. Both then and now. It's basically living with a child who has NO books describing that kind of development, and it also doesn't provide you with much of a handle on what level of "push" is appropriate-- or when.
Ultimately, it has meant being infinitely flexible in terms of our current estimate of what "trajectory" even means.
One day at a time, serenity prayer territory, I'm afraid.
There IS no big picture accessible to us-- and it has meant coming to terms with that.
Ergo, we evaluate fit anytime things seem "off" in any way-- and we ride the train until the track runs out, or seems about to-- and then we try to figure out what happens next. It's also the reason we have become such incredible neurotic freaks about documenting
everything-- that's our metaphorical life raft if the ship sinks under us all without warning. We've had that happen once before (it's the reason I showed up here, basically, when she was about nine, and started posting in desperation when she was about ten or eleven).
DD has developed the metacognitive skills now (since she was about 12 and we discussed this kind of development-- and various NT, non-NT developmental trajectories) that she is able to help us to anticipate when these jumps are occurring, which is useful. Well, to a point. What to do about them, and evaluating "what level are we on now" is still a challenge.
Jonothan Livingston Seagull. 
That's my kid. This is the facet of my DD, more than all of the others, that makes me desperately wish that I had my father alive to ask questions of.
