Growing Pains

Friday, September 4, 2009

Emma has done a lot of growing up in the past month. Her and I went on the diet mentioned in the last post for 4 days, and then we cut back on the extreme and tried to do a compromise of our usual diet and that diet (GAPS). It is not working for us. Emma's skin only took 3 days to go from pristine clear to scabby and inflamed. So we will be going back to a version of it, as soon as I get organized. It's so hard making drastic changes in the kitchen!

Since our diet start Emma has been very brave trying new foods. She's been trying green things - today it was soba noodles with pesto and she ate some broccoli with her eggs the other day. She chose some grapes at HEB the other day (she's never eaten a grape before) and to my delight she was munching on them all the way to the checkout!

The 4 days of this diet were tough for her. I felt it too...it was like doing a natural detox. The first 2 days I had a headache that would not subside. Days 3 and 4 I felt great, but I was eating a lot more than she was. She wouldn't eat much at all. I did rule out that she has an egg allergy, however, because she was eating a ton of those.

Through all of these ups and downs, Emma is seldom rough with her brother, who is very curious about her toys. Instead of hurting him, she screams for me to come get him, and then when I won't she will let him bite her and pull her hair without retaliating! He gets very frustrated with screaming. I do too :)

Today my brave girl went to the dentist and let them scrape and clean her teeth with their power tools. I couldn't believe my eyes. She's really growing up. And then she knocked my socks off this evening...

At the dentist they told me she has to get rid of the chupon (pacifier). It's altering the shape of her mouth. So, with my recent experience of cold turkey approaches, I decided to just do it. This afternoon I told her that her nap was the last time she was going to use them ever. She cried, curled lip pouted, and then cried more. I almost wanted to cry too. It's a baby thing - pacifiers - and I don't want her to grow up! And, she's been through so much, those chupones have always been there to comfort her when she feels bad and mami isn't enough. So, she sucked on them for about 1 1/2 hours, came downstairs, said she wasn't tired (haha) and I got the feeling she was done with them. So I got the scissors and asked her to help me cut them up. I helped her cut the nipple off each one. She wasn't sad doing it. she put all the nipples on her fingers and was playing with them. Then we put them in a box and used it as an instrument. Ben loved this.


I thought for sure bedtime would be a crying frenzy tonight. But when it was time, she didn't cry, she just asked for them. We prayed that Heavenly Father would help her be a big girl. I left the room with no requests or cries following me.

I am so proud of Emma and her victories. Her strong spirit produces her tantrums, but also her bravery and faith. She is an example to me, a 25-yr. old, when she gives up something that means so much to her in a matter of hours. She is an example to me each day when she gulps down the gross supplement concoction I make for her instead of spitting it out on my face. She is an example to me as she sincerely prays with me at night to bless her body to heal. I am so grateful for my little girl...my big girl...my Emma.