Catching up

I have been a little behind in posting lately mostly due to lack of time and energy at the end of the day. Kelsie came home from school on Thursday of last week running a slight fever, coughing (with horrible sounding chest congestion, running nose and all the icky fun stuff associated with a bad cold. She stayed sick until Sunday when she finally started sounding normal again. She didn't act too badly considering how she sounded, but as anyone whose ever dealt with a sick 3 yr old it is certainly no picnic. Our weekend was pretty much shot, but my mom was nice enough to come over on Saturday to give Mike and I a little break. We went and ran errands while she kept Kelsie busy. She still has remnants of a cough, but she is pretty much over all the crud. Thank goodness!

I am so glad that Kelsie started feeling better pretty quickly so it didn't get her out of her routine too much. She was able to go to therapy on Tuesday and she loved it! Ms Mary pushes her just enough to get her to do things, but not enough to upset her. I am so thankful that is going so well. Kelsie ate some things at her "tea party" that she hasn't eaten in months! She ate part of a banana, some raisins, and some blackberries. Every time we offer them to her she always refuses, but she ate them without much hesitation on Tuesday. I think the mistake we have been making is offering too much of it all at once. Apparently she reacts much better when you offer very small portions (one blackberry) at a time until she asks for more. I will definitely start trying more at home, because it seems like her self induced diet restrictions just keep growing. Ever couple of months she will start refusing foods that she would eat without any problems before. I swear she is going to turn into a peanut butter and jelly sandwich one day!

Although Kelsie is definitely feeling better this week has been really rough behaviorally. She is being very defiant, sensitive, and just all around cranky. I am sure it is still part of her getting over her cold. She got bad reports both days she went to school this week. On Tuesday they reported that she was tired and sad all day. She cried easily over anything that didn't go her way. Yesterday (Thursday) she apparently was being so defiant to the teachers that she was sent to the director's office for the first half of the day. I was shocked, because that has NEVER happened before and she actually seemed excited to go to school that day! This is one of those times that I hate the new car line setup for picking up the kids at the end of the day. I have to rely on a piece of paper to tell me what went on instead of getting to talk to the teacher directly. I will definitely try and get more details on Tuesday.

We had behavioral therapy last night and she acted like everything was right with the world the entire time. She asked throughout the session if we could go see Grammy after, but other than that she was happy and playful. Even as we left she waved goodbye to some total strangers and didn't give us any trouble. We went straight over to Grammy's and that is when things fell apart for the evening. We didn't even get out of the entryway when Kelsie fell to the ground sobbing for no apparent reason. I tried to ignore it like we are supposed to, but it just kept going and going for probably 10 or more minutes. I finally picked her up and she still didn't stop for another good 5-10 additional minutes. We thought she had gotten past it all when she agreed to go out and see the bubbles on the deck and water the flowers, but we were wrong. Out of nowhere she started throwing another fit over nothing. We decided to say our goodbyes to Grammy and head home. She cried all the way to the car and then immediately stopped crying when she got in her seat. She had apparently decided that she wanted to go on home, but didn't let us know her thoughts and that is why she was throwing fits.

Unfortunately it didn't get any better when we got home. It was bedtime and she was being defiant about that too. She didn't want to go potty, brush her teeth, or get dressed and she was not too happy when she was encouraged to change her mind. It took a good 30 or more minutes to get it all done and get her in bed. That used to be the norm, but now that is a particularly long time for bedtime. I am so glad that is the exception to the rule these days. It is so hard for the last thing you do with your child is fight her getting into bed!

On a more positive note today was a better day than it has been all week. Although she wasn't a perfect little angel or anything (what 3 yr old is) it was a pretty good day. No major tantrums she wasn't testing me as much today. It also helped that Mike came home earlier than usual, so she got some extra daddy time! We are all in a good mood and are looking forward to the weekend! :)