"No, Brian! STOP!" yells Eila almost daily. She is currently only interested in Mama. Mama has to open the door, take her potty, read her books, get her snack, sit next to her at dinner, help Josiah, and anything else that Eila desires to happen - Mama's the one to do it. For whatever reason, Papa is waved off of many a helpful task.
She also seems to be entering a period of fear. She is afraid of spiders, ants, tigers (stuffed ones, but probably the real ones too...), dark, anyone new, men, dirt (but not always), and sometimes even helicopters and airplanes, which previously she was very fond of. Eila, the fearless child, has taken a brief hiatus and hopefully will return soon, maybe as a Daddy's Girl.
Eila's Great-Grandpa Hall used to tell a story about Jack and Jill using little slips of paper on his fingers. Jack and Jill would each fly away and then Great-Grandpa Hall would say "Come back, Jack. Come back, Jill." and they would do just that. Eila told her own story with the pacifier and it ended in much the same way. Her story wasn't as nice.
Eila had two weeks without her sucette and she barely slept a wink, got sick, and spend most of that time being very angry, frustrated, tired, hungry and just plain cranky. She has slow parents who finally realized that sleep is more important than pretty teeth, and she probably won't have any real damage anyway.
After a brief explanation of the rules and reasoning for the return to the pacifier, Eila grabbed the pacifier, said a very polite "Thank you!" and promptly went to sleep - and slept for almost 12 hours. It was a small, but very significant miracle in the Yee house.
Maybe, one day she'll just decide she's too big for the pacifier and give it up all on her own...
This weekend was a little rough in the Yee household as Eila gave up her sleeping crutch. She rather reluctantly donated her pacifiers to all the little babies who need them. After a very bad first night without her sleep aid, Eila has successfully adjusted to the new circumstances, but adapting to the time change is proving to be just as tough. Unfortunately, several nights in a row with very little rest, Eila has caught a nasty bug. On the upside, she is sleeping very well while she has a fever.
Yet another vacation story...
The first weekend in Los Angeles, we went hiking and rock climbing at Malibu Creek State Park. We found a beautiful spot near a rock pool to have lunch, and Eila found a great stick to put in the water. Somehow, she realized that if she swung the stick and hit the water, she could make a big splash. That was great fun, until on the backswing hit several of her caretakers and had the stick confiscated. Then, somehow her shoes and socks came off and her feet went into the water, where she discovered she could again make a big splash this time by kicking the water. So, her pants came off. And, so began one of the best parts of the trip for Eila: splashing in the water being held up by one of her parents!
Upon the return to Michigan, we encountered some snowy weather and the roads were a mess of snow and slush and salt and dirt. Much to Eila's dismay a truck passed us and sprayed this yucky combination on to her window. She recognized right away that she had been splashed.
