Tuesday, July 28, 2009

goin' gangsta

We had a meeting with Eliot's doctor at the Institute late last week where he discussed her eating progress thus far and future potential in the program. He started with this:

"What is so neat about Eliot is that she has a lot of techniques that get her out of the act of eating. She is very creative in all of her approaches, and she has a unique ability to adapt to our structure and find something that enables her to escape."

You should have seen my face.

"So . . . just to keep it real," I replied. "What you're saying is that Elie is really good at being bad?"

He smiled.

Yep. That's exactly what he was saying. Eliot has a lot of tricks.

Over the last three weeks at Marcus, she has hit the spoon, hit the therapist, and pursed her lips so tightly that she can't stop grinding her teeth at night. She has whipped her head back and forth, thrown her toys across the room, and mastered the art of playing possum. (You can't feed a baby that's asleep, right?!) Her newest "technique" is to pull her hair out in handfuls.

Grrreeeeat.

Apparently, it's good for her to try everything now so the protocol can show her that none of her tricks will work anymore. But hair pulling has been tough. The therapists can hold her hands down, but she then ends up crying, pulling away, and refusing to eat.

Mike came up with the brilliant plan of putting a hat on her head - not just a hat that could easily be pulled off, but a hat that would stay in place despite numerous attempts from little hands looking for a few strands of hair to pull. And it worked. Her hair pulling attempts went from 84 in the first session, down to 2 in the next.

So, here it is . . . my sweet little girl going gangsta. Please be discreet with comments about her new doo-rag. I would hate for Eliot to get mad, and decide to bust a cap in your ass.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

oh. my. god!!! HILARIOUS!!! and such a look on that face!
suz

Anonymous said...

I thought I saw her throwing some gang signs at Avery on Sunday...! The hat confirms it! :)

(cute even with her gangsta hat on)

lisa

Anonymous said...

She's the cutest 'gangsta' I've ever seen!!! I wasn't sure what I expected to see (pic-wise), but the look on her face made my day. GL with the next meeting!

Stephanie

Unknown said...

jesse likes to wear his pants low with his diaper showing and no shirt. they are truly meant to be together.

Anonymous said...

I LOVE it!! Gael and I were laughing so hard at what you wrote!! She is just gorgeous, a gorgeous gangsta!!! Love Carissa

Amanda Fielder said...

I have to go down to Georgia Tech next week...may I borrow Elie? No one will mess with us!