A welcome change

It's been a bit of a roller coaster week with Emma. She really hasn't slept well, and we just can't figure it out. We finally did the hardest thing of all and just let her cry it out. I think it's even harder for us to do now because this summer we COULDN'T let her cry it out...her throat would close up, and she'd stop breathing. As difficult as it was and continues to be, Emma does go back to sleep after about 5 minutes of crying. We still don't know why she wakes up so upset, but I hope it ends soon!

The welcome change I'm speaking of in the title of this blog entry started with something we've been dreading and been on the lookout for, something that plagues many kids with spina bifida: constipation. Gross, I know, but birth defects aren't pretty. We had thought that we were escaping this awful side effect, but this week taught us differently. My mom had to take some rather unpleasant measures to help Miss Emma out; in the meantime, I looked up a recipe for homemade prune baby food. Here's where the welcome change comes in - YOWZA, do the prunes work! So this week kinda of knocked me down a bit, but I was blessed to find that the food I made helped out my little girl.

Emma is getting into things now, and she's always looking for something to grab while she's in her Bumbo seat. This makes it extremely difficult to feed her - it's like trying to feed Ray Charles with all that swaying from side to side. A lot of parents dread the day that their kids starting grabbing for everything in sight - we love it! Get into anything and everything you want to, sweet girl - we're thankful for your vivacious personality! That vivacious personality is what will drive you to succeed. We thank God for you every day, and the thanksgiving holiday has never meant so much.

My sister is coming into town tonight, very late. It's been a long time since Anissa has seen Emma, and I just know we're all going to have a fantastic time this week and weekend. My mom, my sister, and I have a long-standing tradition of Black Friday shopping...long before anybody ever started calling it Black Friday. Last year we stayed up all night in Gaffney at the outlets for the first time and THEN hit the mall in Greenville. This year I'm not sure what we'll do - I'm waaaaay ahead on my Christmas shopping - HOORAY! I'm going to try extra hard to get my house decorated for Christmas during the morning hours - that's when Emma's in the best mood and tolerates being in her swing, Bumbo, Exersaucer, etc. for extended periods of time. Emma loves loud, crumply paper - which means easy gift-wrapping. Emma will be entertained with wrapping paper scraps for hours this year, let me assure you.

Ok, time for bed - no work until Monday! Happy Thanksgiving to everyone, and please remember to be thankful for the little things in your lives. We have learned about (and grieved over) the things Emma can't do, and we hope that others are thankful for those abilities...but at the same time, we are also thankful for the things that Emma CAN do that some parents still don't get to experience: the beautiful smiles, grabbing at anything in a 1-foot radius, and pulling my and Lola's hair! Now on to praying for an uninterrupted night of sleep...