WEIRD

Audrey had a record-length freak-out yesterday.  It lasted, I'm not kidding, 2 hours and 45 minutes.  Twice, she settled down, fell asleep, then woke up screaming again after about 20 minutes of rest.  It was the entire evening.  I was FINALLY able to snap her out of her state by an ingenius tactic:  I cried.  I finally got the point where I could have her in my arms, since she was writhing and thrashing around for much of it, so a hug was feeling pretty good.  I was feeling guilty because she was in such a state and I couldnt' do anything about it, so I started crying a bit.  When she heard me, she stopped, and finally said the first thing she'd said in hours (instead of howling): "It's okay, Mom.  It'll be all right."  Just exactly the words I had been telling her for hours.  Seeing that she was now acting human again, I kept up the tears, this time just to see if I could get her completely calmed down, by asking her how I should go about stopping crying, if maybe she could show me how a deep breath worked, and it totally worked.  It was such a relief. Not only was I glad to have the awful howling stop, but it showed me that there really isn't anything wrong with her.  She CAN stop.  It's not a systemic problem, it's not a reaction to diet or her environment or a mental defect.  She's just an amazing case of The 3's.  So, I can do it.  Stay level, and try to stay a step ahead. 

But, wow.

Clara had her 6-month shots this morning, and of course she cried a little, but actually Emily cried more than she did! She was upset that Clara was in pain and she just couldn't handle knowing what her little sister had been put through. I can't tell you how amazing it felt to see Emily acting so kind and with such empathy, how proud I was to be her mom.  What a lovely, amazing little girl she is.  I haven't totally screwed her up after all! Things are looking up. :)

Merry Christmas, everyone!