FOOD FIGHT

I used to be a girl who LOVED to eat. I would cry if I didn't get my food right NOW. Mommy always was so happy that I would basically eat anything she put in front of me. Oh, I had my favorites, like crackers, sweet potatoes, bananas, etc. But I really just loved to eat, and would even crawl up to my highchair and sign/say "eat" even when it wasn't time to eat. When we'd go out to eat, Mommy would bring food for me, and I'd have it all gone before Mommy and Daddy's food had even gotten there. I was the girl who could down a whole ice cream cone (without the ice cream) in no time flat. Well, Mommy is wondering where that little girl went to, because in the last two weeks, I have become a very finicky, picky eater. It started that I wanted nothing to do with my "milk." I started drinking milk again, but now I do NOT want to eat. I mean, I could go all day without eating and be happy. Not even my favorites can entice me. Oh, I'll eat maybe part of a cracker or a few small bites of banana and then be "all done." I won't even touch vegetables anymore. I will sometimes eat applesauce or oatmeal or jello, things that "slide" down easily, but that's about it. I even have gotten into the habit of hitting Mommy's hand or pushing it away when she tries to give me something. (Mommy is trying to teach me how to say "no thank you" in sign language. I can do it, but usually only with Mommy's prompting AFTER I have hit her hand away.) Another thing I have started doing with my food instead of eating it is mashing it up or playing with it, which usually means it ends up on the floor. I just DON'T WANT TO EAT! Mommy wonders if it is because she tends to give me the same foods a lot due to my milk allergy. I can't just eat what Mommy and Daddy are eating. (Mommy wonders if she should adjust her cooking and maintain a "dairy free kitchen" so I CAN eat what they eat, but Daddy does NOT like the sound of that.) Today Mommy tried a few new foods, including strawberries and beans, but NOPE. Would have none of it. Mommy says who wouldn't like strawberries!? Anyway, Mommy is hoping this all has to do with my not feeling well, but she's afraid it's a phase/stage I am going through. We'll have to wait and see, I guess.

I was starting to get on a great sleeping schedule again, waking around 8:00 or so (at least that's when Mommy hears me....she doesn't know how long I just lay there awake since it's dark out and I think it's still night...). Then, I'd go about my morning pretty happy, and I'd take a nap from about 1:00 to 3:00 or 4:00. Then, I'd go to bed around 7:30-7:45. I'd been going right to sleep with no troubles, and life was good in the sleeping department again finally. Well, now with being sick, it's thrown everything off again. I am usually up between 3:30 and 4:00 in the morning with a coughing spell (Mommy has to come in and hold me in the chair for awhile to stop the coughing spell), and I don't ever really fall asleep again since I just keep coughing off and on. So, by the time morning comes around, I'm already exhausted. That makes for a very grumpy morning, and I'm getting into a lot more "trouble" now too and not obeying Mommy very well because I'm so tired and grumpy. (Plus, I now can walk anywhere I want to and get around really well, so that is another reason I am now getting into things and doing things I don't usually do.) For naps, I don't always sleep well or it takes a while to get to sleep because of my cough. Sometimes Mommy has to come in and hold me so I don't cough. And last night I cried for awhile when Daddy put me to bed, and I was super grumpy all evening. This being sick stuff is NO FUN....for me or for Mommy and Daddy either. Let's hope I get better soon!