Change is Good

I don't have a good framing device for this one, but I really have to remark on two Very Good Changes that we have experienced this week. I will be knocking on wood for the rest of the day, of course, because I don't want to disrupt said changes.

The first is Naomi. The last week or more has been a weird one for us, because Naomi has been...difficult, I guess. Specifically, she enjoys ignoring what we say to her, or returning our requests for her actions or our refusals of her unreasonable requests for our actions with zany threats and declarations of how we have broken her heart or (my favorite) hurt her feelings 100! She likes to put ratings on things. Then suddenly, Monday, the Naomi we know returned, and was sweet and funny and copiously complimentary of our cooking (she is so funny with her compliments to the chef, where does that come from?). She complies with our requests, she's excited about everything. Ahhhh.

When she was a baby, one of my coworkers told me about her theory that when a baby goes through a really fussy patch, it's because their brain is changing, and it's tough for them to deal with. They might be ready to roll over or even just understand more of what's going on. I loved that piece of wisdom, true or not, because it always seems to apply. There's a rough patch, and then the child burns a little brighter on the other side. We just have to be more ready for the rough patches, and keep in mind the reward.

Second, and much more simply, we have Muriel, who was not eating anything at all for days and days. She had a little cold, so perhaps that was affecting her appetite? But no matter what we gave her, even sure fire winners like cheese and bananas and scrambled eggs (no, not all together), she would consume no more than a bite or two. Of the whole meal! She cleverly planned this hunger strike to occur directly after her 18 month checkup, at which we learned her low low weight numbers, thereby ensuring that we would not only notice, but feel mildly panicked.

And then, there was the night of the tortellini. Which I see from reading a previous post in my own blog, was Friday. I don't know what it was about Friday, but the girl ate a LOT of tortellini. Since then, she has had a couple of big meals, and a number of very average-sized ones. Which to worried parents seem like delightfully hearty ones. Huzzah!

One final funny note about Muriel (who is kind of a laugh riot all the time, truth be told). She knows a lot of her body parts, and enjoys, as toddlers do, labeling them, having them labeled for her, and so forth. She LOVES to say "elbow." Who doesn't? And she thinks elbows are generally good fun. The other night on the changing table, she had her arms straight up and was becoming increasingly distressed as she pushed the sleeve of one arm further and further toward her shoulder. Elbow! Elbow! When she is not getting what she wants or expects, Muriel lets you know it! Except that it took me a minute to figure it out- she couldn't find her elbow because her arm was straight. And she wouldn't let me bend it so she could find it. Hee. I can't remember how we finally resolved the case of the missing elbow, but she did eventually bend her arm, and the elbow was found, and there was good cheer all around. Elbow! Elbow!