Lately, Audrey has been throwing the most incredible tantrums. It's the weirdest thing, from someone who is normally so chill and happy. She got ahold of my phone tonight, and when I realized it and took it away, she screamed frantically for HALF AN HOUR. I'm not kidding: 6:05 to 6:35. Travis left, picked up Chinese food, and came back, and she was still screaming. Top of her lungs, freaking out, inconsolable, LOUD screaming. I felt so bad for her, but I was also annoyed because I had missed her while I was at work today and she was wasting the evening away being obnoxious. She finally settled down a little on her own, enough that when I offered her a drink and a hug, she finally accepted. She's done that several other times lately, and it's really, really crazy. I rocked her for a long, long time at bedtime tonight, just because it felt good to hold her while she wasn't insane. Poor thing.
She was actually quite fine when she had blood drawn last week at her 15-mo checkup. She had been measuring low in hemoglobin levels the past two times, so I wanted them to look for root cause instead of just having me give her iron supplements. I absolutely hate doing that. I always had to take iron when I was a kid, and it tastes bad and makes it hard to poop. Most of all, I hate being told that I'm not feeding my daughter the right things, because honestly Audrey eats a way better diet than Emily and Emily's hemoglobin is just fine. So they took a bigger blood sample to do more tests this time, from her arm instead of just a finger prick. It was a horrible experience but Audrey calmed down right away, without a 30-minute freakout, and fell asleep in the car on the way home. But the blood tests came back - low hemoglobin, and an actual low iron level. Honestly, Audrey's favorite foods are raisins, beans, eggs, and hamburger, all of which are in the top-ten list of highest iron levels. I also sneak spinach into everything I can, and substitute whole wheat flour for some of the white flour in muffins, waffles, and pancakes. There's no way she's not getting enough iron!! It's really annoying to me, especially since I had the same "problem" growing up, and nobody ever bothered to diagnose it further and I turned out fine. So did my mom, and her dad. What's the big deal??
Okay, on to other topics. Emily's learning to tell time, starting with learning that she should stay in bed in the morning until her clock says 7, not 6. She will now run into our room in the morning, saying, "It says 7! It's MORNING-TIME!!" It's a great way to start the day, let me tell you!
Emily has had so many deliciously clever things to say lately. Travis was most impressed by her when he was talking to her on the phone last week (he was in North Carolina for a few days). She had asked him something, and he answered, but she knew he wasn't answering the right question, so she told him that wasn't it, and clarified her question. If you think about it, that's some serious word-wrangling for someone so new with the language!! The other night she was really upset because she didn't believe me that I'd already given her a vitamin for the day, and I was able to talk her down by just telling her she was super hungry and I'd take care of her by giving her some yummy supper. I couldn't believe that that worked, but it was way easier and more productive than trying anything iron-fisted. When she needs to go to the corner these days, I haven't been calling it Time-Out or treating it as a punishment. If she's losing control of herself, I'll put her in the corner and tell her when she's ready to do what I ask, she can come play with us again. Usually I'll come give her a big hug and a pat on the back, telling her "You can do it, kiddo." And it works way better than demanding apologies and making her feel small. We're talking maybe once a week, tops, that things get like that, and there's usually a root cause of too much sugar or a late bedtime or something.
Speaking of too much sugar - my little valentines were certainly recipients of a lot of treats this year! I didn't even open the bag of heart-shaped marshmallows because we were inundated as it was! Emily had her very first Fun-Dip, a highly coveted treat of my youth. It took her two days to finish it. :) I'm hoping she forgets that she had a second one to save for later, and I'll pull it out and surprise her sometime. I think she was actually getting tired of begging for candy after supper every night. We usually do have some sort of treat afterwards, but sometimes that treat is something like an extra biscuit or more canned peaches. I'm such a sneaky mom!
I'm not working tonight. I've been doing 2+ hours every night, and it's nice to take a night off once in a while, especially since I worked all day today!! I've finished planning the next two weeks of work, and it's an insane workload. I've got lots of support from the people who've asked me to do these things, but still, it's pretty daunting.
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